NEMA Releases 2020 Schedule
This weekend, Northeastern Midget Association President, Tim Bertrand, released the club’s 2020 schedule to the membership and press. Fourteen NEMA shows and Seventeen Lites shows, with thirteen combined NEMA/NEMA Lite shows highlight a season that brings NEMA back to many of its familiar, historic “haunts.”
“We plan to play off of the success that we had over the last couple of seasons, as a club. We had strong car counts in the 30 car range every week, with a season-high of nearly 40 cars at the Boston Louie event,” said club President, Bertrand. “I see us only continuing to gain momentum for 2020. We’ve got a number of new teams coming into the Lite series, have at least three new full-time teams in the NEMA division, with 3-4 others returning for 2020,” said Bertrand.
The Northeastern Midget Association will play part in nearly all of the Northeast’s most prestigious races: The Thompson ICEBREAKER, The Star Classic, The Boston Louie Memorial, Seekonk’s Open Wheel Wednesday, LEE’s Open Wheel Opener & Oktoberfest, Waterford’s 4 Cylinder Frenzy, and Thompson’s World Series of Racing.
NEMA starts its season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s annual ICEBREAKER event, with a Lites only race. The club will visit Thompson on two other occasions, one with the Whelen Modified Tour in August, and the World Series in October.
“Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park has enjoyed its great partnership with the Northeastern Midget Association. For the past several seasons, they have provided some of the most exciting competition at Thompson and we are delighted to welcome them back in 2020,” said GM of the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Terry Eames.
The club will return to Star Speedway with two combined shows and two Lites Only shows this season. The highlight on the schedule is a return to the Star Classic, one of the biggest open wheel races in the Country.
“NEMA did a great job for us last year at the Classic, and is a great addition to our race card,” said Star Speedway GM & owner Bobby Webber Jr. “We are excited to have them return a number of times this year, and continue our over sixty-year tradition here at Star Speedway,” he said.
A big highlight on the schedule this year is two trips to Seekonk Speedway, one with the Lites only at Open Wheel Wednesday and the other, the prestigious Boston Louie Memorial, at Seekonk with the International Supermodified Association in August.
NEMA will also return to two tracks this year, one in Claremont Speedway for the opening event, to accompany the Granite State Pro Stocks, and one at Hudson Speedway, where NEMA has not competed at in nearly twenty years.
Three shows at LEE USA Speedway are on the docket, after NEMA re-kindled its relationship with the speedway after the change of ownership last season. The last time NEMA visited the Speedway, Sammy Swindell took down a victory, to extend his 49 year winning streak. Swindell is slated to compete with NEMA on a handful of occasions again in 2020.
Always favorites, NEMA returns to Wiscassett, Monadnock, and will be back at Waterford this season after troubles kept the track opening last season.
“The Speedbowl is extremely excited to have NEMA headline our Inaugural 4 Cylinder Frenzy show, on Saturday, September 12th, 2020. The NEMA midgets always provide the most exciting side by side action and down to the wire finishes! This will be the premier 4 cylinder show in the Northeast and will be one of our biggest events of 2020,” said Speedbowl GM Mike Serluca.
NEMA Schedule:
4/4: Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – ICEBREAKER, Lites Only
4/25: Claremont Speedway – Marvin Rifchin Memorial (NEMA & Lites)
5/2: Star Speedway (Lites Only)
5/16: Lee USA Speedway “Open Wheel Opener” (NEMA & Lites)
6/6: Wiscassett Speedway Ames True Value Night (NEMA & Lites)
6/20 – Star Speedway – Butch Walsh Memorial (NEMA & Lites)
6/21 – Hudson Speedway (NEMA & Lites)
7/1 – Seekonk Open Wheel Wednesday (Lites Only)
7/18 – Lee USA Speedway (NEMA & Lites)- Gene & Marilyn Angelillo Memorial
7/25 – Monadnock Speedway – Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial (NEMA & Lites)
8/1 – Star Speedway (Lites Only)
8/12 – Seekonk Speedway – Boston Louie Memorial (NEMA & Lites)
8/19 – Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (NEMA Only)
9/12 – Waterford – 4 Cylinder Frenzy (NEMA & Lites)
9/19 – Star Speedway Classic – Jim O’Brien Memorial (NEMA & Lites)
10/3 LEE USA Speedway – Oktoberfest (NEMA & Lites)
10/10-11 – Thompson World Series – Shane Hammond Memorial (NEMA – Sat., Lites – Sunday)
10/25 – Waterford Closer (NEMA & Lites)
Sources: Tim Bertrand/NEMA PR