|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Russ Stoehr #45 vs Randy Cabral #47 |
 |
|
Race Winner Russ
Stoehr #45 |
 |
|
Dumo's Desire Racing
#45 |
 |
2011 Owner Champion -
Tim Bertrand
2011
Driver Champion - Randy Cabral |
|
|
Russ Stoehr & Randy Cabral
Score at Thompson WS |
Thompson, CT – Russ Stoehr won the battle and
Randy Cabral claimed the war in a classic Northeastern
Midget Association race Sunday, oCTOBER 16 at Thompson Speedway’s
World Series. Taking the lead on a lap-19 restart,
Stoehr went on to capture the 25-lapper. A second was
more than enough to give Cabral and car-owner Tim
Bertrand their third Driver and Owner Championships in the last four
years.
It was the fifth win of the season for
Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45) who got exactly what he needed
when the race was stopped for the second time. Lining up
outside Cabral, the pace setter since lap two, Stoehr
grabbed the lead heading into one. Over the next five
laps, interrupted by a third caution, it was an epic
tussle, Stoehr on the outside and Cabral down low.
Mike Horn (Horn 93X) watched it all from third spot
while Ben Seitz (Cantor 7ny) held off Jeff Abold (Abold
29) for fourth. Jeff Horn (Horn A1), Ted Christopher
(deRitis 75), B.J. MacDonald (MacDonald 49), Joey Payne
(Breault 44) and Erica Santos (Santos 98s) completed the
top 10.
Stoehr was second, several car lengths
behind, when the second yellow showed. “Toward the
middle of the race I thought I’d save the tires if
something presented itself later,” said Stoehr. “[The
restart] was the opportunity I was waiting for. I
thought we’d be better at the end and we were.”
“Without the caution, it was [Randy’s] race,” added
Stoehr, a winner at Thompson for the first time since
2002.
Trouble “taking off,” was definitely a
Cabral problem. “On one restart I tried to jump and he
actually out-jumped me,” Cabral said.
Still, on
either side of a single file restart on lap 20, it was
classic stuff. Cabral’s consistency made inside
challenges heading into one and three. “I had him once
or twice but when I got by him I couldn’t make it
stick,” offered Cabral, second for the sixth time this
season. “Every time I caught him [Russ] was pinching me
just enough. He knew exactly what to do.”
The car
spent in “putting on a show,” Cabral said he was
“thinking about the big picture” over the final two
laps.
Cabral had the fastest feature lap (18.076)
and it came early. Stoehr’s fastest lap – 18.163 – came
late. Coming from sixth, Cabral passed Horn for the lead
on lap two. On the first restart (following a red flag),
Stoehr jumped from fourth to second but Cabral, handling
traffic with ease, again opened up a sizable lead.
In the end, the race came to Stoehr.
Christopher, subbing for an ill Chris deRitis, came from
the rear as did Payne, involved in the first crash.
 Cabral’s
18.076 lap converts to 129.453 miles per hour.
”We’ve
got all winter to think about it,” is the way Stoehr,
the 2010 champion, explained winning the last race of
the season. He said, “all-in-all, the Dumo’s Desire team
had a “pretty successful” season. “I told my team to
hold its head high. We have a lot to proud of.”
The
runner-up spot closed out a great second half for the
Bertrand team. Cabral claiming “the first half of the
year I was terrible.” Three wins and six seconds is a
great season.
The
NEMA powers that be rounded up 24 cars for the World
Series including the Santos 98s that Erica Santos drove
to a 10th spot. The top 12 cars completed all 25 lap
with the next two only a lap down.
|
|
NEMA Midgets Feature -
Thompson
- 10/16 |
|
Pos. |
# |
Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
|
1 |
45 |
Russ Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Dumo's Desire
Racing |
|
2 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim Bertrand |
|
3 |
93x |
Mike Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Jeff Horn |
|
4 |
7ny |
Ben Seitz |
Bourne, MA |
Cantor Racing |
|
5 |
29 |
Jeff Abold |
Baldwinsville,
NY |
Jeff Abold |
|
6 |
A1 |
Jeff Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Jeff Horn |
|
7 |
75 |
Ted Christopher |
Plainville, CT |
Dan
deRitis |
|
8 |
49 |
B.J. MacDonald |
Dublin, PA |
B.J. MacDonald |
|
9 |
44 |
Joey Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Ed Breault |
|
10 |
98s |
Erica Santos |
Franklin , MA |
Robert Santos Jr. |
|
11 |
25 |
Keith Botelho |
Attleboro, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
|
12 |
77 |
Shawn Torrey |
Marshield, MA |
Mike Luggelle |
|
13 |
2 |
Lee Bundy |
Kennebunkport,
ME |
Lee Bundy |
|
14 |
28 |
Paul Luggelle |
Holbrook, MA |
Paul Luggelle |
15
DNF |
3m |
Greg Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
Jim Miller |
16
DNF |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham, MA |
Paul Scally |
17
DNF |
39 |
Todd
Bertrand |
Suffield, CT |
Bertrand
Motorsports |
18
DNF |
28b |
Derek Pernesiglio |
Charlotte, NC |
Paul Luggelle |
19
DNF |
48 |
Brandon Igo |
Wilbraham, MA |
David Igo |
20
DNF |
26b |
Bethany Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
MCI Racing/
Greg Stoehr |
21
DNF |
9 |
John Zych, Jr. |
Liverpool, NY |
John Zych, Sr. |
22
DNF |
99 |
Anthony Marvuglio |
E. Bridgewater,MA |
Tammy Bourbeau |
23
DNF |
88 |
Lanson
Fornoro |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Andy Anderson |
24
DNF |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
|
Heat
1 -
9-45-3m-75-98s-29-25-77-28b-26b-39-87 dnf |
Heat 2 -
93x-7NY-47-44-99-A1-49-30-88-2-48-28 dnf
-21 dns |
|
|
|
NEMA’s Season Ends
at World
Series |
Brockton, MA – Per usual, the Northeastern
Midget Association point battle goes to the final race,
Thompson’s World Series. Thompson, the fastest venue on
the NEMA docket, has been the ultimate test for the
midgets for decades.
Thompson has been hosting
Midgets since 1940. NEMA has been a mainstay since 1960.
Randy Cabral takes a 26 point bulge on Greg
Stoehr into the 25 lap feature. Russ Stoehr sits 37 back
in third place. With eight different winners, the most
competitive NEMA campaign in several years comes to an
end at Thompson.
Mike Horn (Horn 93x) will be
looking to repeat his July 7 victory. Horn and Cabral,
Thompson’s all-time NEMA winner with nine, staged an
epic battle. Cabral and the Bertrand team will be
looking for a second straight and fifth overall World
Series win.
The Stoehr brothers are familiar with
the Thompson asphalt as well. Russ (Dumo’s Desire), who
clinched the title at last year’s World Series, has
three Thompson wins. Greg, who’ll most likely be driving
Jim Miller’s 3m, has one.
“Thompson Midget
winners is one of most impressive lists in all of
racing,” says NEMA President Mike Scrivani Jr. “All the
greats are there.” Scrivani has tasted victory at
Thompson with several drivers including Dave Humphrey,
Nokie Fornoro and Gene Bergin.
With lap times
often in the high seventeen/low eighteens, experience is
a powerful weapon at Thompson. In addition to Cabral and
the Stoehr boys, Keith Botelho (Stoehr 25), Chris
deRitis
(deRitis 75), Jeff Horn (Horn A1), Ben Seitz
(Cantor 7ny),
BJ MacDonald (MacDonald 49) and Joey
Payne (Breault 44) are all Thompson tested.
Other contenders are John Zych (Zych 9), Barry Kittredge
(Kittredge 8), Chris Leonard (Leonard 22) and Todd
Bertrand (Bertrand 39).
Thompson Speedway NEMA Winners
No. of Wins - Driver - First -
Last
9 - Randy Cabral - 2001 - 2008
6 -
Johnny Mann - 1972 - 1978
5 - Drew Fornoro - 1985 -
2003
5 - Nokie Fornoro - 1982 - 2009
4 - Johnny
Coy Sr. - 1969 - 1981
4 - Armond Holley - 1976 -
1977
3 - Bob Cicconi - 1978 - 1987
3 - Ben Seitz
- 2005 - 2007
3 - Russ Stoehr - 1994 - 2002
2 -
Mark Buonomo - 2001 - 2004
2 - Dave Humphrey - 1970
-1971
2 - Russ Klar - 1969 - 1972
2 - Hank
Rogers - 1980 - 1980
2 - Bobby White - 1979 - 1979
One-time Thompson winners: Gene Bergin (1969),
Lennie Boyd (1979), Kyle Carpenter (2002), Joey Coy
(1992), Johnny Coy Jr. (1981), Ryan Dolan (2002), Leigh
Earnshaw (1979), Ronnie Evans (1970), Mike Favulli
(1989), George Ferguson Jr. (1978), Walt Gale (1968),
Mike Horn (2011),George Monsen (1978), Joey Payne Jr.
(2000), Bobby Santos III (2003), Dutch Schaefer (1960),
Greg Stoehr (1993), Butch Walsh (1986), Hank Williams
(1960). |
|
|
