NEMA Moves to Twin State; Point Battle Grabs Spotlight
Claremont, NH — “It’s going to be a little weird,” says Bobby Santos III. “We’ve never really run for a championship before.” He is, however, ready.
Bob Santos Jr. (Santos 98) and Tim Bertrand (Bertrand 47) find themselves separated by only 13 points atop the Northeastern Midget Association owners standings as the season heads into the final four events. Bobby drives for his dad.
NEMA and the NEMA Lites will be busy this weekend for Open Wheel Sunday (Sept. 27) at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH. It is the first time since 2005 NEMA has visited the third mile and only the second time overall.
Traditional spots in the season finales at Waterford Speedbowl (Oct. 4-5), Seekonk Speedway (Oct. 11-12) and Thompson Speedway (Oct. 17-18) will follow.
“I’ve never thought about championships before,” says Bob Santos, “but I’m going to give Tim a challenge for it. He is a good friend and a great competitor but I think I’m going to try it.” A win at Beech Ridge last Saturday for the #98 (with Bobby aboard) coupled with a disastrous day for the Randy Cabral-driven #47 put Santos into the point lead.
A second at Beech Ridge by Joey Payne has moved multi-time champion Gene Angelillo to within 57 of Santos in the owners standings.
“I believe we’ll be back,” says Bertrand, out of the lead for the first time this year. “We are working on the car. We have found the problem. We are looking into other things including some helpful suggestions Bob (Santos Jr.) made after Beech Ridge. That is the kind of competitors we have.”
Bobby Santos, Cabral and Payne are not traditional point chasers. “I really don’t care about points and that’s why I’ve run other places,” says Bobby Santos. ” Everybody says that, but honestly, it does mean something now. It would be pretty neat for [my father to win the championship]. He works very hard. He deserves it.”
“The Cabral’s spend a lot of time in the shop and they do that to win races,” echoes Bertrand. “We come with high expectations.”
Lou Cicconi, sister Erica and Ryan Prece have driven the #98 when Bobby Santos was off doing other things this summer. Bobby will be there for the rest of the programs.
Cabral, still holding a comfortable lead in the drivers standings has five wins, and Santos has four heading to Twin State. Greg Stoehr, Payne and Jeff Abold have also been winners.
The battle for a top five spot in the final rundown includes the Cantor 7ny (Adam Cantor), the Stoehr 26b (Greg Stoehr), the Breault 44 (Erica Santos) and TSR 63 (Mike Keeler). Jeremy Frankoski, now in the Bertrand stable, is a contender in the drivers standings.
Sources: Pete Zanardi/NEMA PR
Sunday Sept 28th Event Schedule
Pit Gates open at 8 AM
Practice from 10 AM to 12:15 PM on a rotating basis in the following order
Pro Four Mods
Pepsi Mods
NEMA Lites
NEMA Midgets
True Value ModsHeats at 1 PM Sharp!
Pro Four Mods 10 Laps
Pepsi Mods 10 laps
NEMA Lites
NEMA Midgets
True Value Mods
Features
Pro Four Mods
Pepsi Mods 35 Laps
NEMA Lites
NEMA Midgets
On Track ceremonies
Ricky Miller Memorial 100
Running Order Subject to Change
Grandstand:
$20.00 Each Day
$35.00 Two-Day Pass
$10.00 ages 6 – 15
$ Free ages 5 & under
Pit/Paddock:
$35.00 Each Day
$60.00 Two-Day Pass