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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5th, 2024 |
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www.leespeedway.com |
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KYLE VALERI #17, 3rd; WINNER PJ STERGIOS #88;
and RANDY CABRAL #47, 2nd. |
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Photos by
John DaDalt |
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Heat 1 >> |
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Heat 2 >> |
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NEMA LITES - LEE USA
- 10/5/24 |
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Pos.
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#
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Driver |
Hometown
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Owner |
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1 |
88j |
PJ Stergios |
Nottingham, NH |
Matt Seymour |
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2 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Kingston, MA |
Randy
Cabral |
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3 |
17 |
Kyle Valeri |
Monument Beach, MA |
Peter Valeri |
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4 |
2 |
Joey Bailey |
Monroe, NJ |
Nick Poe |
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5 |
88 |
Tyson Adamik |
Salem, CT |
Tom Adamik |
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6 |
53 |
Dylan Coutu |
Griswold, CT |
Ron Coutu |
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7 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham, MA |
Paul Scally |
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8 |
59 |
Brayden Egan |
Ashford, CT |
Eric Egan |
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9 |
16 |
Ryan Locke |
Raymond, NH |
Dennis
O/Brien |
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10 |
44 |
Trent Goodrow |
Carver, MA |
William
Keller |
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11 |
94 |
Tiana Kibbe |
Macungle, PA |
Curt Kibbe |
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12 |
28 |
Mike Pernesiglio |
Ronkonkoma, NY |
Pete
Penesiglio Sr. |
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13 |
61 |
Dennis O/Brien |
Deerfield, NH |
Dennis
O/Brien |
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14 |
8 |
Ethan Dion |
Oakdale, CT |
Stephen, Dion |
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15 |
35 |
Jack Dumas |
Brockton, MA |
Glen
Cabral |
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16 |
7 |
Kevin Iannarelli |
Shirely, MA |
Jim
Cataldo |
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Heat 1
- 16, 17, 2, 30, 8, 35, 94, 61 |
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Heat 2
- 88j, 88, 59, 53, 47, 28, 44, 7 |
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Winner RANDY CABRAL #74 |
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Photos by
John DaDalt |
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Heat 1 >> |
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Heat 2 >> |
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NEMA MIDGETS -
LEE USA
- 10/5/24 |
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Pos. |
#
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Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
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1 |
74 |
Randy Cabral |
Kingston, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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2 |
39 |
Avery Stoehr |
Assonet, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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3 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham, MA |
Paul Scally |
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4 |
49 |
Dylan Rock |
Enfield, NH |
Dan Rock |
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5 |
A1 |
Derek Robbie |
Bellingham, MA |
Mike Horn |
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6 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
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7 |
93 |
Mike Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Mike Horn |
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8 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
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9 |
94 |
Richie Coy |
Haskell, NY |
Dave Shore |
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10 |
77 |
Jack Dumas |
Brockton, MA |
Mike Luggelle |
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Heat 1
- 30, 39, 87, A1, 94 |
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Heat 2
- 49, 74, 16, 93, 77 |
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Cabral & Stergios Take the Checkered
Flags
at Lee USA’s Oktoberfest
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The NEMA Midgets and NEMA LITES traveled to the Lee
USA Speedway for the first and final time this season for
their Russ Conway's Oktoberfest while NEMA honored Marvin
Rifchin, who was a great supporter of midget racing as the
proprietor of M&H tires.
Two drivers that have some
of the most laps driven in NEMA, Doug Cleveland in his #87
alongside Matt O'Brien in the Jim O'Brien and Son's
Engineering #16 led the NEMA Midgets
field to the green flag. Cleveland and O'Brien raced side by
side going into turn one, but coming out of turn two,
Cleveland was able to hold onto the race lead. While coming
out of turn four, Cleveland led the field followed by
O'Brien, and Derek Robbie in the #A1.
Going into
turn three on lap 2, O'Brien looked to the outside of
Cleveland, but Cleveland was able to get a run going out of
turn four to hold onto the lead. While at the same time,
Mike Horn in the #93, was able to make the pass for third
over teammate, Robbie.
On the following lap, as the
leaders raced nose to tail through turns one and two,
Cleveland entered into turn three on the high groove which
allowed for O'Brien to take the low line and drive up
alongside the inside of Cleveland coming out of turn four.
The two raced side by side going into turn one, but going
into turn two, O'Brien took over the race lead. While going
down the backstretch, Horn drove up alongside the inside of
Cleveland to take over second. Then, going into turn three,
Avery Stoehr in the Bertrand Motorsports #39, took the high
groove on the outside of Cleveland to take over third. While
coming out of turn four, Randy Cabral in the Bertrand
Motorsports #74, was able to take over fourth over
Cleveland.
With six laps complete, O'Brien continued
to show the way around followed by Horn, Stoehr, and Cabral,
while a battle for fifth occurred between Robbie, Cleveland,
and The Dangerous One, Paul Scally in the #30. On lap 9,
Scally was able to get a run going on the outside of
Cleveland coming out of turn four to take over the fifth
going into turn one.
At the halfway point in the
NEMA Midgets feature, O'Brien continued to lead over Horn,
as Horn worked to close the two car length gap between the
two followed by Stoehr in third.
On lap 17, as the
leaders started to encounter lapped traffic, O'Brien created
additional distance between him and Horn while Stoehr closed
within a car length of Horn.
Two laps later, as the
leaders cleared the lapped cars, Horn was able to close in
on O'Brien and was now within striking distance for the race
lead.
On lap 20, while going into turn one, Horn
looked to the inside of O'Brien, but O'Brien was able to
hold Horn off and maintain the race lead. But Horn remained
on the back bumper of O'Brien.
While on lap 22, going
into turn three, Horn once again looked to the inside of
O'Brien but O'Brien was able to continue his drive on the
outside groove and hold onto the lead once again.
As
the leaders came to the white flag, Horn now drove to the
outside of O'Brien going down the front stretch and looked
to take the inside groove from O'Brien but O'Brien was able
to continue his drive along the outside of Horn. While going
into turn four, unfortunately, the leaders made contact and
a caution flag was waved on the track. O'Brien and Horn were
able to rejoin the tail of the field.
As the drivers
realigned in a double file restart, Stoehr alongside Cabral
led the field back to the green flag. Stoehr and Cabral
raced side by side going into turn one, but Cabral was able
to work the high groove to take over the race lead going
down the backstretch.
As the field came to the
checkered flag, Cabral took the win followed by Stoehr and
Scally to round out the podium.
In a victory lane
interview, Cabral commented on his win, "I didn't deserve
this win, this was Matt O'Brien's win, he was trying hard.
This really wasn't my race to win, I just happened to be in
the right place at the right time. I saved some for the end
but thought I ran out of a chance with that at lap 20. It is
awesome to win this race in honor of Marvin. I won the first
Marvin Rifchin race in 2006. Marvin was the guy that helped
out the little guys."
To round out the top 5 were
strong finishes by Randy Cabral #74, Avery Stoehr #39, Paul
Scally #30, Dylan Rock #49, and Derek Robbie #A1
As
the season comes to a close with only one race remaining for
the NEMA Midgets, Cabral's win tightens the points lead
currently held by Stoehr. As Stoehr leads the current driver
championship points battle by 30 points going into the final
race of the season at the New London Waterford Speedbowl on
October 19th. While a battle for third shapes up between
Paul Scally and Matt O'Brien. Who will walk away as the 2024
NEMA Champion? Will it be Avery Stoehr who is looking to go
for three in a row? Or will be the 2021 NEMA Champion, Randy
Cabral?
A few races later, the
NEMA LITES took the track as
Ethan Dion in the #8 alongside Tyson Adamik in the #88 led
the field to the green flag. Dion led the field into turn
one followed by PJ Stergios in the Matt Seymour Racing #88J
and Adamik. Coming to the second lap, Stergios took the
outside groove to drive up alongside the outside of Dion
going down the front stretch where the two raced side by
side going into turn one. But going down the backstretch,
Stergios took over the race lead and started to pull away
and create a four car length gap between him and Dion
followed by Adamik. As a battle for fourth occurred between
Randy Cabral in the #47 and Dylan Coutu in REDline
Motorsports #53.
On the second lap, as Stergios
continued to extend his lead, Cabral threaded his way
through the field and took the low line going into turn one
to take over the second position over Adamik, while
following the same line as Cabral, Kyle Valeri in the Valeri
Motorsports #17, worked his way into fourth over Coutu.
Going down the backstretch on lap 6, Valeri was able to
drive up alongside Adamik to take over third.
By lap
11, Stergios held a one second lead over Cabral, Valeri, and
Adamik. While a close battle for fifth occurred between
Coutu and Joey Bailey in #2.
On lap 15, Stergios
began to encounter lapped traffic, this allowed for Cabral
to close the gap between them.
As the laps began to
tick down, Stergios held almost a two second lead over
Cabral and Valeri. While Adamik, Coutu, and Bailey raced
nose to tail in a battle for fourth.
As the
checkered flag waved for Stergios, Cabral, and Valeri to
round out the podium. While Bailey was able to edge out
Adamik and Coutu for fourth.
In a victory lane
interview, PJ Stergios commented on his win, "We had some
luck on our side tonight, we had a fast racecar. I have to
thank the whole team, there are a lot of people that make
this happen. When you have this fast of a racecar, it makes
it a lot easier. We have been working on this car all year
and have been trying things we have never tried before and
it showed tonight."
The LITES top 10 saw strong
finishes by PJ Stergios #88J, Randy Cabral #47, Kyle Valeri
#17, Joey Bailey #2, Tyson Adamik #88, Dylan Coutu #53, Paul
Scally #30, Brayden Egan #59, Ryan Locke #16, and Trent
Goodrow #44.
A tight championship points battle
forms between Randy Cabral and Kyle Valeri, as Cabral leads
the current points standings by 22 points followed by Joey
Bailey currently in third. With two races remaining in the
NEMA LITES season, you will not want to miss out on the
action packed weekends of racing. The NEMA LITES will take
the track on Sunday at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports
Park for the 59th Annual Sunoco World Series. We hope to see
you there!
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