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Bertrand, Stergios Claim Prestigious
Boston
Louie Memorial Wins |
Thursday night's NEMA Boston Louie Memorial Classic
did not disappoint any of the 4000+ fans in attendance at
Seekonk, MA Speedway and turned out to be the perfect event
for NEMA's second nationally televised races in its 61 year
history. Both the NEMA Midgets and the NEMA Lites provided
all the action and drama a spectator or viewer could want
and brought an impressive field of nearly fifty cars from up
and down the East Coast to Seekonk Speedway.
The
season's largest field of midgets turned out for the series'
most prestigious race of the season. Something the late
"Boston" Louie Seymour - the "man who traveled a million
miles" would have been proud of.
In the NEMA event,
pole sitter Jim Santa Maria jumped out into an early lead.
He was quickly pursued by reigning NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour champion, Doug Coby - in the Bertrand Motorports #74.
Coby, a heat winner, looked to catch Santa Maria in lapped
traffic on the tenth circuit, but then began fading, with
what ended up being a mechanical issue that ended his night
later in the race.
Eleven laps in, Coby was overtaken
by 5 time champion and defending race winner, Randy Cabral,
and then Cabral quickly moved by Santa Maria into the lead.
Further back, Todd Bertrand in the Bertrand Motorsports #39,
was making a charge to the front. He moved into second on
the fourteenth circuit, and began to chop away at Cabral's
ten car length lead.
Bertrand's break came when the
caution would fly with six laps remaining.
"I had been
running the high line, letting the car 'float' through the
corners, and saving my tires. I saw Randy haze the right
rear tire a few times, and knew if he kept doing that, I'd
have a good shot," said Bertrand.
And a shot he did
have. When the green flag flew, Bertrand rocketed by Cabral
for the lead, and set a blistering pace over the final
circuits, turning in an amazing 11.03 fast lap of the day on
the 26th lap. He went on to claim a prestigious and
impressive victory over Cabral, and John Zych, who also had
a very strong run in the JZ Racing #9. Avery Stoehr and
former race champion Jeff Abold rounded out the top five.
"This is like a dream come true," said Bertrand. "I
can't believe we are here in victory lane. The car was
absolutely perfect today, and we got some good breaks. I
can't thank my Dad, brother, and girlfriend (Mariah) enough
for all they do to get me here to victory lane," he
concluded.
In the Lites race, defending race
champion PJ Stergios started the race from the pole, but
didn't have an easy task at hand. He jumped out into the
lead early, but his day didn't start with a perfect car.
"We struggled all day with a tight car. We made some
really big changes before the feature to try to free the car
up, and they worked out perfect," he said.
Stergios
fended off a strong field of 26 competitors over three
restarts through out the course of the feature.
An
impressive run was put forth by Dylan Duhaime, who chased
Stergios home in second, and also started deep in the field,
in thirteenth spot.
"We discovered that the shock
tower on the car was cracked right before practice. We were
going to go home, and Bobby Seymour came over and didn't
want to hear it. The Keith Rocco team helped us fix the car
in the pits, and we made it out for the second practice. The
car was loose, but fast," he went on to say.
Duhaime's break came with three laps to go, running fourth,
when second and third place runners Randy Cabral and Richie
Morrocco came together trying to get around a lapped car,
and brought out the caution.
On the restart, Stergios
held off Duhaime and claimed the victory. Ryan Bigelow had
an exceptional run for a podium finish in third, followed by
Anthony Payne, who also had a great run from deep in the
field. Jim Chambers rounded out the top five.
NEMA
heads to the Oswego Speedway this coming Saturday for the
King of the Wings race, an "open" event with time trials, to
encourage outside competitors to compete. |
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RANDY CABRALL - TODD
BERTRAND - JOHN ZYCH JR. |
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NEMA MIDGETS - SEEKONK -
7/2/15 |
Pos.
|
#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
1 |
39 |
Todd Bertrand |
Sufield, CT |
Todd Bertrand |
2 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim
Bertrand |
3 |
9 |
John Zych Jr. |
Mendon,MA |
John Zych
Sr. |
4 |
15a |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
5 |
29 |
Jeff Abold |
Baldwinsville, NY |
- |
6 |
71 |
Seth Carlson |
Brimfield, CT |
Gene
Feigel |
7 |
51 |
Danny Cugini |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
8 |
93 |
Jake Smith |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Jake Smith |
9 |
44b |
Bethany
Stoehr |
Bridgewater,
MA |
Ed Breault |
10 |
46 |
Kenney Johnson |
Bethany, CT |
Jeff Johnson |
11 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
12 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
13 |
77 |
Steve Powers |
- |
Mike Luggelle |
14 DNF |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
15 DNF |
21 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
16 DNF |
13 |
Ryan Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Randy
Bigelow |
17 DNF |
99b |
Jim Santa Maria |
Burlington, CT |
Susan Santa
Maria |
18 DNF |
74 |
Doug Coby |
Wethersfield,
CT |
Tim
Bertrand |
19 DNF |
44 |
Russ Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
20 DNS |
7 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
21 DNS |
1s |
Jeff Horn |
Ashland, MA |
- |
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DYLAN DUHAIME - PJ
STERGOIS - RYAN BIGELOW |
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NEMA LITES - SEEKONK - 7/2/15 |
Pos.
|
#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
1 |
11 |
PJ Stergois |
Candia, NH |
PJ Stergios |
2 |
57 |
Dylan Duhaime |
Loudon, NH |
Shawn Duhaime |
3 |
32 |
Ryan
Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Scott
Bigelow |
4 |
21 |
Anthony Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Jennifer Scrivani |
5 |
21w |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Jim Chambers |
6 |
46 |
Andy Barrows |
New Ipswitch, NH |
Andy Barrows |
7 |
8 |
Jessica Bean |
Farmland, IN |
- |
8 |
00 |
Jake Nelke |
- |
- |
9 |
24 |
Calvin Carroll |
Andover, NJ |
- |
10 |
31 |
Paul Bigelow |
Kensington, CT |
Paul
Bigelow |
11 |
41 |
Megan CuginI |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
12 |
18 |
DJ Moniz |
New Bedford, MA |
Dave Moniz |
13 |
9m |
Ben Mikitarain |
Northborough, MA |
John Mikitarain |
14 |
29d |
Jeremy DeCourcey |
Rochester NH |
Jeremy DeCourcey |
15 |
5c |
Niki Carroll |
Andover, NJ |
- |
16 DNF |
35 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen Cabral |
17 DNF |
25 |
Richie Morrocco |
Plainville, MA |
Rich Morrocco |
18 DNF |
39 |
Nic Davidson |
Greensboro, NC |
- |
19 DNF |
76 |
Anthony Nocella |
Woburn, MA |
Frank
Manafort |
20 DNF |
51 |
Danny Cugini |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
21 DNF |
12 |
Kyle Craker |
Lewisberry, PA |
- |
22 DNF |
9nc |
Chris Lamb |
Greensboro, NC |
- |
23 DNF |
16 |
Dennis O'Brien |
Deerfield, NH |
Chris O'Brien |
24 DNF |
2 |
Jim Cataldo |
Sterling, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
25 DNS |
38 |
Jeff Locke |
Raymond, NH |
Jeff Locke |
26 DNS |
52 |
Kevin Park |
Foxboro,
MA |
Kevin Park |
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