Thompson,
CT - Drew Fornoro was "not crazy about it but I’ll take it.” He had no
choice. The veteran got the win in Sunday’s 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association
win at Thompson Speedway’s Icebreaker when the car Bobby Santos III drove failed
tech.
Santos finished a half-straightaway ahead of Fornoro but his Seymour-owned car failed the
“bulge test” and was too wide by “about a half inch.” The 17-year old
dominated the race, taking the lead on the third and last restart and quickly opening a
commanding lead.
Fornoro, in the Campanale Bros. #91, took second from Ed Breault heading into turn one
with 14 laps remaining. “I could see where he was,” said Fornoro. “I could
run as quick but I went into cruise control hoping we’d get a yellow and maybe
I’d have more than him, but it never came.”
After early problems - two yellows and a red before it was three laps old – the race
ended with 22 straight green flag laps despite a slippery surface. Santos was never
challenged..
”I thought Bobby [Seymour] was kidding when he told me[about the DQ],” said
Santos.
Seeking to correct a stagger problem, Seymour put a new wheel and tire on the car before
the feature. “In all the rushing around, I didn’t check,” he admitted.
“I’m mad at myself and I apologized to the kid for taking a win away from
him.”
It was the 83rd checkered for Fornoro, NEMA’s all-time win
leader. It was Fornoro’s sixth season opening win and it is the 21st season in which
he has won, both club records.
Adam Cantor (Cantor #7), Randy Cabral
(Cabral #36), Howard Bumpus (Berrio #2) and Joey Payne Jr. (Angelillo #45) completed the
top five. Rookie Shawn Caisse (Caisse #10c) came from 22nd to finish seventh just behind
Breault.
“There is a positive,” insisted Santos. “We know we won the race. Our goal
is to win as many races as we can and this isn’t going to slow us down. I know this
isn’t going to happen again.”
Santos started sixth and grabbed second following the first restart. He actually had the
lead when Buonomo crashed and had little trouble reclaiming it. “I knew the car was
really good and I felt pretty sure nobody was going to catch us,” he said. “The
car had more but I didn’t need to use it.”
Seventh on the final restart, Fornoro needed two laps to grab third behind Breault.
The Wirtgen America-NEMA series is now idle until a doubleheader weekend on May 10-11.
NEMA will visit Star Speedway on Saturday night and be part of Waterford Speedbowl’s
rescheduled Budweiser Modified Nationals on Sunday.
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