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BLAST-OFF 2018
SATURDAY, MAY 5th |
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NEMA MIDGETS: CABRAL - SCALLY - BERTRAND |
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NEMA MIDGETS - WATERFORD -
5/5/18 |
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Pos.
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#
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Driver |
Hometown
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Owner |
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1 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
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2 |
74 |
Randy Cabral |
Kingston, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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3 |
48 |
Todd Bertrand |
Danielson, CT |
Gil Bertrand |
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4 |
21 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
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5 |
39 |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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6 |
7 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
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7 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
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8 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
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9 |
50 |
Pete Pernesiglio |
Ronkonkomo, NY |
Peter Pernesiglio Sr. |
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10 |
47 |
Keith Rocco |
Wallingford, CT |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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11 |
9 |
John Zych Jr. |
Mendon, MA |
John Zych Sr. |
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NEMA LITES: M. CUGINI - STOEHR - D. CUGINI |
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NEMA LITES - WATERFORD -
5/5/18 |
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Pos.
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#
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Driver |
Hometown
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Owner |
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1 |
21 |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Mike Scrivani |
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2 |
51 |
Dan CuginI |
Marshfield, MA |
Dan Cugini |
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3 |
41 |
Meg CuginI |
Marshfield, MA |
Glenn Cugini |
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4 |
9 |
Ben Mikitarian |
Northborough, MA |
John Mikitarian |
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5 |
35 |
Randy Cabral |
Kingston, MA |
Glen Cabral |
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6 |
5 |
Jim Cataldo |
Sterling, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
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7 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham,
MA |
Paul Scally |
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8 |
99 |
Jim Santa Maria |
Burlington, CT |
Jim Santa Maria |
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9 |
27 |
Kevin Iannarelli |
Shirley, MA |
Kevin Iannarelli |
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10 |
38 |
Ryan Locke |
Raymond, NH |
Ken Locke |
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11 |
19 |
Richie Coy |
Haskell, NJ |
Richie Coy |
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12 |
8T |
Jake Trainor |
Medway, MA |
Mike Trainor |
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13 |
48 |
Matt Janisch |
Nazareth, PA |
Mark Janisch |
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14 |
2 |
Bruce Finley |
Webster, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
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15 |
17 |
Kyle Valeri |
Monument Beach, MA |
Peter Valeri |
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16 |
68 |
Danny Gamache |
No. Smithfield, RI |
Cheryl
Gamache |
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DNS |
52 |
Kevin Park |
Plainville, MA |
Kevin Park |
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DNS |
76 |
Anthony Nocella |
Woburn, MA |
Frant Manafort |
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Scally, A. Stoehr
Victorious in
NEMA’s Speedbowl Blastoff |
In a David v. Goliath story, Paul Scally, who
claimed his first Northeastern Midget Association victory
last season in 20+ years of running, took down his second
victory on Saturday evening over Bertrand Motorsports
teammates Randy Cabral and Todd Bertrand. In the Lites,
Avery Stoehr in the Scrivani 21 ended a frustrating evening
to absolutely dominate the feature event, breaking the Lite
track record enroute to victory.
In the NEMA
feature, Doug Cleveland and Alan Chambers brought the
feature to the green flag. Third place starter Scally took
command on lap two, making a move to the bottom of turns
three and four. Scally then began to set a torrid pace in
the early laps of the feature, stretching out his lead to
nearly a straightaway.
Further back, Randy Cabral had
worked his way from the seventh starting spot into second by
lap eight, as Chambers started to fade back into the field.
Behind Scally and Cabral, the action was intense as Avery
Stoehr, Jim Chambers, Todd Bertrand and Keith Rocco in the
Bertrand 47 were all mixing it up right outside of the top
five. Bertrand would advance to third place by the halfway
marker, and would begin to set his sights on Cabral and
Scally.
As Scally began to approach lapped traffic,
Cabral would narrow the margin to five carlengths, and
Bertrand would pull to within a few carlengths of Cabral.
Scally worked the lapped traffic masterfully, and would go
on to take down NEMA's opening day victory for 2018. Cabral
would finish second, and Bertrand, who captured the fastest
lap of the feature (13.101) would finish third, on the
podium. Jim Chambers would finish 4th, followed by Avery
Stoehr, Alan Chambers, Doug Cleveland, Matt O'Brien, Pete
Pernesiglio and Rocco, who dropped out with an ignition
issue on lap sixteen.
"I want to thank all of the
people who helped me get here. It is bittersweet though, as
there are some people that I really wished were here to
celebrate this victory with me," said Scally. "It wasn't an
easy day, we broke the drive train in hot laps, but I knew
we had a really good car right from when we unloaded," he
said.
In the Lites feature, outside pole starter,
Avery Stoehr, jumped out quickly into the lead in the
Scrivani 21. Stoehr quickly went to work distancing himself
from the field, and started lighting up the scoreboard with
quick times right off the bat. On lap six, Stoehr would set
the current standard for the Lites, with a 13.68 track
record setting lap.
Jimmy Cataldo in his own #5 car
would settle into the second spot, while Paul Scally and Ben
Mikitarian battled for the 3rd and 4th spots.
As the
laps wound on, Stoehr would begin to further distance
himself from the field, running laps consistently in the
13.8 and 13.9 range, and eighth place starter, Danny Cugini,
was making his way to the front of the field taking second
on lap sixteen, and sister, Meg in tow, making her way from
the sixth starting spot to 3rd.
Stoehr would go on to
take down the victory, unchallenged, as D. Cugini would
finish second, followed by Meg Cugini, Ben Mikitarian, Randy
Cabral, Jim Cataldo, Paul Scally, Jim Santa Maria, Kevin
Iannarelli, and Ryan Locke.
"The car was a missile
tonight. It felt really good after a very frustrating day. I
was going to be hard pressed to let anyone beat me. We are
thinking about Mike, who is home recuperating from an injury
at work, wish he could have been here. The guys did a great
job tonight though, I can't thank all of them enough," said
Stoehr.
The Lites are on tap next at Star Speedway
on Saturday May 19th, and the combined divisions will run
next at Wiscasset Speedway on June 2nd. |
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Keith Rocco To Make
NEMA Debut
In Season Opener For Bertrand Motorsports In
Waterford |
by Shawn Courchesne -
racedayct.com
With SK Modified and Valenti Modified Racing Series events
on tap, Keith Rocco already had a busy weekend scheduled for
May 5-6 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Now
the Wallingford driver is going to add a little more speed
to his weekend.
When Tim Bertrand from Bertrand
Motorsports goes looking for guest drivers for his
Northeastern Midget Association team, the names he finds to
put in his family’s cars usually jump off the page.
And at the Speedbow there’s no bigger name than Rocco, the
track’s all-time winningest driver.
Rocco will make
his NEMA debut driving the Bertrand Motorsports No. 47 entry
in the division’s season opening event on May 5 at the
Speedbowl.
“I’m pretty excited to do it,” Rocco said.
“It seems like everybody that drives that car has really
good finishes or wins the race. I’ve never driven the NEMA
cars, but I’ve had pretty good success in the [NEMA Lites].
We’ll see what it brings, but I think we’ll be in contention
to win.”
Said Bertrand: “I’m very excited to team up
with Keith. No one knows the Speedbowl like he does. He’s an
aggressive but smooth driver, and had a couple of impressive
outings in a Lite midget a few years back.”
The
Bertrand Motorsports No. 47 ride has won a pair of series
championships with Randy Cabral at the wheel, and has been
piloted in recent years by names like Doug Coby, Ted
Christopher, Sammy Swindell, Justin Bonsignore and Kyle
Hamilton.
The car was last driven in an event at the
Speedbowl by Christopher last August, when he drove to a
heat race victory in the track’s annual Wings & Wheels show.
“It’s pretty exciting to try to keep the momentum
rolling with what he had done in that car,” said Rocco, a
longtime friend and protege of the late Christopher. |
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