NEMA - NorthEastern Midget Association

MONADNOCK NEMA MIDGETS FEATURE WAS RAINED OUT

LITES WINNER ANTHONY NOCELLA




			Photos by Tifanny Rose Payne



			Photos by Bill VanSlyke

Nocella, Rain Win at Monadnock
for Iron Mike Memorial

Bridgewater, MA - The much anticipated Iron Mike Memorial was met Saturday afternoon by partly cloudy skies, and 0% chance of rain for most of the afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, surprise showers deemed mother nature the winner of the NEMA feature, while Anthony Nocella took down the NEMA Lite portion of the Iron Mike Memorial.

In the Lites feature, Nocella started in the 5th spot by virtue of some early line up shuffling, and quickly went to work on the field. Driving the Frank Manafort FMR Racing #76, he quickly worked his way into the lead in the early stages of the race. By the halfway point, Nocella had the field in command, while further back, Jim Chambers was holding strong in the runner up spot, and both Randy Cabral & PJ Stergios were slicing their way through the field. At the finish, that's the way they would run with Nocella taking down the victory, followed by Chambers, Cabral, Stergios, Danny Cugini, Andy Barrows, Paul Bigelow, Scott Bigelow, Anthony Payne and Megan Cugini.

"The car was just great tonight," said Nocella, a soft spoken gentleman, of few words. "The crew put a great car under me, and we were able to get to the front quickly," he said.

In NEMA action earlier in the day, Randy Cabral paced the field with a blistering 11.71 time during practice, the fastest to date by a midget at Monadnock. 2013 champion John Zych was closely in pursuit with a 11.86. In heat race action, Joey Payne won the first heat in the Bertrand 74 over Avery Stoehr, and in the second heat, Seth Carlson took down the victory, while Cabral charged from last to second.

The Iron Mike Memorial NEMA feature has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 5th with qualifying and the line up set from this past Saturday evening's qualifying races. The Lites will run a full program on that evening, and NEMA will run double features - celebrating the life and racing career of Shane Hammond with the second feature that night.

NEMA picks back up its schedule on July 1 with the Boston Louie Memorial at Seekonk Speedway, slated to be broadcast by Speed Sport/MAV TV.

NEMA LITES - MONADNOCK - 6/20/15

Pos.	#	Driver	Hometown	Owner
1	76	*Anthony Nocella*	*Woburn, MA*	*Frank Manafort*
2	*21w*	Jim Chambers	Atkinson, NH	Jim Chambers
3	35	Randy Cabral	Plymouth, MA	Glen Cabral
4	11	*PJ Stergois*	Candia, NH	*PJ Stergios*
5	51	*Danny CuginI*	*Marshfield, MA*	*D. Cugini*
6	*46x*	*Andy Barrows*	New Ipswich, NH	*Andy Barrows*
7	31	*Paul Bigelow*	Kensington, CT	*Paul Bigelow*
8	32	*Scott* Bigelow	E. Hampton, CT	Scott *Bigelow*
9	21	Anthony Payne	*Fairlawn, NJ*	*Jennifer Scrivani*
10	41	Megan *CuginI*	*Marshfield, MA*	*Glen Cugin*i
11	03	*Dennis Potter*	New Boston, NH	*Dennis Potter*
12	2	Jim Cataldo	Sterling, MA	Jim Cataldo
13 DNF	29d	Jeremy DeCourcey	-	Jeremy DeCourcey
14 DNS	95	*Jeff Shechler*	-	-

Iron Mike Memorial on Tap for NEMA

Bridgewater, MA - By Tim Bertrand/Pete Zanardi

This Saturday evening NEMA brings its extreme action to Monadnock Speedway for the Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial, remembering the long time NEMA stalwart and father of long time NEMA President and supporter, Mike Scrivani Jr. The night will feature a 30 lap feature for the NEMA feature and 30 laps for the Lites.

When Saturday rolls around, all eyes will be at the top of the points standings, with John Zych leading Danny Cugini by a narrow margin in the NEMA series - and only sixty points separating first to sixth place Randy Cabral. Eyes will also be on Joey Payne, making his first 2015 start in the Bertrand Motorsports #74 machine. Payne was a winner at Monadnock two seasons ago. In the Lites class, Danny Cugini leads Randy Cabral and Anthony Payne in the standings.

Known as a "driver's track" - Drew Fornoro holds the all time win record at the NH quarter mile. During the late 80s when NEMA frequented the 1/4-mile oval, Fornoro, in the Gene Angelillo machine, dominated with wins at the speedway during the 1982-1986 seasons. He also won during the final two seasons that the Club visited the Speedway with triumphs in 1996 and 1997. Other winners at Monadnock in the modern era include Mike Seymour, Russ Stoehr, Greg Stoehr, Cabral and Payne.

All of that said, the real reason for Saturday night's race is to celebrate a legend - Iron Mike Scrivani. Proprietor of the legendary "Mike's Truck Stop" in Wrentham, MA, Scrivani's car-owning career began in the 1930s with the Big Cars and it included a successful run with the Modifieds in the late 1960s and early 70s, but Midgets, were clearly his first love.

Jerry Russo drove the Scrivani car in NEMA's first race at Seekonk Speedway on Memorial Day of 1953. The first of many wins for the Scrivani team came in 1956 at West Peabody with Russo aboard.

Butch Walsh and Nokie Fornoro won NEMA championships in Scrivani cars and are part of an extended list of drivers to have won in Scrivani equipment in both NEMA and ARDC. The group includes Dave Humphrey, Ray Burke, Dick Brown, Leigh Earnshaw, Hank Williams, Al Pillion, Billy Eldridge, Al Herman, Gene Bergin, Bert Brooks and Johnny Coy Sr. Before Iron Mike's induction into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 2008, young Mike was convinced to reminisce about his dad. Coy's win at Stafford was among the stories.

The family had two cars at Stafford, the upright wrenched by Mike Jr. and a Badger under the care of long-time family confidant Hop Harrington. It amounted to a car in each of two warring camps. They came to Stafford, stockcar ace Geoff Bodine in the Badger and Coy in the upright. Coy passed Bodine on the last lap to win.

"Hop came unglued," Mike Jr. continues. "'You beat the hometown favorite he yelled. The place would have gone nuts if Bodine had won.'" Coy, however, wanted none of it. Mike Jr. being in the owner's championship battle (which he won) was also a factor.

At first, Mike continues, "the old man didn't care. It was a good race. Then he reconsidered. He was always an upright guy. He loved the uprights. He used to call the badgers door wedges. He decided he liked what happened."

No doubt, the stories will continue to be written when NEMA returns to Monadnock this coming Saturday night.