Cabral Chasing History at Twin State
CLAREMONT, NH — (June 27, 2014) — Four-time NEMA Midget champion Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA will be in pursuit of his third consecutive victory and a series record on Saturday night at Twin State Speedway. Cabral is looking to tie the series record for most consecutive wins at one track (5). Two drivers share the record: Johnny Mann at Thompson (1972-75) and NEAR Hall of Famer Drew Fornoro at Monadnock (1982-83). Fellow inductee Dave Humphrey had four in a row at Stafford (1969-70) and Star 70-71.
“It will be tough cause I’ll be starting out back,” Cabral said. “And three in a row hasn’t been done a lot or five in a row, so I got history against me right now.”
The flat, egg-shaped 1/3 mile opened in 1947. Six-time champion Dave Humphrey won the inaugural race in 1973. Kyle Carpenter won the second event in 2005, while Bobby Santos, III scored in 2008. Cabral has won the four events since.
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“I like the track,” Cabral said. “It’s very technical and I think it suits Tim (Bertand, car owner) more then me. It’s one of two places I’ve ever missed a feature. Oswego was the other and I was qualified for both. That’s since April of 99”
Cabral won the Iron Mike Memorial at Monadnock for his fourtieth win, and second in a row. He insists that he is “going for three finishes in a row after starting off like we did this year.”
“With the start of the season I didn’t think I would even get one win,” Cabral said. “(The) competition is high right now with a lot of good cars and good drivers. I’ve always been okay at Monadnock, but never could guess the set upright but I’ve been Racing the Pro 4 there so extra laps help out.”
Since joining Bertrand Motorsports in 2007, Cabral has never finished worse than third in the standings.
“The key is having a good car a better car owner and the best crew,” Cabral said. “Everything has just come together for us. I have not had the same luck in all my cars I’m driving but got to take the good with the bad I guess.”
Cabral started the season with a new Drinan Chassis by Lindblad and an Esslinger engine.
“The 47 and 74 are new cars,” Cabral said. “Same as Todd’s and the one that got wrecked at Riverside last year with Tim’s improvements to the new cars. And same crew except my cousin is coming to more and he is a key factor to running up front.”
After a pair of DNFs, Cabral had the cockpit of the #47 midget redesigned.
“The new car handles pretty well,” Cabral said. “…The new car is responding well to changes that we make on the car also compare to the older one.”
Cabral won his first race of the season at Wiscasset Speedway earlier this month. It was NEMA’s first race in 42 years on the 1 /3 mile in Mid Coast Maine. Cabral said, ” They have done a good job. Looks rough, but actually (a) very smooth surface.”
“I liked it alot,” Cabral said. “I ran there back in 05 but forgot what the track even looked like. Lots of grip and a lot of racing room made for a good show with amazing people in the stands. It’s nice to see that when you’re in a car. It’s good to have people watching and put on a show.”
Ian Cumens in the Seymour Enterprises #29 leads the point standings with rookie and Waterford winner Avery Stoehr in second. Cabral is up to third with Evans Mills winner Seth Carlson in fourth. Bertrand Motorsports teamate Todd Bertrand is fifth, 74 points behind.
“Everyone is running good,” Cabral said. “It’s good for the club and making it fun to go race. People are keeping it clean.”
Cabral did not point to any particular drivers as a threat for the championship.
“Everyone is a threat in my opinion,” Cabral said. “Everyone is good and fast every week. (Seth) Carlson had a rough week last week but he will be fast this week.”
Cabral wants to thank Car Owner Tim Bertrand, his crew, his father and K&N Filters.
Twin State Speedway is located on Thrasher Road in Claremont, NH. The NEMA Lites, Wild Cats, Sportsmen, Super Streets, and Late Models will join the Whelen Night card. Racing begins at 6PM. For more information, call (603) 543-3160 or visit http://www.twinstatespeedway.net/ or http://nemaracing.com/.
Cabral will racing in tonight’s Champions for Charities race at Stafford Motor Speedway.
“Last year I ended up on my head,” Cabral said. “Looking for a top five this year I hope but someone has to finish last.”
Cabral will be racing for the Shane Hammond Believe Foundation, whose goal is to make racing safer. Cabral’s close friend Shane Hammond lost his life in a Thompson crash in 2008.
“Me and Shane always race(d) with no money and said ‘Well I’ve crashed without it before, I’lll be ok,’ but there is that one time it’s not ok. So trying to get people to understand that is what I want to do. At the end of the day, we do this for fun and nothing else, but if you get hurt it’s no longer fun.”
Cabral and his #47 midget joined a contingent of local drivers who visited the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford on Tuesday.
“Its nice to interact with people that don’t see us race all the time,” Cabral said. “The kids are happy and it’s nice to see then smiling while we are there.”
Cabral would like to see this become an annual event and expand the tour to more hospitals.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com