Today with bluebird sky's and 75 degrees of dry June weather I just knew we would be in the right position on earth for a great historical NEMA Lite's feature of a extended 33 laps from the normal Boston Louie of 29 laps to honor his race team number.
Earlier in the 2017 racing season the sport lost a great legendary midget driver in Dave Steele at Tampa Florida, Desoto Speedway in his attempt at his 100th Florida victory .
The NEMA Lite's of New England in a great show of Class decided to honor him also tonight and all unanimously agreed to the extended length of 33 laps to honor his race team number.
The car count was through the roof at 33 race teams with some awesome heat races. The prestigious race attracted race teams from RI, MASS.,CT, NH, NJ,NC,GA,NY,CO.28 race teams made the all-star studded feature with also has some of the best young talent ( Locke, Mikitarian, Duhaime) in the country in any division. The field was divided into three qualifying heats with Meg Cugni #41 in her chariot just completed in race time by dad and brother coming home with her heat victory to build the teams racing confidence.
The next heat race reflected some local flavor with Ray Parent #45 Tiverton ,RI resident who at the end of last year sold his race teams and had no solid plans for 2017. Parent has teamed up with Anytime Realty in the Late/ Models and has won at Seekonk Speedway and twice at Thompson Speedway and leads the points race at Thompson. Act Races ? and now works out a late minute deal with the power house Bertrand Motorsports to field the #45 tonight with a first ever start and a heat victory to a very large local roar from the educated regulars who follow all the races at the Cement Palace every week.. The third heat race had a seasoned pro Jim Chambers #12 from Atkinson,NH showing Anthony Paine #21 Fairlawn, NJ that the path to tonight's feature will include his hot rod.
The race was filled with a lot of early cautions with so many invading teams from outside trying to figure out the right groove for their setups. On lap three George Kurtz #4 Denver, CO. did a 360 spin out in turn two. On lap five Nikki Carroll #24 Andover NJ lost the handle in turn four. On the next re-start three cars got tangled up. Jake Stergious #57 Candia,NH one of my prerace favorites, Kevin Iannarelli #27 Maynard, MA and Carroll #24 again. Lap eight saw Kurtz loose the handle for the second time in turn four to bring out caution flag. On lap19 Anthony Burr #34 Ct., Wallingford Ct. stalled in middle of the track.
From the early stages Jim Chambers #12 put on a driving clinic of how to fend off the aggressive hot rod of Ryan Locke #38 who has a win in the series in 2016 at New London Waterford, CT. Locke could catch him , but pass the crafty veteran would not be easy without a wreck. The veteran would changehis groove just enough to fend off the up and rising star in his fire engine red race car. I think the right rear was starting to wear on the Locke car and now Dylan Duhaime #5 who worked his way thru the field while keeping the car in one piece presented the next challenge for the lead. Chambers held him off for a couple of laps and if the race was 29 laps would have had another Boston Louie on his mantle but this one was for 33 laps. Duhamie's rocketship just got stronger with the crowd on the edge of their bleacher seat witnessed live drama of the best finish in this division in years at the real home of the Midgets. The racers knew the 5 was getting stronger with a great third place finish earlier in 2017. Top 5 Unofficial Finish Order; Dylan Duhaime, Loudon, NH, Jim Chambers,Atkinson, NH Chad Labastie, Uxbridge, MA, Ryan Locke, Raymond, NH, Ryan Bigelow, Berlin, Conn.
This NEMA Lite's touring group will be back at Seekonk in 2017. Do not miss this racing card !
| 1 | 5 | Dylan Duhaime | Loudon, NH | Jim Cataldo |
| 2 | 12 | Jim Chambers | Atkinson, NH | Jim Chambers |
| 3 | 14 | Chad Labastie | Uxbridge, MA | Chad Labastie |
| 4 | 38 | Ryan Locke | Raymond, NH | Ken Locke |
| 5 | 13 | Ryan Bigelow | E. Hampton, CT | Ryan Bigelow |
| 6 | 51 | Dan CuginI | Marshfield, MA | Dan Cugini |
| 7 | 5b | Jessica Bean | Farmland, IN | Jessica Bean |
| 8 | 45 | Ray Parent | Tiverton, RI | Bertrand Motorsports |
| 9 | 35 | Randy Cabral | Kingston, MA | Glen Cabral |
| 10 | 21 | Anthony Payne | Fairlawn, NJ | Mike Scrivani |
| 11 | 27 | Kevin Iannarelli | Maynard, MA | Kevin Iannarelli |
| 12 | 57 | Jake Stergios | Candia, NH | Bill Stergios |
| 13 | 8t | Jake Trainor | Medway, MA | Jake Trainor |
| 14 | 9 | Ben Mikitarian | Northborough, MA | John Mikitarian |
| 15 | 24 | Nikki Caroll | Andover, NJ | Joe Caroll |
| 16 | 8 | Sam Hatfield | Mooresville, NC | Sam Hatfield |
| 17 | 7 | Jim Cataldo | Sterling, MA | Jim Cataldo |
| 18 | 16 | Denis O'Brien | Deerfield, NH | Chris O'Brien |
| 19 | 35g | Jake Garcia | Monroe, GA | Jacke Garcia |
| 20 | 9L | Chris Lamb | Greensboro, MC | Chris Lamb |
| 21 | 52 | Kevin Park | Foxboro, MA | Kevin Park |
| 22 | 3 | Chris Vose | Gloversville, NY | Chris Vose |
| 23 | 41 | Megan Cugini | Marshfield, MA | Glenn Cugini |
| 24 | 88 | Jeff Locke | Chester, NH | Ken Locke |
| 25 | 34ct | Anthony Burr | Wallingford, CT | Anthony Burr |
| 26 | 20 | Jeremy Decourcy | Rochester, NH | Jeremy Decourcy |
| 27 | 4 | George Kurtz | Denver, CO | George Kurtz |
| 28 | 19 | Richard Coy | Haskell, NJ | Richard Coy |
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