DUE TO RAIN
POSTPONED
TO THURSDAY JULY 2ND |
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Bertrand,
Stergios Claim Prestigious
Boston Louie
Memorial Wins |
Thursday night's
NEMA Boston Louie Memorial Classic did not
disappoint any of the 4000+ fans in
attendance at Seekonk, MA Speedway and
turned out to be the perfect event for
NEMA's second nationally televised races in
its 61 year history. Both the NEMA Midgets
and the NEMA Lites provided all the action
and drama a spectator or viewer could want
and brought an impressive field of nearly
fifty cars from up and down the East Coast
to Seekonk Speedway.
The season's
largest field of midgets turned out for the
series' most prestigious race of the season.
Something the late "Boston" Louie Seymour -
the "man who traveled a million miles" would
have been proud of.
In the NEMA
event, pole sitter Jim Santa Maria jumped
out into an early lead. He was quickly
pursued by reigning NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour champion, Doug Coby - in the Bertrand
Motorports #74. Coby, a heat winner, looked
to catch Santa Maria in lapped traffic on
the tenth circuit, but then began fading,
with what ended up being a mechanical issue
that ended his night later in the race.
Eleven laps in,
Coby was overtaken by 5 time champion and
defending race winner, Randy Cabral, and
then Cabral quickly moved by Santa Maria
into the lead. Further back, Todd Bertrand
in the Bertrand Motorsports #39, was making
a charge to the front. He moved into second
on the fourteenth circuit, and began to chop
away at Cabral's ten car length lead.
Bertrand's break
came when the caution would fly with six
laps remaining.
"I had been
running the high line, letting the car
'float' through the corners, and saving my
tires. I saw Randy haze the right rear tire
a few times, and knew if he kept doing that,
I'd have a good shot," said Bertrand.
And a shot he
did have. When the green flag flew, Bertrand
rocketed by Cabral for the lead, and set a
blistering pace over the final circuits,
turning in an amazing 11.03 fast lap of the
day on the 26th lap. He went on to claim a
prestigious and impressive victory over
Cabral, and John Zych, who also had a very
strong run in the JZ Racing #9. Avery Stoehr
and former race champion Jeff Abold rounded
out the top five.
"This is like a
dream come true," said Bertrand. "I can't
believe we are here in victory lane. The car
was absolutely perfect today, and we got
some good breaks. I can't thank my Dad,
brother, and girlfriend (Mariah) enough for
all they do to get me here to victory lane,"
he concluded.
In the Lites
race, defending race champion PJ Stergios
started the race from the pole, but didn't
have an easy task at hand. He jumped out
into the lead early, but his day didn't
start with a perfect car.
"We struggled
all day with a tight car. We made some
really big changes before the feature to try
to free the car up, and they worked out
perfect," he said.
Stergios fended
off a strong field of 26 competitors over
three restarts through out the course of the
feature.
An impressive
run was put forth by Dylan Duhaime, who
chased Stergios home in second, and also
started deep in the field, in thirteenth
spot.
"We discovered
that the shock tower on the car was cracked
right before practice. We were going to go
home, and Bobby Seymour came over and didn't
want to hear it. The Keith Rocco team helped
us fix the car in the pits, and we made it
out for the second practice. The car was
loose, but fast," he went on to say.
Duhaime's break
came with three laps to go, running fourth,
when second and third place runners Randy
Cabral and Richie Morrocco came together
trying to get around a lapped car, and
brought out the caution.
On the restart,
Stergios held off Duhaime and claimed the
victory. Ryan Bigelow had an exceptional run
for a podium finish in third, followed by
Anthony Payne, who also had a great run from
deep in the field. Jim Chambers rounded out
the top five. |
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RANDY CABRALL - TODD BERTRAND -
JOHN ZYCH JR. |
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NEMA
MIDGETS - SEEKONK - 7/2/15 |
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Pos.
|
#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
|
1 |
39 |
Todd Bertrand |
Sufield, CT |
Todd Bertrand |
|
2 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim Bertrand |
|
3 |
9 |
John Zych Jr. |
Mendon,MA |
John Zych Sr. |
|
4 |
15a |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
|
5 |
29 |
Jeff Abold |
Baldwinsville,
NY |
- |
|
6 |
71 |
Seth Carlson |
Brimfield, CT |
Gene Feigel |
|
7 |
51 |
Danny Cugini |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
|
8 |
93 |
Jake Smith |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Jake Smith |
|
9 |
44b |
Bethany Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
Ed Breault |
|
10 |
46 |
Kenney Johnson |
Bethany, CT |
Jeff Johnson |
|
11 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
|
12 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
|
13 |
77 |
Steve Powers |
- |
Mike Luggelle |
14
DNF |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham, MA |
Paul Scally |
15
DNF |
21 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
16
DNF |
13 |
Ryan Bigelow |
E.
Hampton, CT |
Randy
Bigelow |
17
DNF |
99b |
Jim Santa Maria |
Burlington,
CT |
Susan Santa
Maria |
18
DNF |
74 |
Doug Coby |
Wethersfield, CT |
Tim Bertrand |
19
DNF |
44 |
Russ Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Russ Stoehr |
20
DNS |
7 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
21
DNS |
1s |
Jeff Horn |
Ashland, MA |
- |
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DYLAN DUHAIME - PJ STERGOIS -
RYAN BIGELOW |
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NEMA LITES -
SEEKONK - 7/2/15 |
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Pos.
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#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
|
1 |
11 |
PJ Stergois |
Candia, NH |
PJ Stergios |
|
2 |
57 |
Dylan Duhaime |
Loudon, NH |
Shawn Duhaime |
|
3 |
32 |
Ryan
Bigelow |
E.
Hampton, CT |
Scott
Bigelow |
|
4 |
21 |
Anthony Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Jennifer
Scrivani |
|
5 |
21w |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Jim Chambers |
|
6 |
46 |
Andy Barrows |
New Ipswitch, NH |
Andy Barrows |
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7 |
8 |
Jessica Bean |
Farmland, IN |
- |
|
8 |
00 |
Jake Nelke |
- |
- |
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9 |
24 |
Calvin Carroll |
Andover, NJ |
- |
|
10 |
31 |
Paul
Bigelow |
Kensington, CT |
Paul
Bigelow |
|
11 |
41 |
Megan
CuginI |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
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12 |
18 |
DJ Moniz |
New Bedford, MA |
Dave Moniz |
|
13 |
9m |
Ben Mikitarain |
Northborough, MA |
John
Mikitarain |
|
14 |
29d |
Jeremy DeCourcey |
Rochester NH |
Jeremy DeCourcey |
|
15 |
5c |
Niki Carroll |
Andover, NJ |
- |
16
DNF |
35 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen Cabral |
17
DNF |
25 |
Richie Morrocco |
Plainville, MA |
Rich Morrocco |
18
DNF |
39 |
Nic Davidson |
Greensboro, NC |
- |
19
DNF |
76 |
Anthony Nocella |
Woburn, MA |
Frank Manafort |
20
DNF |
51 |
Danny Cugini |
Marshfield, MA |
D. Cugini |
21
DNF |
12 |
Kyle Craker |
Lewisberry, PA |
- |
22
DNF |
9nc |
Chris Lamb |
Greensboro, NC |
- |
23
DNF |
16 |
Dennis O'Brien |
Deerfield, NH |
Chris O'Brien |
24
DNF |
2 |
Jim Cataldo |
Sterling, MA |
Jim Cataldo |
25
DNS |
38 |
Jeff Locke |
Raymond, NH |
Jeff Locke |
26
DNS |
52 |
Kevin Park |
Foxboro, MA |
Kevin Park |
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