Bertrand King of NEMA at Thompson’s Budweiser King of Beers 150
Thompson, CT — Todd Bertrand fended off 6 time NEMA champion Randy Cabral in the early stages of last Thursday’s NEMA event at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), and held off Jim Chambers, who started deep in the field, after a late race restart with five laps remaining in the event. It was Bertrand’s third win in a row at TSMP, including last year’s World Series, this year’s Lites Icebreaker, and last Thursday.
In the feature, Alan Chambers and Mike Horn brought the field down to the green flag. At the drop of the green, Horn jumped out into the lead, and Avery Stoehr in the Bertrand 39 quickly advanced into second, with Bertrand coming from sixth to third.
Bertrand made quick work of Stoehr with a move in turns one and two, and passed Horn on the next corner. Bertrand then began to set a torrid pace, running the only 17 second laps of the feature event. Further back, it was Stoehr, and Randy Cabral broke free of traffic, but out front it was all Bertrand, who stretched his lead out to over a straightaway at one point.
A lap eight restart, saw Bertrand pull Stoehr coming off of turn four, as Stoehr’s car bobbled and he slipped back in the field. Cabral would go to second, as Indiana’s Cole Carter advanced to third, with Chambers in tow in fourth.
By the halfway point, it was apparent that Cabral’s car was experiencing issues, as he began to slip back in the field, coming to rest with five laps remaining. He later pitted and it was determined that a fractured left rear shock mount was causing the car to bottom out on the race track. His crew made quick adjustments, and he was able to complete the event.
On the restart, it was Bertrand followed by Chambers and Carter, but Bertrand would again pull away. Chambers would manage to get within five carlengths at the finish, but Bertrand would take down the win with Chambers second, Carter third, Paul Scally, Ben Seitz, Randy Cabral, Doug Cleveland, Andrew Lunt, Avery Stoehr, and Kevin Park.
“We started the day off 2nd quick in practice, but the lap times were about 8 tenths of a second off compared to the fastest times on a good day, so I knew the track would change. Unfortunately, we only made one practice because we were caught off guard with the rain — this ended up being a good thing because we didn’t chase the track,” said Bertrand.
“We stuck to our gut for feature setup with a similar package to what we won with at the World Series. In hot laps before the race started, I tested the car high and low and immediately knew we had a really good piece. Having confidence in your car, especially at the beginning, is where these races are often won or lost. I knew if we got out front in clean air, we would be hard to beat. The biggest challenge once your there, is not knowing how fast everyone else is behind you. So you just have to drive it like you stole it,” he said.
NEMA pics back up on September 8th at Wiscasett Speedway in Wiscasset, Maine.
1 48 Todd Bertrand Danielson, CT Bertrand Motorsports
2 21 Jim Chambers Atkinson, NH Mike Chambers
3 47 Cole Carter Indianapolis, IN Bertrand Motorsports
4 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally
5 1 Ben Seitz Bourne, MA Bertrand Motorsports
6 74 Randy Cabral Kingston, MA Bertrand Motorsports
7 87 Doug Cleveland Sudbury, MA Doug Cleveland
8 18 Andy Lunt – – Christian Briggs
9 39 Avery Stoehr Lakeville, MA Bertrand Motorsports
10 50 Kevin Park Plainville, MA Pete Pernisiglio Sr.
11 A1 Mike Horn Ashland, MA Jeff Horn
12 7 Alan Chambers Atkinson, NH Mike Chambers
13 9 John Zych Jr. Mendon, MA John Zych Sr.
Sources: Todd Bertrand/NEMA PR