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SAT. SEPT. 12th, 2015 |
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Coby, Cabral Capture
O’Brien Memorial
NEMA Speedbowl Victories |
Waterford, CT - Doug Coby beat back a
mid race restart challenge from reigning champion, Randy
Cabral, to capture the 25 lap NEMA feature at the New London
Waterford Speedbowl this past Saturday night. In the Lites
division, Randy Cabral took down a thrilling victory, even
as the rain started to fall throughout the final laps in the
race billed as the Jim O'Brien 16 NEMA Lites Memorial event,
memorializing an "anchor" club member. O'Brien's family were
on hand to celebrate the victories with both drivers in
front of a packed house.
Jim Santa Maria and Paul
Scally brought the field down for the green flag after a
quick hot lap session to ensure the damp track surface was
ready for action. Reigning NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Champion, Doug Coby, was sixth on the grid, but quickly
blasted his way through the field. At the end of lap two,
Coby had command and quickly set a torrid pace. Coby's
fastest laps a 12.93 and 91 respectively, came right before
and right after the caution flew on lap twelve. When the
caution flew, Coby had stretched his lead out to over a
straightaway.
On the restart, Coby lined up next to
teammate Cabral, and got the jump coming off of turn four.
Cabral used the momentum of the high line to draw even with
Coby coming off of turn two, and the duo would run side by
side for the next three laps.
"I knew Randy was up
there, but we were really good on the bottom and had more if
we needed it. I was hoping he'd continue to run it in harder
and harder, as I knew if I could keep him up there he would
eventually over heat the right rear and get loose," said
Coby.
Coby then set sail and never looked back,
taking down the victory over Cabral by ten car lengths, and
a hard charging John Zych Jr.
"Tim (Bertrand) knows
what he's doing with these cars. I told him what I wanted
tonight, and he gave me exactly that. The only thing I
touched on the car during the feature was the steering
wheel," joked Coby. "I never knew much about NEMA as a club
until I started running these cars a few years back. It's a
great group of people, and the series is super competitive.
I also didn't know Jim O'Brien, but from what I understand
he did a ton for NEMA and it's an honor to win this race in
his memory," he said.
It was Coby's second NEMA win
of the season in the #74 K&N Engineering machine for
Bertrand Motorsports, the first coming at Chemung.
In the Lites feature, RJ Tufano got the lead early, after a
multi car crash taking out Scott Bigelow and Andy Barrows,
halted the racing action on the first lap. On the restart,
Tufano jumped out into the lead, and looked to be the car to
beat.
Further back, Randy Cabral was working his way
to the front in his family owned #35 car, and behind him,
Anthony Nocella in the Frank Manafort #76.
As the
leaders approached lapped traffic, Cabral made a bid for the
lead, and Nocella then made it three wide, briefly drawing
even with Tufano, before disaster struck and the engine
expired in his car.
On the restart, Cabral blasted
to the outside, taking the lead from Tufano, and at this
point, young gun Anthony Payne entered the mix as well.
Shortly after that, a light rain started to fall, and the
cars started to loosen up in the final laps. Cabral hung on
to take down the victory over Tufano and Payne.
"It's
an honor to win this race. Jim O'Brien was out to see the
little guy succeed, and my dad & I have always been the
little guys," said Cabral. "We literally have less than four
thousand dollars invested in this car, and we run used tires
on it in 90% of the races. I think we would have made Jim
proud tonight," he said.
NEMA's final event occurs at
the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in October, with NEMA
running on Saturday night, and the Lites running on Sunday
afternoon. |
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NEMA LITES - SPEEDBOWL -
9/12/15 |
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Pos.
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#
|
Driver |
Hometown
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Owner |
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1 |
35 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen Cabral |
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2 |
39 |
RJ Tufano |
West Haven, CT |
RJ Tufano |
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3 |
21 |
Anthony Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Jennifer Scrivani |
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4 |
30b |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
|
5 |
25 |
Richie Morrocco |
Plainville, MA |
Rich
Morrocco |
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6 |
31 |
Paul
Bigelow |
Kensington, CT |
Paul
Bigelow |
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7 |
- |
Calvin Carroll |
- |
- |
|
8 |
9 |
Ben Mikitarian |
Northborough, MA |
John
Mikitarian |
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9 |
2 |
Jim Cataldo |
Sterling, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
|
10 |
16 |
Dennis O'Brien |
Deerfield, NH |
Chris O'Brien |
|
11 |
21w |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Jim
Chambers |
|
12 |
76 |
Anthony Nocella |
Woburn, MA |
Fank
Manafort |
|
13 |
15a |
Jim Miller |
Weymouth, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
|
14 |
32 |
Scott
Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Scott
Bigelow |
|
15 |
13 |
Ryan Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Ryan
Bigelow |
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16 |
24 |
Nikki Carroll |
- |
- |
|
17 |
29d |
Jeremy Decourcey |
Rochester, NH |
Jeremy
Decourcey |
|
18 |
46 |
Andy Barrows |
New Ipswich, NH |
Andy Barrows |
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19 |
36 |
Myles Devits |
- |
Myles
Devits |
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NEMA MIDGETS - SPEEDBOWL - 9/12/15 |
|
Pos.
|
#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
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1 |
74 |
Doug Coby |
Wetherfiled, CT |
Tim
Bertrand |
|
2 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim
Bertrand |
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3 |
9 |
John Zych Jr. |
Mendon, MA |
John Zych
Sr. |
|
4 |
15a |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
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5 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
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6 |
99 |
Jim Santa Maria |
Burlington, CT |
Jim Santa Maria |
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7 |
21 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
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8 |
7 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
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9 |
5b |
Bethany
Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
Greg
Stoehr |
|
10 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
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11 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
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12 |
39 |
Todd Bertrand |
Danielson, CT |
Todd Bertrand |
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13 |
71 |
Seth Carlson |
Brimfield, CT |
Gene
Feigel |
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O'BRIEN AWARDS |
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9/12 NL-W Speedbowl Race
Honors the Late Jim O’Brien |
On Saturday September 12th,
the Northeastern Midget Association will invade New
London-Waterford Speedbowl as the NEMA Lites will take center stage
for the first Jim O'Brien Memorial Race.
Brothers
Matt and Dennis O'Brien will both be competing in the NEMA
and Lites race cards, respectively, with Matt competing in
both events. Brother, Chris O'Brien, will be on hand as well
- as he owns the Dennis O'Brien machine. A first O'Brien
Memorial win will be a coveted one, on the minds of many
Lites racers. One of those is NEMA Champion and Lites
competitor, Randy Cabral.
"Jim was such a good guy,
and always thought about the little guy. Maybe we aren't
considered the little guys anymore, but for many years when
we were showing up with a 1979 Edmunds on a snow mobile
trailer, Jim was always there to greet us with a smile. It
would be such an honor to win this race," said five time
champion, Randy Cabral. "He did so much for the club, I'd
like all of the younger generation to understand who he was,
and the impact he had on what we have today," Cabral went on
to say.
"Jim O'Brien was a staple in the foundation
of NEMA," said NEMA President Russ Stoehr. "He was one of
the pioneers who helped pave the way for pavement midget
racing in the Northeast, as we see it today," he said.
Jim O'Brien was a legendary car owner and club officer,
who for a span of four decades personified the best of NEMA.
At a very young age, he was introduced to the Midgets by his
father and in 1970, joined the NEMA family as a car owner.
He earned feature wins with Johnny Evans, driving his Falcon
powered Kurtis, and Doug Cleveland who powered to victory in
his home built "Pink Panther" laydown chassis.
In
1975 he won the Coca-Cola dirt track championship with Hank
Stevens at the wheel. Jim was an innovative fabricator and
engine builder and with his sons by his side, he always
built his own cars and motors. For years he served as a NEMA
contest board member, once a vice-president, and for 13
consecutive years as the treasurer. His life-long dedication
to the club was truly outstanding and in 2003, he was
inducted into the NEMA Hall of Fame. However, most notably
Jim was always one that stood-up and fought for fair
competition and defended the "little guy" - racers who ran
with small budgets.
In the same spirit of Jim
O'Brien, the NEMA Lites were created with two principals -
cost effectiveness and fair competition. While the NEMA
midgets are considered the fastest midgets in the world, the
NEMA Lites boast to be "lite" on the wallet, making them the
perfect fit to highlight the Jim O'Brien memorial race. |
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