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2022 NEMA NEWS |
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NEMA MIDGETS 2022 CHAMPION: AVERY STOEHR #39 |
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2022 NEMA LITES CHAMPION: JAKE TRAINOR
#29 |
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In 2022, the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA)
embarked on its 70th year of open wheel auto racing at
tracks across New England including Lee USA Speedway, Star
Speedway, Hudson Speedway, Monadnock Speedway, New
London-Waterford Speedbowl, Thompson Speedway Motorsports
Park, Seekonk Speedway and Wiscasset Speedway. The season
brought some new, first-time winners as well as a veteran
NEMA driver scoring his first win in 45 years! It was a year
full of great surprises, action- packed racing, and
excitement for all. As this year comes to a close, NEMA
celebrates the 2022 champions - Avery Stoehr with his second
NEMA Midget championship and Jake Trainor with his second
consecutive NEMA LITES championship title.
NEMA's
season opened with the LITES at the annual Icebreaker on
April 2nd at Thompson Speedway. Todd Bertrand jumped to the
lead on lap 10 and never looked back. He was able to hold
off Jake Trainor by less than three tenths of a second
followed by Kyle Valeri to round out the top 3.
Over
a month later, the mighty Midgets were in action on Friday
evening for their season opener at Lee USA Speedway for the
inaugural race in memory of Jeremy "Smoke Jr." Decourcy.
Randy Cabral, Alan Chambers, and Avery Stoehr started out
their season strong with podium finishes. In the LITES
division on Saturday, in only his second full year
competing, the 2021 Pat Thibodeau Youth and Determination
Award winner Dylan Coutu, went on to earn his first career
win of the 2022 season followed by Jake Trainor and Mike
Pernesiglio.
The month of June started off with a
double header weekend for the LITES division at Star
Speedway on Saturday evening where Paul Scally jumped out
early from his front row starting spot, and showed very
strong in the early stages of the race. At the halfway
point, Jake Trainor, Avery Stoehr and Ben Mikitarian would
begin a charge to the front. A brief battle between the trio
saw Trainor come out on top, and Mikitarian would slip by
Stoehr for third. The following day, the Jim O'Brien
Memorial race took place at Hudson Speedway where Stoehr
quickly worked his way to the front of the field to take
down the victory over hard charger Trainor and Valeri.
The following weekend on June 18th, it was time for NEMA
to tow to the coast of Maine to Wiscasset Speedway for their
Ames True Value NEMA Night. In the NEMA Midsgets race, Avery
Stoehr would click off some of the fastest laps ever
recorded at Wiscasset Speedway, barely missing his own
record that he set the year prior by .1000th of a second.
Stoehr would go on win over John Zych and Randy Cabral. In
the LITES race, Trainor charged the field to take the
victory over Joey Bailey and Stoehr.
Through the
first five races of the 2022 season, Jake Trainor led the
NEMA LITES point standings over Stoehr, Coutu, and Bailey.
In closing out the month of June, the NEMA LITES
traveled to Seekonk Speedway for the first time of the
season for their open Wheel Wednesday show. The LITES were
set to compete in 50 fast laps around the third-mile track.
Trainor was able to capitalize on a few early cautions and
lapped traffic to take the checked flag over Randy Cabral
and Mike Pernesiglio. In an after race interview, Trainor
said, "The hard fought battle with Randy Cabral for a number
of laps, then eventually driving to the win was the
highlight of my season as well as having Ken Schrader as my
teammate for the night."
In the month of July, both
NEMA and NEMA LITES traveled to the New London- Waterford
Speedbowl for the Angellilo Memorial where the LITES race
went caution free for Dan Cugini to score his first win of
the season followed by Coutu and Bailey. In the NEMA portion
of the event, Stoehr would go on to win over Zych and
Cabral.
A couple of weeks later on July 23rd, both
divisions traveled to Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH
for the Iron Mike Scrivani Memorial. Randy Cabral had both
skill and luck on his side and would go on to win both the
NEMA and LITES race. Additiobal podium finishes were scored
by Stoehr and Zych in NEMA and Trainor and Valeri in the
LITES.
At the next race, we saw only the NEMA
Midgets return to the Lee USA Speedway on August 12th for
the Dave Humphrey Memorial. The 37 lap feature saw Jim
Chambers and new car owner, Eric Decourcy, take their first
win of the 2022 season followed by Stoehr and Cabral.
A week later, the LITES traveled back up to the coast of
Maine to Wiscasset Speedway for the final time this in 2022
for a special 60 lap feature where Bailey would return to
the podium with Valeri and Cabral.
For the final
race of August, both divisions returned to Seekonk Speedway
for the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial where a total of 40
midgets from all over the east coast traveled to the Cement
Palace to compete. The Boston Louie featured one of the
highest paying purses of the year. PJ Stergios driving the
Bobby Seymour owned #4 would go on to win the 25 lap LITES
feature followed by Cabral and Todd Bertrand. In the NEMA
race, Stoehr would go on to win over Cabral and Chambers.
On September 10th, the NEMA Midgets and LITES
returned to the New London-Waterford Speedbowl for The Coy
Memorial where no stranger took to victory lane. Stoehr
would go on to win followed by Zych and Cabral in NEMA.
Stoehr's win marked a new milestone for owner Bertrand
Motorsports by scoring their 100th win with the Northeast
Midget Association. This feat had only been accomplished by
one other car owner, Gene Angelillo, who had 107 wins. In
the LITES division, Cabral would go on to win over Trainor
and Todd Bertrand.
The following weekend, both
divisions returned to Star Speedway for their 57th Annual
Star Classic Weekend, where Stoehr would go on to win over
Cabral and Chambers in the NEMA race. In the LITES event,
Ben Mikitrian would return to the podium over Stergios and
Stoehr.
As October quickly approached, both
divisions traveled to the Lee USA Speedway for Russ Conway's
Oktoberfest. An emotional high for NEMA, was Doug
Cleveland's first win in nearly 45 years while fellow
veteran driver Matt O'Brien followed close behind to sail
into victory lane and take home a 2nd place finish. NEMA's
2019 and 2022 Champion, Avery Stoehr finished third at
Oktoberfest referring to the Cleveland/O'Brien battle as "a
great night for midget racing as a whole. Everything about
it was great." While in the LITES division, Bailey would
take advantage of lapped traffic to take the win over Coutu
and Cabral.
The following weekend on October 9th,
the LITES traveled to Thompson Speedway for the World Series
of Speedway racing. After a caution free and tight battle
for first and second, Stoehr would go on to win over Cuigini
and Coutu.
On October 15th, the cars and stars of
the Northeast Midget Association were back for the final
time of the 2022 season at the New London- Waterford
Speedbowl for the Shane Hammond Memorial. For this special
anniversary, one of Shane Hammond's first cars paced the
field to the green flag in the NEMA race which saw another
veteran driver Mike Horn return to victory lane over
Bertrand and Chambers. The NEMA LITES race was won by 2021
and 2022 LITES champion, Jake Trainor, in what he refers to
as his most challenging race of the season. "I battled for
25 laps with Joey Bailey with each restart being a dog fight
for the lead and I just barely lead him to the checkered to
pick up the win," said Trainor. Rounding out the podium was
Bailey and Bertrand.
In closing of the 2022 season,
NEMA would like to thank all their supporters and to look
forward to bringing more action-packed, open wheel racing to
a track near you in 2023! |
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2022 RACE RESULTS & PHOTO PAGES HERE |
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PAUL STOEHR
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Paul Stoehr followed in his
father's footsteps, a NEMA car owner, and drove his
first race with the club in the 1960's. What
followed was a thirty year competitive career,
including long stints with car owners Ed Czyzewski,
Dave Scott and John Lane, among others, racing up
and down the east coast not only with NEMA but also
ARDC, where he won Rookie of The Year.
But
his career with NEMA didn't stop on track. Paul was
a Contest Board Member, Vice President of the Club,
and served in many roles as a race official,
including a few stints as flagman.
He also
raced against sons Russ and Greg as his own driving
career wound down and cheered on grandson Avery's
career.
If you cut Paul, he bled NEMA.
Among his achievements with the club was being
inducted into the Dick Gallagher Hall of Fame, NEMA
Lifetime Members, and the Johnny Thomson Memorial
Award.
A fixture in the NEMA pits for
decades, he will be missed by all of NEMA. |
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Jim
Susi
October 8, 1957 - March 24, 2022 |
James A.
Susi III, 64, of Foxboro, passed away
unexpectedly on March 24, 2002 after a brief
illness in Florida. He was the beloved
lifetime partner of Patricia Grover of
Foxboro.
Born in Norwood, James was
the son of the late James A. Susi II and
Elizabeth A. Pacella.
James was
raised and educated in Walpole. He was a
graduate of Walpole High School and
Wentworth Institute of Technology, where he
received his Bachelors Degree in Civil
Engineering. He worked for Pacella Brothers
for many years, learning the engineering
trade. He later started and operated his own
engineering company, United Consultants in
Wrentham.
James was a respected,
talented loyal crew chief for several
champion drivers at Seekonk Speedway in the
NEMA Division. Racing was in his blood and
he was happiest after coming home from a day
at the races, as he loved his racing family.
In addition to his partner Patricia,
James is survived by his children; Jami and
Chris Susi, three grandchildren; CJ,
Jonathan, and Colton, and a sister; Terri
Orlando of Florida.
James was also
loved and adored by Patricia's children;
Theresa and Mark Grover. Also survived by
many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends
including his best friend Mike Scrivani of
Brockton.
He will forever be
remembered for being a selfless, loyal
friend.
Relatives and friends are
invited to attend visitation on Saturday,
April 30th from 12:00 PM to 3:30 PM in the
RJ Ross Funeral Home, 135 South Street,
Wrentham.
A Celebration of Life will
follow from 4-6 PM at James' Breakfast and
More, 850 Franklin Street, Wrentham.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory
may be made to: American Heart Association,
heart.org. |
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| SATURDAY, MARCH 5,
2022 |
White's of Westport
66 State Road, Westport,
MA |
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| O'BRIEN AWARD TO
JOHNNY COY JR. |
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FULL BANQUET PHOTO PAGE |
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JOHNNY
MANN
In Memoriam |
Johnny Mann of
Ronkonkoma, NY passed away at age 95 on January 13. A
versatile driver, Mann won in Stock Cars, Midgets, and TQ
Midgets during a lengthy career. He was ARDC's winningest
driver in 1963 with 6 wins.
Mann won 2 NEMA
championships in the 1970s. His first championship was in
1972 driving the Stropoli brothers #66 including 8
consecutive podiums. He led NEMA with 5 wins en route to his
second championship in 1974 driving the Dewey Cali #1. 29
wins ranks 7th in the 70-year-old club, spanning 1966-1978.
He received the Dick Gallagher Memorial Hall of Fame
Award in 1990.
His late son Billy was the 1984
champion. |
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