NEMA Results Seekonk 6-29-16 Boston Louie Memorial Race

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & all photos by Wayne G. Barber Collection

Bethany Stoehr , currently 8th in points with 1 career victory at New London Waterford Speedbowl
Erica Santos Pitkat was the first female driver with a win at Stafford Speedway

 This spectacular NEMA race ( Boston Louie Memorial ) is becoming the must attend event of the year at Seekonk Speedway. Over 40 midgets from as far away as Indiana made the trip and Speed Sport Network also covered the races with a TV crew. I believe the touring group has a 64 year history and has produced a lot of racing stars in its history.
 Last year they shared the racing card with the Valenti Modifies and this year was the Modifed Madness Tri Track Group, already rained out at Monadnock Speedway with a $10,000 winners purse.

 The 400hp rocket ships have a direct drive no starter set-up and burn methanol instead of Sunoco racing fuel. The race cars also use a magneto instead of a regular ignition system. The night was bluebird sky clear and the crowd was starting to swell and then the NEMA  heat races began. NEMA had 15 cars on hand so split the heats into two of 7 cars and 8 cars. Todd Bertrand's #39 Danielson, Conn. last years winner smoked the field in his heat and Seth Carlson #71 Brimfield Conn. was his closest competition. Last years 2015 series champion John Zych #9 Mendon, Mass. tried
different lines for a third in the heat and saved his chariot for the feature and raced with the 8 time winner at Seekonk Randy Cabral #47 to the delight of the crowd.
 The second heat had another Bertrand car, with Doug Coby in the #74 completely rebuilt after the Riverhead wreck. Coby has 1 Seekonk victory on his part time resume and 3 overall coming in to the race in the series. The #21 Jim Chambers midget coming off a big win the previous race matched Coby in the heat and young driver Avery Stoehr #15a also drove different lines to see how his car would react to more and more rubber on the 74 foot wide racing surface. The early season points battle is tight with 4 cars in the hunt.
 Green flag for the 15 car 29 lap race was as tight as I have seen in years. The Bertrand #39 set a blistering pace with Nocella staying close till lap 4 and the first caution for the Kevin Park #28 Foxboro, Mass. spinning out. On the restart you could see the Bertrand car fading and the rest of the field closing the gap. Cabral and Zych for third and fourth were having their own race with-in the race to the delight on the standing room only crowd.
.The Bertrand car #39 stalled on lap #22 and died on the back stretch to bring out the caution. The restart had Coby and Nocella leading the front row and Cabral and Zych in 3rd and 4th. Nocella lost all power and Zych and Cabral made heavy contact with him and Zych through the grass spinning and then lost a tire to be sent on captain hook to the pits and all hopes of a victory taking away. Cabral somehow survived and finished on the lead lap with a new pair of shorts. Coby dominated the lead as his car really seemed to get stronger on lap 23 and was short lived by another caution for points leader Avery Stoehr 15a stalling on the back stretch on lap 24. Cabral salvaged a  second place finish and very valuable points tonight. Zych's dad did a super quick stop tire and wheel change to get his son back out to garner some points in the chase for a repeat championship. Bertrand Power was certainly on display tonight at the action track of the east, Seekonk Speedway.
Coby pursued Anthony Nocella for a number of laps for the lead, but eventually moved to the top when Nocella’s car broke on a restart. Coby outran Randy Cabral on the final run to take the victory. Coby last won the Boston Louie in 2013 when it was held on a date separate from the Modifieds. He was more than thrilled he was able to complete the sweep on the night.

“I told Jim Schaefer walking in here that should pay a bonus,” joked Coby. “To double up is awesome. It’s the biggest race of the season for NEMA. It’s not easy, and it’s gotten so competitive. I used to think NEMA would be a cakewalk, I remember watching Randy Cabral and Bobby Santos just kill everybody at Waterford and I’m like ‘NEMA’s easy’ and then I raced with them for three years and I got my ass handed to me just about every other race.”

The NEMA return to action on JULY 9, 2016 at the Star Speedway, Epping, NH

1	74	Doug Coby	Wethersfield, CT	Tim Bertrand
2	47	Randy Cabral	Plymouth, MA	Tim Bertrand
3	29	Jeff Abold	Baldwinsville, NY	Jeff Abold
4	21	Jim Chambers	Atkinson, NH	Mike Chambers
5	71	Seth Carlson	Brimfield, CT	Gene Feigel
6	44	Doug Cleveland	Sudbury, MA	Ed Breault
7	5b	Bethany Stoehr	Bridgewater, MA	Greg Stoehr
8	9	John Zych Jr.	Mendon, MA	John Zych Sr.
9	15a	Avery Stoehr	Lakeville, MA	Russ Stoehr
10 DNF	39	Todd Bertrand	Danielson, CT	Todd Bertrand
11 DNF	30	Paul Scally	Raynham, MA	Paul Scally
12 DNF	28	Kevin Park	Foxboro, MA	Pete Pernisiglio Sr.
13 DNF	51	Danny Cugini	Marshfield, MA	D.  Cugini
14 DNF	93	Jake Smith	Stroudsburg, PA	Ted Smith
15 DNF	4	Anthony Nocella	Woburn, MA	Bobby Seymour