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HEAT 1
#45 - PAYNE
#81 - HEATH
#29 - BOUONOMO
#26 - STOHER
#16 - O’BRIEN
#22 - SHLATZ
#33 - SPADA
#48 - BERTRAND
#00 - CLEVELAND
#18 - GERBE
#35 - CABRAL |
HEAT 2
#25 - S. DOLAN
#17 - SEITZ
#50-PERNESGILILO
#44 - BREAULT
#36 - R. CABRAL
#2 - BUMPUS
#37 - HAMMOND
#57 - BRADBURY
#11 - BUNDY
#77 - LUGGELLE
(DNS) |
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Lee USA Speedway
July 23, 2004
Clowning around in Lee's Victory
circle are (L to R)
Joey Payne, 2nd; Winner Ben Seitz; & Randy Cabral, 3rd. |
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Lee
USA Speedway - 7/23 |
1 - 17 - Ben Seitz***
2 - 45 - Joey Payne
3 - 36 - Randy Cabral
4 - 29 - Mark Buonomo
5 - 2 - Howie Bumpus
6 - 81 - Tim Heath
7 - 26 - Russ Stoehr
8 - 37 - Shane Hammond
9 - 50 - Peter Pernesiglio
10 - 44 - Ed Breault
11 - 18 - Rich Gerbe
12 - 16 - Matt O'Brien
13 - 22 - Andy Shlatz
14 - 57 - Bob Bradbury
15 - 11 - Lee Bundy
16 - 25 - Sean Dolan - DNF
17 - 33 - Tommy Spada - DNF
18 - 47 - Tim Bertrand - DNF
19 - 35 - Glen Cabral - DNF
20 - 00 - Brian Cleveland - DNF
21 - 77 - Mike Lugelle - DNS
22 - 7ny - Adam Cantor - DNS
23 - 48 - Tim Bertrand - DNS
*** Hard Charger |
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Ben Seitz Scores His Second NEMA Win of 2004 |
Midget racing has always
been the story of split second decisions and reactions, and the 25 lapper at Lee USA
Speedway on Friday, July 23rd was certainly a case in point. On lap twenty the three-way
battle for the lead among Randy Cabral, Ben Seitz, and Joey Payne came upon a cluster of
lapped cars in turn one and the decision of high or low turned around the race.
Randy's move to the outside left him blocked and trapped up near the wall while Ben stayed
low and shot through the available hole into the lead. Joey followed through into second
place while Randy lost all his momentum in the marbles near the wall and took an entire
lap to thread the needle and resume the chase.Having posted his first ever NEMA win at the Waterford Speedbowl in May,
Ben was thrilled that Pete Valeri's Cape Cod Aggregates #17 was the first repeat winner of
2004.
As the green flag dropped for the start of the twenty-five lap feature, the outside pole
car of Sean Dolan blasted into the lead past the #16 of Matt O'Brien. Tim Heath in the #81
jumped into second from his fifth place starting slot with Randy Cabral, Ben Seitz, Joey
Payne, and Mark Buonomo (in the Seymour #29) following.
With five laps recorded, the #00 of Brian Cleveland spun
into a frightening crash into the main straight wall and came to rest demolished in the
middle of the track. A red flag allowed safety workers to help Brian from the car and
clean up the debris. Brian left the track in the ambulance with reported rib and hand/arm
injuries.
On the restart, the younger of the two Dolan brothers (Ryan runs the #15) once again took
the lead. By lap ten Randy Cabral was in close pursuit with Joey Payne right behind.
When the #48 Betrand Racing team car had dropped out of the first heat, Tim Bertrand had
hopped into the sister #47 and started at the back. On lap 11 the #33 of Tommy Spada and
the #47 tangled on the front straight with the #33 spinning to the inside grass. The #47
slid down into turn one on its right side with sparks flying from the dragging wing and
then popped back onto its wheels as it scraped along the turn one wall. Spada restarted
but the Bertrand car was towed into the pits during the red flag period.
Again on the restart, Sean Dolan took the lead but soon slowed and then dropped out of the
race with no power steering and the car uncontrollable.
Cabral took over with Seitz and Payne following until the leaders caught the slower group
on lap 20 and the split second moves determined the outcome.
In the Victory Circle interview, Ben agreed that Randy had had the better car for the
night. Without the play of traffic, Randy would surely have been the one with the win.
Mark Buonomo came home fourth with Howie Bumpus taking fifth after a many lap battle with
Tim Heath.
The NEMA Midgets next travel to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in
Scarborough, ME for an August 7th Saturday night show. |
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Photos by
Norm Marx
Race Action:
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