Zych, J. Chambers Storm to Wiscasset NEMA Victories
Wiscasset, ME — John Zych ended a multi-race dry spell, as the Mendon, MA racer beat back 2017 champion, Randy Cabral, on a late race restart to take down his third victory in a row at Wiscasset Speedway. In the Lites division, Jim Chambers came from deep in the field to beat a strong field of competitors, with a late race pass on Jim Cataldo.
In the NEMA feature, Doug Cleveland and Bethany Stoehr brought the field to the green flag. Quickly, fourth place starter John Zych drove his JZ Motorsports entry to the top of the track and stormed into the lead. Further back, Avery Stoehr moved from his sixth place starting spot into second by lap three and set his sights on Zych. Over next ten laps, the distance between Zych and Stoehr stayed marginal, while further back, Cabral was on the hunt moving into the third spot, with Jim Chambers in tow.
On lap fifteen, disaster struck for Stoehr, as the rear axle failed, rocketing the car into the turn three wall. Stoehr was able to walk away from the incident, with a badly damaged race car.
On the restart, Zych and Cabral would line up side by side, and Cabral would make a valiant effort to stay with Zych on the outside. A lap later, Zych darted out into the lead again, and went on to take down the victory, unchallenged. Cabral would finish second followed by Jim Chambers, Lou Cicconi who returned after many years away from NEMA in the Bertrand 47, Alan Chambers, Mike Horn, Bethany Stoehr, Paul Scally, Doug Cleveland and Avery Stoehr.
“We have been chasing a gremlin since the end of last year that was battery related. Seems like we found the issue and corrected. We have been very fortunate at Wiscasset to have some success. I think our car performs well there and it is a track that I really like. Couldn’t ask for a better facility, ownership, staff and fans than those at Wiscasset. They are fantastic. We got off to a strong start and had to stay out front and try to save my tires as much as I could for the first half of the race,” said Zych. “The caution came out halfway and I was hoping the laps we ran early conserved enough of the tires to run hard knowing it was going to be really hard to stay out front. Once we restarted I knew it was going to be a battle with Randy who was starting second. We battled a little right after the restart and luckily I ran some of my fastest laps right after half way which allowed us to maintain a lead. The rest of the way I was just trying to run as fast and as consistent as possible knowing Randy was going to be there if I made any mistakes,” concluded Zych.
In the Lites event, it appeared that Jim Cataldo was on his way to a career first win, as he took an early lead and ran a number of flawless laps early in the event. As the laps wound on, Jim Chambers, John Zych, Paul Scally and Danny Cugini broke free of traffic, and gave hunt to Cataldo.
As the leaders were approaching lapped traffic, Cataldo looked low, then high, and Chambers was able to capitalize, making a masterful move to the front of the field. Zych was able to move by Cataldo for second, and would finish the race there.
Chambers would take down the victory, followed by Zych, Cataldo, Scally, Cugini, Ryan Locke, Avery Stoehr, Ben Mikitarian, Richie Coy, Randy Cabral and Kyle Valeri – however post-race inspections found Cataldo to be over width and subsequently disqualified. The official race results are also under review due to an appeal made on a technical decision made on the second place team.
“The car was good all day long and the track was really racey. We made a small adjustment to the car for the feature and it ended up being perfect. I can’t thank Wiscasset and their crew enough, we always love to come up here, and the improvements they continue to make to their already awesome facility,” said Chambers.
NEMA picks back up its schedule this coming weekend at the Riverhead Raceway on Long Island.
NEMA Lites
1 12 Jim Chambers Atkinson, NH Jim Chambers
2 76 John Zych Jr. Mendon, MA Frant Manafort
3 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally
4 51 Dan CuginI Marshfield, MA Dan Cugini
5 38 Ryan Locke Raymond, NH Ken Locke
6 21 Avery Stoehr Lakeville, MA Mike Scrivani
7 9 Ben Mikitarian Northborough, MA John Mikitarian
8 19 Richie Coy Haskell, NJ Richie Coy
9 35 Randy Cabral Kingston, MA Glen Cabral
10 17 Kyle Valeri Monument Beach, MA Peter Valeri
11 41 Meg CuginI Marshfield, MA Glenn Cugini
12 52 Kevin Park Attleboro, MA Kevin Park
DNS 3 Christopher Vose Gloversville, NY Christopher Vose
DQ 5 Jim Cataldo Sterling, MA Jim Cataldo
NEMA Midgets
1 9 John Zych Jr. Mendon, MA John Zych Sr.
2 74 Randy Cabral Kingston, MA Bertrand Motorsports
3 21 Jim Chambers Atkinson, NH Mike Chambers
4 47 Lou Ciconni Aston, PA Bertrand Motorsports
5 7 Alan Chambers Atkinson, NH Mike Chambers
6 A1 Mike Horn Ashland, MA Jeff Horn
7 5b Bethany Stoehr Bridgewater, MA Greg Stoehr
8 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally
9 87 Doug Cleveland Sudbury, MA Doug Cleveland
10 39 Avery Stoehr Lakeville, MA Bertrand Motorsports
DNS 99 Jim Santa Maria Burlington, CT Jim Santa Maria
Sources: Tim Bertrand/NEMA PR