Tight Points Battle Highlight NEMA’s Return to Sunoco World Series Speedway of Racing
The Northeastern Midget Association has long considered Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway the ultimate “separate the men from the boys” facility. While any Thompson checkered is a treasure, the World Series is definitely the biggest plum. In the NEMA division, two-time champion, John Zych leads five-time champion Randy Cabral of Plymouth, by a mere twenty one points, or roughly three feature finish spots coming into this Saturday’s feature event. The Lites will also be on hand, however in this division, Jim Chambers has a commanding lead over PJ Stergios, well over 100 points, and Danny Cugini, who is hot on Stergios’ tale in third spot.
Eleven victories, including six World Series triumphs, make Cabral the all-time Thompson maestro. Last year, Cabral passed Zych with three laps left in the books and pulled off pass that will go down for the ages against teammate Todd Bertrand in turns three and four that had fans on their feet. Zych’s third place run capped a brilliant championship season for the JZ Motorsports team in 2015.
Thompson’s long Midget history, however, is filled with surprises. Considering the last few seasons have been one of the most competitive seasons in NEMA’s 60+year history. Cole Carter will again be on hand in the Bertrand 74, coming out from Brownsburg, Indiana. Carter, son of the famed Pancho Carter, has a storied career and legacy. Avery Stoehr comes into the race just 78 points back from Zych and Cabral and always a threat to win. Amongst other hopefuls are Todd Bertrand who finished second to Cabral last year, Seth Carlson who is overdue for a strong run, Paul Scally, and the Chambers brothers, Alan and Jim.
NEMA and Thompson have a relationship that goes back to 1960 when the legendary Dutch Schaefer was the winner. Since then, Thompson has helped write a ton of NEMA history and a credible part of that is World Series related.
Greg Stoehr, driving for John Zahar, passed brother Russ in the closing laps to win in 1994. In 2001, Joey Payne, who like Greg Stoehr started last, passed the same Russ Stoehr on the final lap en route to the checkered. The latter was Gene Angelillo’s 100th NEMA win. A Nokie Fornoro romp in 2010 proved to be the last Midget ride for one of the sport’s greatest competitors.
Sources: Tim Bertrand/NEMA PR