Zych Ends NEMA Drought With Speedbowl Victory
Waterford, CT — John Zych Jr.’s “very long wait” ended Sunday with a victory in the 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature at Waterford Speedbowl’s Budweiser Blast Off. Taking the lead four laps in, Zych beat back a mid-race restart challenge from Randy Cabral before posting his first-ever win in impressive style.
The victory ended five years of frustration for Zych and his dad. “It’s very special,” said the one-time Lemoyne College basketball player who joined Cabral (Bertrand 47) and Russ Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire (45) on the podium in a Drinan/Esslinger purchased last year from the Bertrand team.
The biggest challenge came from Cabral on a restart following the second caution. “I saw Randy outside and I knew I had to get all I could out of the car,” said Zych, now a resident of Louisville, KY. “I just stood on it and tried to say from the middle to the bottom. If Randy was going to get by, it was going to be on the outside.”
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They ran side-by-side halfway down the front chute before Zych pulled away, “completely surprising” Cabral. “I was on top but I was pinching him down a little bit,” said Cabral who “really thought I had something for him. He blew me away.”
It was a cakewalk from there for Zych, who posted the fastest lap (13.001 – 103.822 mph), finishing 2.43 seconds in front. “I think I heard Randy behind me once,” Zych said, pointing out he was more concerned with lapped cars over the final laps. “I knew I had to get by them clean,” he added.
The battle for third between Stoehr and Joey Payne (Breault 44) highlighted the second half of the race. Anthony Marvuglio (Derosier 38) was fifth.
Starting fourth, Zych took the lead from front row starter Paul Scally on the backstretch. It came just ahead of the first caution. Zych got away from Marvuglio on the restart but Cabral quickly moved from fourth to second and was well within striking distance when the second yellow showed.
Zych, who works for the Hershey (Chocolate) Corporation, drove 14 hours to meet his date with destiny.
The Zych #9 is almost an exact copy of Cabral’s Bertrand Motorsports #47. “They gave us some pretty good notes on it,” said Zych Sr., adding very few, if any, changes have been made.
Zych joined a large number of drivers who won for the first time at the Speedbowl, the list including Marvuglio, Jim Miller and Barry Kittredge, all in Sunday’s field.
NEMA MIDGETS – Waterford – 4/1/12
Pos. # Driver Hometown Owner
1 9 John Zych Jr. Louisville, KY John Zych Sr.
2 47 Randy Cabral Plymouth, MA Tim Bertrand
3 45 Russ Stoehr Bridgewater, MA Dumo's Desire Racing
4 44 Joey Payne Fairlawn, NJ Ed Breault
5 38 Anthony Marvuglio E. Bridgewater, MA Tammy Bordeau
6 39 Todd Bertrand Suffield, CT Bertrand Motorsports
7 3m Jim Miller Weymouth, MA Jim Miller
8 16 Matt O'Brien Wilmington, MA Jim O'Brien & Sons Engineering
9 99 Jim Santa Maria Burlington, CT Susan Santa Maria
10 2 Lee Bundy Kennebunkport, ME Lee Bundy
11 DNF 28 Paul Luggelle Holbrook, MA Paul Luggelle
12 DNF 26b Greg Stoehr Bridgewater, MA Greg Stoehr
13 DNF 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally
14 DNF 8 Barry Kittredge Marlboro, MA Barry Kittredge
15 DNF 71 Seth Carlson Brimfield, CT Gene Feigel
16 DNF 7ny Adam Cantor Glen Cove, NY Allan Cantor
17 DNF 87 Doug Cleveland Sudbury, MA Doug Cleveland
Sources; NEMA PR