Todd Bertrand NEMA Blastoff Winner
Waterford, CT – Taking advantage of the caution he was “hoping for,” Todd Bertrand captured the 25-lap Northeastern Midget feature Sunday at Waterford Speedbowl’s Blast Off Weekend. Bertrand described the run to his third career NEMA win, all of them at Waterford, as “methodical.”
Bertrand (Bertrand 39) was in complete control after beating Anthony Marvuglio (Bourbeau 38)) into turn one on a lap 15 restart. Marvuglio held on for second followed by Randy Cabral (Bertrand 47), Seth Carlson (Feigel 71) and Russ Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45) as NEMA opened its 61st season.
Following three side-by-side laps with fellow front-row starter Carlson, Marvuglio took command. The patient Bertrand, second by lap five, was catching the leader. “I wanted a restart,” explained Bertrand. “I didn’t want to wear out my tires. I knew my tires were going to be cooler than his.”
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[Sat.] by Adam Fohlin
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[Sat.] by Nicholas Teto
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Looking at the scoreboard, Bertrand noticed teammate Cabral would line up behind him. “I knew if I didn’t go, Randy would,” he said. Bertrand grabbed the lead with no trouble while Cabral, who started eighth, battled Marvuglio for several laps before settling into third. It was, said Marvuglio “fun racing.”
Stoehr, who suffered extensive damage in his heat on Saturday, passed Modified star Doug Coby, in the third Bertrand Racing entry, for fifth shortly after the restart. In the tightest competition of the event, Stoehr, Coby and seventh-place Bethany Stoehr (Stoehr 5b) were all within a half-second of each other.
Bertrand’s Honda-powered Drinan was 2.4 seconds in front at the checkered. Anthony Marvuglio’s #38 owned the fastest feature lap (13.019). That, however, paled compared to a 12.619 (106.982) posted in winning his heat on Saturday. Cabral had a 12.776 in winning his heat.
In practice on March 30, Bertrand turned a 12.8 but soon realized last weekend “it wasn’t going to be fast enough.” After Russ Stoehr turned a 12.664 and Cabral and John Zych were in the 12.7s, “I didn’t stop working on the car all day. It turned out well.”
While NEMA is now idle until the Boston Louie at Seekonk on June 2, Bertrand is preparing for the USAC “Night Before The 500” race at Indianapolis Raceway Park on May 25.
Tim Bertrand said he spent 26 hours in two days earlier in the week getting the car Doug Coby drove ready. The car lost a motor in practice on March 30. Bertrand gave much credit to Mike and Bobby Seymour for preparing and installing the new Autocrat engine. Expect Coby to be in the car again this summer.
Lou Ciccone drove Adam Cantor’s 7ny, the first of several guest drivers.
According to Bertrand, NEMA hasn’t gone this fast at Waterford since 2008 when Randy Cabral was turning 12.6 laps…”At Waterford, the colder the track, the faster we go,” said Randy Cabral. “When it’s cold there is tons of grip. We will not be this fast in July and August.”
Cleaning Out the Blast Off Notebook
The fastest lap in Sunday’s 25-lap feature at Waterford Speedbowl’s belonged to Anthony Marvuglio, at 13.019. Bertrand’s 12.619 en route to victory in his heat on Saturday is now seen as the NEMA standard at the Speedbowl. “Last year we were all struggling to get in the 12.9s here,” said Bertrand who came to Blast Off feeling confident after 12.8s in the practice session on March 30.
The newfound speed was the hot topic right from the start after Russ Stoehr’s 12.664 lap in practice. “You’ve got to concentrate,” said Stoehr. “There is not a lot of room for error at those speeds.”A broken panhard bar was the culprit in Stoehr’s heat crash on Saturday.
It was the maiden run for Bertrand’s Honda-powered Drinan which, incidentally, is “totally different” from teammate Randy Cabral’s Eslinger/Honda.
The question ‘who will be in the Bertrand 74 and Cantor 7ny?’ adds some excitement to the 2013 NEMA season. Doug Coby, who drove the 74 to sixth on Sunday, will definitely drive it again. Lou Cicconi is a likely a returnee in either car. Modified standouts Ryan Preece and Keith Rocco are other probabilities.
“I remember hanging around with Greg and Tara Stoehr before they were married,” said Keith Botelho. “Now I am racing against their daughter Bethany.” Botelho was filling in for Joey Payne Jr. in the Ed Breault #44. “My heart still goes thump, thump, thump when I put the helmet on,” said Botelho who started racing stock cars in 1985. It was either 1988 or ’89 he took his first Midget ride with Pete Pernesiglio.
Payne, who missed Blast Off because of a family commitment, will have a new car at NEMA’s next race, the June 2 Boston Louie at Seekonk.
Louisville’s Russ Smith and Michigan’s Nik Stauskas, opponents in the NCAA basketball championship game, were classmates of Todd Bertrand at South Kent School. “They were both in my English class,” said Bertrand, a soccer player at South Kent.
The “t” on Jim Miller’s second car (driven by Lee Bundy) is for Miller’s son Trevor who will soon be listed as the owner.
NEMA MIDGETS – WATERFORD – 4/7/13
Pos. # Driver Hometown Owner
1 39 Todd Bertrand Suffield, CT Bertrand Motorsports
2 38 Anthony Marvuglio E. Bridgewater, MA Tammy Bourbeau
3 47 Randy Cabral Plymouth, MA Tim Bertrand
4 71 Seth Carlson Brimfield, CT Gene Feigel
5 45 Russ Stoehr Bridgewater, MA Dumo’s Desire Racing
6 74 Doug Coby Milford, CT Bertrand Motorsports
7 5b Bethany Stoehr Bridgewater, MA MCI Racing/Greg Stoehr
8 29 Ian Cumens Lydell, PA Bobby Seymour
9 3m Jim Miller Weymouth, MA Jim Miller
10 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally
11 80 Peter Pernisiglio Lake Grove, NY Peter Pernisiglio Sr.
12 DNF 99 Jim Santa Maria Burlington, CT Susan Santa Maria
13 DNF 7ny Lou Cicconi Aston, PA Allan Cantor
14 DNF 15a Avery Stoehr Lakeville, MA MCI Racing/Russ Stoehr
15 DNS 44 Keith Botelho Attleboro, MA Ed Breault
15 DNF 9 John Zych Jr. Mendon, MA John Zych Sr.
15 DNS 3t Lee Bundy Kennebunkport, ME Lee Bundy
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR