World Series
Thompson - 10/15/06

World Series a Home Run for NEMA Winner Seitz at Thompson

Thompson, CT (October 15, 2006): The Northeastern Midget Association continued to be a part of the festivities of the traditional World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson International Speedway this weekend. On Sunday, Ben Seitz of Monument Beach, MA turned in a dominating performance to take down the victory at the 33rd Annual XTRA Mart World Series. Seitz took the lead on lap four and went uncontested to his second victory of the season. The win edged Seitz closer to his third straight NEMA driving title going into the final point race at the Waterford Speedbowl on October 29, 2006.

It took only a short time for Seitz to prove his prowess on Sunday afternoon. He rocketed into the third position on lap two, took over the second spot on lap three. On lap four he dove to the inside of Pernesiglio exiting turn four to take over the lead by inches at the stripe. Seitz went on to stretch out his lead and motored unchallenged to the checkers. Joey Payne finished second also with a sizeable margin over third-place Randy Cabral. Greg Stoehr and B.J. MacDonald completed the top-five.

Adam Cantor and Pete Pernesiglio brought the field to the green flag to start the main event. Pernesiglio was the first to lead a lap with Greg Stoehr taking up the second spot. Championship contender Nokie Fornoro was off the pace on lap one and heading down pit road as Seitz began his march to the front.

Once in fourth, Seitz took a position a lap until his mission was complete. On lap two, Seitz was now third. On lap three, he took over the second spot from Stoehr. A pass on Pernesiglio on lap four completed his rally to the head of the pack.

The first caution came out on lap five for an incident involving Cory Cleary. The restart order on lap five saw Seitz, Pernesiglio, and Stoehr in the top three. Randy Cabral had already moved into fourth. MacDonald rounded out the top five.

Pernesiglio hung tough on the ensuing restart. He went wheel-to-wheel with the leader for much of the lap before Seitz was able to regain command. Cabral tried in vain to get by Pernesiglio, which opened the door for a charging Joey Payne. Once free of Cabral, Payne picked of Pernesiglio and into the second spot. Cabral finally got by Pernesiglio and into the third spot.

At the halfway marker, Seitz had built a big lead over Payne, who in turn had distanced himself for Cabral. Despite entering heavy lapped traffic on lap 13, Seitz was able to maintain his comfortable margin over Payne. The top five had gotten strung out while the best battle was for the sixth position.

Pernesiglio was being dogged by Mike Keeler and Ryan Dolan. Dolan first caught Keeler to take over the spot and set sail for Pernesiglio. He was able to move by and into the sixth spot on lap 22. Keeler also was able to make the pass shuffling Pernesiglio back to eighth.

Nothing phased leader Seitz who went on to score a commanding victory over Payne and Cabral. Greg Stoehr continued to show improvement over the last half of the season with another strong performance. B.J. MacDonald had his best NEMA finish of the ’06 season with his fifth-place finish. Dolan, Keeler, Pernesiglio, Shane Hammond, and Mike Luggelle rounded out the top ten.