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| Saturday, September
3rd, 2016 |
NEMA LITES ONLY |
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| CABRAL - PAYNE -
HAMILTON |
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NEMA LITES - NL-WS - 9/3/16 |
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Pos.
|
#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
|
1 |
21 |
Anthony Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Mike Scrivani |
|
2 |
35 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen Cabral |
|
3 |
76 |
Kyle Hamilton |
Speedway, IN |
Frank Manafort |
|
4 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
|
5 |
12 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Jim Chambers |
|
6 |
57 |
PJ Stergios |
Candia, NH |
Bill Stergios |
|
7 |
51 |
Danny Cugini |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
|
8 |
84 |
Joey Ciprianno III |
- |
Joey Ciprianno III |
|
9 |
32 |
Ryan Bigelow |
East Hampton, CT |
Scot Bigelow |
|
10 |
9 |
Ben Mikitarian |
Northborough, MA |
John Mikitarian |
|
11 |
39 |
RJ Tufano |
West Haven, CT |
RJ Tufano |
|
12 |
46x |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Andy Barrows |
|
13 |
38 |
Ryan Locke |
Raymond, NH |
Ken Locke |
|
14 |
20 |
Jeremy Decourcy |
Rochester, NH |
Jeremy Decourcy |
|
15 |
17 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
|
16 |
2 |
Jim Cataldo |
Sterling, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
|
17 |
3 |
Chris Vose |
Gloversville, NY |
Chris Vose |
18
DNF |
15a |
Bethany Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
19
DNF |
16 |
Dennis O"Brien |
Deerfield, NH |
Chris O'Brien |
20
DNF |
42 |
Juris Kupris |
Brooklyn, NY |
Christian Briggs |
21
DNF |
36 |
Myles Devits |
- |
Glen Cabral |
22
DNS |
44 |
Christian Briggs |
Mattapoisett, MA |
Christian Briggs |
23
DNS |
13 |
Scott Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Randy Bigelow |
|
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Anthony Payne
Victorious
in O’Brien Memorial |
New London, CT -
Anthony Payne beat back a late race charge from multi time
NEMA champion, Randy Cabral, to take down a coveted win at
the Jim O'Brien Memorial this past Saturday evening at the
New-London Waterford Speedbowl. A full field of 21 NEMA
Lites were on hand for the event to celebrate the O'Brien
Memorial.
O'Brien's time in NEMA crossed a span of
four decades, which 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.
On Saturday
evening, at the drop of the green, Paul Scally led the 21
car field to the green as Cabral, Payne and Ben Mikitarian
followed. Cabral rocketed into the lead, only to have it
called back on lap 3 as Bethany Stoehr came to a stop on the
back straight.
On the restart, Cabral jumped out into
the lead over Scally, Jim Chambers, Mikitarian, and Ryan
Locke. Just two laps later, a yellow and then red flag flew
for Juris Kupris, who was into the turn three wall, hard
with heavy damage. Kupris was taken in the ambulance, but
escaped with minor leg injuries.
When the action
picked back up, Payne shot into the lead, followed by
Cabral, Scally, Mikitarian and Danny Cugini from his 7th
starting spot. The top five ran under a blanket, as further
back PJ Stergios and visitor, Kyle Hamilton were slicing
their way through the field.
By lap 10, Payne and
Cabral were still puling away while Stergios and Hamilton
broke the top 6 passing high and low.
Even though the
top 10 were strung out by the 15th lap, the fast closing
Stergios and Hamiliton finally broke the top 5. Mikitarian
and 5th place starter Matt O'Brien were starting to fade
back in the field.
Over the final laps, the leaders
were now encountering heavy lapped traffic, but Denis
O'Brien brought out the yellow, stalled on the back
straight.
On the single file restart, Cabral turned
up the pressure on leader Payne, but Payne was able to keep
the lead. Hamilton put pressure on Stergios and got by in
the closing laps for third. At the checkers Payne pulled
away followed by Cabral, Hamilton, Scally and Jim Chambers
who hung in the top five all day. Stergios, Danny Cugini,
Joey Cipriano, Ryan Bigelow and Ben Mikitarian rounded out
the top ten.
"It means a lot to win the Jim O'Brien
memorial. He did so much for the club, and was very
instrumental in the success of the club for many years,"
said Payne. "I'm excited for our team and can't thank the
Scrivani family enough, Mike and Lu Jarrett, Jim Susi and
the whole crew," he said.
Third place Kyle Hamilton
enjoyed his second trip and second podium with the Lites
this year as well. "The biggest adjustment I had to make
when running a wing car was the corner entry speed. You have
to drive in so much deeper to get the car to set. Once I
figured that out, I was able to pass a lot more cars. With
the way that NEMA does large inverts we've had to fight from
deep in the pack and that has been a fun challenge. Last
night the first 5 laps were hectic getting into position.
Once we got in line I worked some passes. Waterford is
awesome because you can sail the car down into the corner on
the flat part and make some exciting passes. My final pass
on Stergios was really fun because both of our tires were
wearing down and we had to really fight. That's what I love
about coming to run on the east coast. Clean hard racing!,"
he concluded. |
NEMA Celebrates
O’Brien Memorial at
New London Waterford Speedbowl |
Saturday night 9/3, when the
NEMA Lites series rolls into the New London-Waterford
Speedbowl, it will be to celebrate legendary car owner and
club supporter, Jim O'Brien.
Brothers Matt and Dennis
O'Brien will both be competing - Dennis in a car owned by
brother, Chris O'Brien and Matt in an Andy Barrows owned
BEAST Chassis. An 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.
O'Brien's time in NEMA crossed a
span of four decades, which 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.
The O'Brien family would like to thank the race
sponsors, they are as follows:
Title Sponsors:
R.E. Dinneen Architects
United Consultants
Motor Cars
International
Spirit of
Jim O' Brien Awards Presented by:
Seymour
Performance Products
Bronze Sponsors:
The Richmond Group, Inc.
Mike & Lu Jarrett
Daniel O'Brien
Eileen Engels
Chris O'Brien
The Oullette Family
Mike Scrivani
Liz
Greenberg |
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