Carlson, A. Payne Take Wings & Wheels NEMA Victories
On a beautiful late summer New England evening, Seth Carlson ended a dry spell for the Feigel Motorsports team this past Saturday evening in front of a giant crowd at the New London Waterford Speedbowl for its annual Wings & Wheels event. In the Lites division, Anthony Payne captured his second win of the season, and of his career, in a hard fought race against veteran Anthony Nocella.
In the NEMA race, Carlson started fourth on the grid, while Doug Cleveland and Russ Stoehr brought the field to the green. Carlson wasted no time, blasting past Cleveland for the lead on the third lap. Right behind Carlson, reining NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, Doug Coby was on the move as well. Coby moved into second on the third lap, and the two would run in that order for the majority of the race. Further back, Randy Cabral and John Zych were battling for the third spot, when a caution flew with six laps remaining for a Pete Pernesiglio spin.
On the restart, Coby struck and moved briefly into the lead at the line, but Carlson would fight back and draw even in turns one and two. The duo would run side by side for three laps, with Coby eventually settling back into second. With three laps remaining, the caution would fly again, this time lining up a single file restart. In the meantime, Zych had moved into the third spot past Cabral. On the final restart, Carlson’s car hesitated causing Coby to hook his rear bumper, both getting loose on the front stretch. Zych ducked under Coby for second, but Coby rocketed around the top of turn one, while Carlson stretched out his lead. Carlson would cross the line first ahead of Coby, Zych, Cabral, Avery Stoehr, Jim Chambers, Russ Stoehr, Alan Chambers, Bethany Stoehr, and Paul Scally.
“My car was hesitating on the restarts. I was hoping it was going to make it to the end,” said Carlson. “It was great to run against Doug, he is aggressive, but also clean and that makes the racing fun. I really need to thank Gene Feigel and my Dad, they had the car really good tonight,” he said.
In the Lites division, RJ Tufano jumped out into an early lead. He was pursued by young gun, Anthony Payne, for the first ten laps of the race. On a lap ten restart, Payne blasted into the lead.
“I was trying to be smooth and save my tires,” said Payne. “When the caution came out and we doubled up, I got to the throttle first and beat him to the corner,” he said.
In the later stages of the race, veteran Anthony Nocella in the FMR Racing #76 would move into second and begin to pressure Payne.
“Anthony was pressuring me on the outside, but I made sure to run a line that made it hard for him to get me,” said Payne. “It felt great to beat such a talented driver. I really need to thank Lu & Mike Jarrett, the Scrivani’s, Jim Susi, Dave Shore and Waddell Communications,” he said.
Veteran Paul Scally rallied for an exceptional third place finish in his #30B Lites car, and was followed across the line by Scott Bigelow and Randy Cabral, who had an epic duel for the fourth spot.
Sources: Tim Bertrand/NEMA PR