Epping, NH – A strong field of NEMA Midgets crammed the pit area at the Star Speedway last Saturday night for the first of their two appearances in the 2005 season, and it was Pomona, NJ ace Joey Payne taking down the win aboard the Gene Angelillo #45, making it three winners in three races.

Payne and reigning ISMA Supermodified champion Chris Perley in the Don Berrio #2 took down the wins in the twin 10-lap qualifying races, setting the stage for the 25-lap main event. Shane Hammond was already on the trailer, and Ryan Dolan joined him when he encountered problems after pushing off for the feature.

Andy Schlatz and Mike Keeler got the honor of bringing the field to Steve Grant’s green flag, with Keeler immediately jumping out to the lead. Keeler had the car running like it was on rails, opening up a big lead over the first several laps of the race while the rest of the field battled for position behind.

Payne broke out of the pack on lap four to grab second, but Keeler was already long gone, and Joey couldn’t do much to catch him in the first half of the race. The Jersey Jet was fast, but Keeler was just as fast out front, working lapped traffic to perfection and keeping Payne at bay.

With threatening weather in the area, the NEMA drivers did their part to keep the show moving along, running the first 16 circuits of the main event caution-free in just a few short minutes. When Andy Schlatz spun coming of turn four at that point, it set up an action packed nine lap dash to the checkers.

Payne lined up alongside Keeler for the restart, but he didn’t stay there long, as the veteran made a strong move when green flag racing resumed, taking over the lead. Randy Cabral came on strong after the restart and was getting ready to challenge Payne for the lead when mechanical woes dropped him from contention and moved Keeler back into second.

When Cabral dropped to the wayside, Payne was all alone out front once again, and he stayed there until the checkers, picking up his first win of the 2005 campaign. Keeler grabbed a hard-earned runner-up finish, beating out Perley, Ben Seitz and Kyle Carpenter. Pete Pernesiglio, Ed Breault, Jeff Horn, Mike Ordway, Jr. and Doug Cleveland were the sixth through tenth place finishers.