Members of the NEMA Dick Gallagher Memorial Hall of
Fame PDF HERE
FULL IMPORT & DOMESTIC
REPAIRS AND SERVICE Jeff
Horn 182 Pond St. Ashland, MA
01721
508-881-4540 Hitch & Trailer Specialists
www.a-1automotiveservice.com
SALES • SERVICE PERFORMANCE and SUSPENSION UPGRADES
Specializing in
Finer Imports
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1460 Pleasant St. (Route 104) Bridgewater, MA 02234 www.motorcarsint.com
SERVING ALL MAKES of MIDGET & SPRINT CAR ENGINES Jon Andruk
ja@circleperformance.com 69 LOCUST STREET, BERKLEY, MA 02779 508-580-5844
NEMA
Announces 2021 Contingency Awards Presented by Seymour Performance Products
The Northeastern Midget Association has announced that
Seymour Performance Products (SPP ) will be presenting
contingency awards from some of the most prominent names in the
industry on a race by race basis to NEMA competitors. The NEMA
LITES kick off their season at the Thompson Motorsports Park
ICEBREAKER on April 11, and the combined group kicks off the
season at LEE USA Speedway on May 15th.
"We really
wanted to determine a way to give back more to the NEMA
community," said SPP owner, Bobby Seymour. "We partnered with
some of the best names in the motorsports industry to provide
generous contingency awards to our NEMA Midgets and NEMA LITES
teams on a weekly basis. This should drive excitement for our
competitors and also brand loyalty to our sponsors," he said.
"The entire club thanks Bobby, Matt and the SPP team, as
well as all of the contingency sponsors, for this great
initiative," said club President, Tim Bertrand. "We are excited
to increase engagement with the brands who have been so loyal to
motorsports, and also give back to our competitors," he said.
The following partners will
be providing cash and product to NEMA competitors:
NEMA LITES Feature Winner will receive a $50 gift
certificate from one of the participating sponsors, of their
choice.
2nd and 9th place finishers will receive a $50 gift
certificate from one of the participating sponsors, of their
choice.
The 3rd and 7th place in Lites will each be awarded $50 cash
from "The Friends of Mike Rivard"
The NEMA LITES Hard Charger will receive a $25 gift
certificate and $25 cash from MPD Racing.
The new "Future Stars" will be determined before the start
of the season. These participants will compete at each event
for an additional $50 cash award from Seymour Performance.
NEMA Midgets Feature Winner will receive a $50 gift
certificate from one of the participating sponsors, of their
choice.
2nd and 9th place finishers will receive a $50 gift
certificate from one of the participating sponsors, of their
choice.
The NEMA Midgets Hard Charger will receive a $50 gift
certificate from Valco Wheels.
At each event SPP, will
have a representative distribute cash and gift
certificates. Certificates will be redeemable at Seymour
Performance Products.
Brockton, MA -
NEMA announced that the
Northeastern Midget Association and Hoosier Tire East have
inked an exclusive, three year deal. Under the deal, NEMA
will have exclusive rights in the Northeast to the current
plated compounds (RR 7, 7.3, RF 5, LR, 5 and LF, 4, 5) and
will be the only series in the Northeast running these
particular tires.
Hoosier will also continue to be a
major contributor to the NEMA point fund, and in addition
have offered fixed pricing for the racer over the next three
years.
“NEMA has enjoyed a long history with Hoosier.
This sport is about supporting those who take care of you,
and supporting each other. We feel that we have the best
product in Hoosier and look forward to a long relationship
with them,” said NEMA President, Mike Scrivani.
As part of the arrangement,
Hoosier tire has selected long time NEMA supporter Seymour
Enterprises to be the exclusive dealer and service provider
to the Northeastern Midget Association.
CHECK THE MEMBERS ALERTS PAGEFOR THE LATEST HANDICAPS,
COMPETITION ADDENDA, RACE PROCEDURES, & NEMA FORMS
LEGENDS DAY TO HONOR THE STARS OF NEW ENGLAND MIDGET RACING
LOUDON, NH: The
popular annual Legends Day event will be held on November 7
at the North East Motor Sports Museum (922 Rt 106, Loudon,
NH 03307). Headlining the afternoon will be the stars and
VIPs of midget racing in New England. As always, Legends Day
will be a fun time and will include a free lunch.
This year's event's co-emcees intimately know New England
midget racing and the people who win midget races. Pete
Falconi has been the Northeastern Midget Association
announcer for many years. Dick Monahan has been deeply
involved in NEMA as well, enough to co-write the history of
midget racing in New England for the museum's book
History
of Auto Racing in New England. Both men appreciate the
value of fun.
Living honorees includes a list of
champion drivers. Russ Stoehr won six NEMA championships
between 1990 and 2010, Drew Fornoro won nine NEMA
championships, more than any other driver; Bobby Seymour won
the 1987 driver championship and has fielded midgets for
others to drive to wins for nearly his entire life. Rollie
Lindblad has built the broadest array of winning race cars
of anyone in New England. His construction includes winning
drag race cars, supermodifieds, super-late model cars and
midgets. His Badger midgets dominated NEMA competition for
many years.
Drew Fornoro leads the NEMA all time win
list with 85 victories and is followed by Dave Humphrey who
had 73 trips to victory lane. Bobby Seymour will represent
his family which includes brother Mike, a NEMA champion
driver, and his father "Boston" Louie whose cars won the
USAC Silver Crown Championship. Over a ten-year period,
Boston towed race cars more than a million miles from New
England to USAC races all over America. Bobby was with him
most of the time.
There will be a dramatic banner
unveiling in the museum's ceiling, adding to the banners
depicting the stars of the three prior Legends Day
celebrations. Deceased who will be honored in a special
banner include some of New England's all-time greatest
midget drivers: Johnny Thomson, Bob Blair, Bill Eldridge,
Joe Sostillio, Dave Humphrey and Joe Ciski.
A free
buffet beginning at 11:30 is included. The program will
begin at 1pm and will be followed by the museum's Annual
Meeting which is open to all paid members. Become a member
at Legends Day and join the Annual Meeting where you can
have a say in how the museum is run.
Seating is
limited to 100 tickets so a sellout is likely, be sure to
get a seat. You can purchase tickets on our website by
clicking here. Tickets are $30 for museum members, $35 for
non-members. You may also call 603-783-0183 to purchase
tickets or send your payment to the North East Motor Sports
Museum, 922 Rt 106, Loudon, NH 03307. Questions can be
answered by emailing
nemsmuseum@gmail.com.
About the North East Motor
Sports Museum The museum is owned by the
Racing History Preservation Group, a 501-c-3 educational
non-profit organization that seeks to discover, preserve and
share the history of motorsports in the Northeast. The
10,000 square foot museum opened in 2017 on the grounds of
the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. Call
603-783-0183 or visit
nemsmuseum.com to learn more.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 18th, 2021 NEMA Midgets & NEMA LITES with ISMA Supers,
350 Supers, and NELCAR Legends
NEMA pays tribute to
one of this club's truest racers and most influential
leaders. Butch was not only a champion driver, he was a
fantastic mechanic, and a courageous President who's
leadership changed NEMA forever.
Butch
in the Bien Badger leading the Badgers of Dave Humphrey
and Johnny Evans
Scally, Stoehr Take Star
Classic,
Butch Walsh Memorial Victories
A packed house at Bobby Webber's Star Speedway
greeted a full field of NEMA Midgets and NEMA LITES on
Saturday 9/18, with over 32 cars on hand, one of the club's
best car counts of the year. Paul Scally continued his hot
streak, taking the NEMA race in convincing style, and Avery
Stoehr avoided attrition in an unusually rough NEMA LITES
feature.
The race celebrated the great Butch Walsh.
A former NEMA champion and multi-time NEMA President,
Walsh's very last ride in a NEMA Midget came at the end of
the 1986 season at Thompson's World Series of Auto Racing.
He hopped into the Nogueira Sesco Badger #98 and won the
feature in dominating fashion in one of the toughest field
of cars the club had seen in years. For the 1987 season, he
was hired as the promoter for Riverside Speedway in
Groveton, NH, providing NEMA with race dates that following
year. He would continue racing into the late eighties and
nineties but on two wheels, racing flat track motorcycles on
dirt and ice, in addition to vintage road racing for which
he was crowned champion one year in the mid nineties.
In the NEMA Midgets heat races, Paul Scally took down
heat 1 over Randy Cabral and Matt Merry won heat 2 over Mike
Horn. The LITES had 3 heats, with Dylan Coutu taking down
his first heat race win over Chris Vose. Paul Scally won
heat 2 over Michael Pernesiglio. Tiani Kibbe took down heat
3 over Jake Trainor.
The NEMA LITES feature
contended with a number of cautions, and a very scary red
flag situation when Joey Bailey in the Scrivani #21 went off
the front stretch and into the woods with a hung throttle.
Bailey was uninjured. Points leader Jake Trainor went off on
the flat bed, after contact with another car earlier in the
race damaged his car, and Trainor ended up in the fence when
a part failed. Kyle Valeri was also taken off on the hook
after contact with Randy Cabral, who was later disqualified
for exiting his vehicle on the race track.
While all
of this was happening, Avery Stoehr was finding his way
through the field in the Jackie Parker #10, and once in
command Stoehr never looked back. It looked as if Eric Bacon
would take the O'Brien family to their best finish in 40
years, but he began to run out of fuel, and ended up fourth.
Drew Eldridge finished second in his best ever NEMA LITES
run, followed by Dylan Coutu, for his first ever podium.
Bacon was fourth followed by Chris Vose, Kevin Merryfield,
Tiana Kibbe, Brayden Egan, Kyle Valeri, and Jake Trainor.
In the
NEMA Midgets feature, Paul Scally leaped out into the lead
in the center of turn four at the drop of the green. Once in
command, Scally began setting a torrid pace, in the 11.9
second range. Behind him, Mike Horn was defending second
place, and looked to be having one of his best runs of the
season. Randy Cabral, who started deep in the field, would
catch Horn and pass him on lap eleven, but had nothing for
Scally out front.
As the laps wound down, Scally
would do a masterful job in traffic, not losing an inch to
Cabral, as he would go on to take down his second NEMA
victory of the season. Cabral finished second to capitalize
on his points lead, and Horn would finish third. Avery
Stoehr was fourth followed by Jake Trainor, Alan Chambers,
Sammy Swindell, John Zych, Modified ace Ronnie Williams, and
Matt O'Brien.
Tyler Rivard #52 NEMA
LITE at Wiscassett on 9/8/18
Mike Rivard, from Woonsocket,
RI, passed away from COVID on December 29, 2020. He was the
owner of the tire company, The Tire Doctor, out of
Blackstone, MA. He was a lifelong racer in karts, supers,
and drag racing, but his favorites were the Midgets.
Following his passion, he traveled the country to watch
races.
In the past decade, he and his company became
a race sponsor at several events including the Boston Louie
Memorial. He raced his own #37 dirt Midget everywhere from
the Northeast to Indiana and in 2018 and 2019, Mike along
with Kevin Park competed in the NEMA LITES Series with
Mike's son, Tyler, behind the wheel.
"Whenever Mike
was around, I can guarantee everyone was laughing and having
a great time. He could light up the room," remembers Bobby
Seymour.
For the entire 2021 NEMA LITES season, we
are honoring Mike by raising $100 per event for one lucky
driver in Mike's name.
NEMA would like to extend a
special thanks to his friends:
Kevin Park
Paul MacFee
Jackie Parker
Bobby Seymour
-
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
4th, 2021 NEMA Midgets & NEMA LITES
Zych, Trainor Take Coveted Oswego Classic
NEMA Victories
On Saturday, September 4th NEMA rolled into the
Oswego Speedway for the first time in nearly eight years.
The wheel-to -wheel action of the midgets did not
disappoint, topping speeds of over 135 MPH at "The Big O".
John Zych triumphed after an intense battle with Matt
O'Brien, and Jake Trainor came through the field to win the
NEMA LITES race in thrilling fashion with three laps to go.
In the LITES feature, Joey Bailey jumped out into an
early lead in the Scrivani #21. Bailey had won the heat race
event earlier in the day in convincing fashion. It appeared
as if Bailey would take down his first even NEMA LITES
feature win, but behind him, points leader Jake Trainor was
pouncing through the field in the Seymour #29.
As
the laps wound down, Trainor was reeling in Bailey, and with
six laps to go, was on his bumper. Trainor would look low,
and make the pass on Bailey, and go on to take the checkers.
Chase Locke returned to the LITES in the Seymour #1 and
scored a very impressive third place. PJ Stergios, Mike
Pernesiglio, Avery Stoehr, Richie Coy, Randy Cabral, Kyle
Valeri, and Mike Netishen rounded out the top ten.
In
the NEMA Midgets event, longtime club veteran Matt O'Brien
#16 led the field to the green with Mike Horn in the #A1.
O'Brien, who had posted his third ever heat race victory
earlier in the day, would jump out into the lead and solidly
be in command over the first five circuits.
Futher
back, John Zych #9 had come from the fifth spot into second
by lap three. Zych began hunting down O'Brien, while Nathan
Byrd in the Bertrand #17 ran third.
As the trio
approached lapped traffic, Zych reeled in O'Brien, and Todd
Bertrand in the #47 passed Byrd for third. With five laps to
go, Zych made his bid for the lead and passed O'Brien on the
bottom. Bertrand would pass O'Brien on the next lap. As the
laps wound down, Bertrand would get within 3 car lengths of
Zych. Zych took down the victory over Bertrand, Randy
Cabral, Avery Stoehr, O'Brien, Byrd, Mike Horn, Jake
Trainor, Doug Cleveland and Eric Bacon.
NEMA's 1000th Race - Star Speedway - 8/23/14
CARLSON - CABRAL - ZYCH
Recognizing
Some NEMA Milestones
Spring, 2016 -- The Northeastern Midget
Association will open the season at Star Speedway on May 21.
It will be the 1018th point-paying race in the club's
63-year history.
Passing unheralded was the club's
1,000th race at Star Speedway on August 23, 2014. Randy
Cabral was the winner, besting John Zych Jr. and Seth
Carlson.
New England's oldest and most enduring
touring division, NEMA was formed in the late spring of 1953
at the Thompson clubhouse. Fred Meeker was the first NEMA
winner at Seekonk Speedway on May 30, 1953. New England Auto
Racing Hall of Famer Bill Eldridge won the next afternoon at
Waterford.
The NEMA Lites open at Thompson Speedway's
Icebreaker on April 9. There have been 106 races for a
division that started with an exhibition run at New
London-Waterford in 2008. The 100th Lites race was won by
Danny Cugini at Lee on July 17 of last year.
With two
victories last year, Randy Cabral is now tied with Nokie
Fornoro in fourth place on NEMA's all-time win list with 47.
He has 16 seasons with a least one victory tying him with
Bobby Seymour on that list. They have come consecutively,
equaling a NEMA standard set by National Midget Hall of
Famer Dave Humphrey. Most of Cabral's wins have come in Tim
Bertrand's No. 47 but it all started when an upstart Cabral
captured the 2000 Boston Louie in a family car.
Star
Speedway, with 103 races going back to 1968, is the leader
among tracks hosting NEMA events. Randy Cabral tops active
NEMA competitors with four Star wins including three of the
last four. John Zych Jr. has also won at Star.
NEMA
is clearly one of the most competitive open cockpit
divisions in the country. Over the past six years, there
have been 23 different NEMA winners and in all but one of
those seasons, at least one "first-timer" appeared. Over
that span John Zych Jr., Todd Bertrand, Avery Stoehr and
Seth Carlson have become top contenders. Danny Cugini and
Jim Chambers were first time winners in 2015. Bertrand,
Stoehr and Cugini are all products of the NEMA Lites. The
Lites have had 20-different winners in the past three
seasons, champion Anthony Payne and Megan Cugini among the
2015 first timers. Designed with competiveness in the
forefront nine years ago, the Lites are a true success
story.
Nominations are now being accepted for the
New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame. The nomination form
and procedure are available on the New England Antique
Racers' website - www.near1.org. Please disregard the posted
deadlines.
Those with NEMA connections already
enshrined are Gene Angelillo, Chuck Arnold, Burt Brooks, Ray
Brown,Joe Csiki, Bill Eldridge, Frank Ferrara, Drew Fornoro,
Dave Humphrey, Johnny Kay, Wen Kelly, Rollie Lindblad, John
McCarthy, George Monsen, Al Pillion, Billy Randall, Marvin
Rifchin, Mike Scrivani Sr., Louie Seymour, Hank Stevens, Ed
Stone and Bentley Warren.
