Seekonk Notes - Rained Out

NEMA’s Mighty Midgets Return To Seekonk
October 3rd
By Todd Baptista

The Northeastern Midget Association makes their return to Seekonk this weekend after a rain-induced hiatus of three years. The Cement Palace and the mighty midgets share a storied history that goes all the way back to the glory days of local short track racing. The then-quarter mile oval hosted nothing but Midgets on the weekly racing program from 1946 through 1948.

NEMA, the sanctioning body for the touring open wheel stars, held its first ever event at Seekonk on Memorial Day weekend in 1953. Sunday’s race at the Route 6 oval will be the 58th NEMA sanctioned event at the track.

“NEMA has become a series with very traditional stops- race tracks with lots of history, like Star Speedway in New Hampshire, Waterford, Seekonk and Oswego are examples of classic northeastern speedways,” explains NEMA media coordinator Pete Zanardi. Today, the cars sport wings atop the roll cages for added speed and agility, and are safer than ever before.

The event will be the tenth of 12 races on the 2004 NEMA calendar. Two-time feature winner Ben Seitz of Monument Beach leads the championship standings heading into this weekend’s action. A New Jersey native now living on the Cape, Seitz will be piloting the Peter Valeri-owned Cape Cod Aggregates-Valeri Construction #17, with a Beast chassis and Gaerte engine.

Randy Cabral, the son of former Seekonk Mini-Modified driver Glen Cabral, won the last NEMA event at Seekonk in October of 2001, and currently rides second to Seitz in the standings. His family-owned orange #36, with CWC chassis and Fontana motor, won at Thompson on July 1.

Defending series champion Joey Payne of Fairlawn, NJ currently rides third in points and has already waved the checkered flag twice this season, prevailing at Beech Ridge on August 7 and at Osewego Speedway on September 4th.

Eighteen-year old sensation Bobby Santos III of Franklin is slated to compete in the 35-lap event as well. One of the fastest rising stars in the open wheel ranks today, the third-generation racer finished ninth in the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series Coca-Cola 150 at Seekonk last month after starting back in 22nd. “I think this place is pretty neat,” Santos states. “I love Thompson, and I’ve had fun at Waterford in the Midget, too. The tracks are all different, but I enjoy racing at all of them. At Seekonk, it’s not about horsepower. It’s really a momentum track. I don’t think I ever get full throttle here. It’s all about momentum. The smooth driver is the one who wins at Seekonk.”

Santos also competes in the ISMA, USAC Silver Crown, and USAC Midget ranks.

Although he’s not running a full schedule, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see the #26 of Lakeville resident Russ Stoehr in the field as well. The three-time NEMA champion has three dozen feature wins to his credit on the tour, including a 1996 victory at Seekonk.

NEMA’s Most Recent Winners
At Seekonk Speedway:

Driver	Date
Randy Cabral	October 7, 2001
Jeff Horn	July 28, 2001
Drew Fornoro	August 1, 1998
Mark Buonomo	May 24, 1997
Nick “Nokie” Fornoro, Jr.	October 13, 1996
Russ Stoehr	May 25, 1996
Mike Seymour	August 19, 1995
Nick “Nokie” Fornoro, Jr.	May 27, 1995
Greg Stoehr	October 9, 1994
Greg Stoehr	August 20, 1994
Mike Seymour	May 28, 1994
Greg Stoehr	October 10, 1993
Jeff Horn	May 29, 1993
Jeff Horn	August 29, 1992
Nick “Nokie” Fornoro, Jr.	August 24, 1991

NEMA History Unfolds at Seekonk

Seekonk, MA: The Northeastern Midget Association makes it’s long awaited return to Seekonk Speedway on Sunday, October 3, 2004. This will be the first appearance of the Midgets at Seekonk since October 7, 2001.

“Seekonk is arguably the best track for Midget racing in the New England,” said NEMA President, Mike Scrivani. “We are all very excited to be back here, to race for such great midget fans and for the Venditti Family.”

To show their appreciation, NEMA will treat the fans to a number of exciting trackside promotions including an autograph session. Mike Jarrett of Helping Hands of America, fresh off a hefty contribution to the purse of the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial Classic at Waterford Speedbowl, has once again stepped up in a huge way to support the Northeastern Midget Association.

The last time the NEMA Midgets made an appearance at the “Cement Palace” Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA put on a tremendous performance to take down the win. The young driver needs to execute a similar feat this year to keep pace with point leader, Ben Seitz of Monument Beach, MA.

Seitz is on fire thus far this season. A win in the prestigious Boston Louie Seymour Memorial Classic at Waterford Speedbowl increased his win tally to a club-leading three feature wins in 2004.

The young guns have been hard to beat thus far with youngsters like Seitz, Cabral, Tim Heath and Bobby Santos, III dominating the win list; but it could just be the cagey veterans in the winner’s circle on Saturday night. In fact, Nokie Fornoro of Stroudsburg, PA might be the odds on favorite to win.

As the winningest Midget driver at Seekonk, the PA native has earned 6 career wins here. The most recent came on October 13, 1996. Fornoro has a win earlier this year at the Stafford Motor Speedway in the Don Berrio owned #2 and will be looking to use his experience at the ‘Konk to join Seitz as the only repeat winner this year.

Other current NEMA drivers to post victories at Seekonk Speedway include Russ Stoehr, who trails Nokie with 5 wins, Drew Fornoro, Mark Buonomo. Thanks to Cape Cod Aggregates all the teams and drivers have even more incentive this weekend, as they will vie for nearly $9,000 in prize money.