Hudson Top Three: Left - Mark Buonomo, 2nd
Center - Howie Bumpus, 1st    Right - Drew Fonoro, 3rd

Fornoro, Bumpus NEMA Winners
at Star and Hudson

July 12-13 - Star and Hudson

There are some advantages to being Drew Fornoro. When pushed, Fornoro admits it. He clearly took rookie Ben Seitz to school Saturday night at Star.

"If somebody thinks I'm behind them and it shakes them up that’s an advantage I guess," said Fornoro who won his 80th career feature at Star. A move in turn one resulted in a Seitz bobble in turn three, giving Fornoro the room he needed to take the lead.

Fornoro is quick to add, however, "I did that same thing a lot of years to a lot of guys with a lot more experience than these kids." Fornoro, in fact, is very high on NEMA’s younger drivers and that includes Seitz, who came to the club from Legends Racing. Seitz drives the Sam LaRusso – Cape Cod Aggravates #17.

Seitz, who held on for second, was smart enough to keep learning. "Drew ran a flawless line," said Seitz. "He didn’t make one mistake. He’s silk with traffic. He knows where to be; he knows which line is going to go. He knows it before it actually happens."

Fornoro feels like the Campanale Brothers #54 was the best car at Thompson’s Mini Indy. It broke an exhaust valve. "This is a little reprieve," he said after the Star win.

Howard Bumpus found the Hudson win "really sweet because going in it was a track I had never won at." He figured it was "10-to-12 years since I raced here." Actually over half of the competitors were at Hudson for the first time.

"It was really pretty clean," continued Bumpus, impressed with way the younger drivers adapted. "For the most part, everybody did a good job. It was a good show."

Bumpus, who now has six career NEMA wins, took the checkered last summer when the club visited Canaan USA Speedway for the first time."

Both runners-up on the Southern New Hampshire tour expressed joy in the finish. Mark Buonomo out-dueled Drew Fornoro to grab second at Hudson is a classic duel. "It was fun," said Buonomo who wouldn’t quit working the outside and finally took second place back with just three laps left. "I think we’ve got it figured out," announced Buonomo who has had his share of woes this season.

Seitz had to battle Ryan Dolan, Tim Bertrand and Bobby Santos III through a ton of traffic to hold on to second. "You don’t know if lapped traffic is going to go up or down," Seitz said. "It’s confusing but it’s good for the fans. I know I saw a good race from where I was sitting." Star marked the second time this season Seitz, who drives the Cape Cod Aggregates sponsored #17, led a race. The Rookie was also a leader at Waterford earlier this year. The New Jersey native ran with the leaders most the way at Hudson before late problems.

A tire going flat thwarted Santos’ last-lap front-stretch bid for second at Star. He did a great job holding on to the car.

2002 rookies Seitz, Tim Heath and Bobby Santos III continue a developing trend in NEMA. Two members of the 2001 Rookie class – Ryan Dolan and Tim Bertrand – have won in 2002. Dolan, Adam Cantor, Kyle Carpenter and Bertrand are all in the top-10 in points.

Each race attracted 29 cars. Both Star and Hudson had a pre-green flag "pit party" in celebration of NEMA’s golden anniversary,

There was yellow before the first lap was over at both tracks. Doug Cleveland, Larry Cheetham, Bob Bradbury, Jeff Horn and Chuck Morton were involved in the first lap crash at Star. All but Bradbury showed up at Hudson.

The "ride" of the weekend belonged to Tim Heath who "disappeared" after leaving the track in turn two at Hudson.