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 Brockton,
MA – The Northeastern Midget Association loves Waterford Speedbowl.
NEMA and the NEMA Lites make their third visit of the season to the
‘Bowl Saturday night, the rescheduled Shane Hammond Memorial Race
part the fifth annual Wings and Wheels.
Both NEMA and the Lites will run 27 lap features as part of the
Connecticut shoreline oval’s showcase of speed. The ISMA
Supermodifieds, Valenti Modifieds and Speedowl SK-Modifieds are also
on the agenda.
Speed is one of the key ingredients in the NEMA-Speedbowl love
affair. Anthony Marvuglio posted a 12.91 (104.57 mph) seconds lap
back in May. Although limited to one session, practice speeds were
“impressive” three weeks ago at the rained-out Hammond Memorial.
The reason, many believe, is what veteran competitor Bobby Seymour
calls “geography.” Distance, width and surface make up a perfect
many-grooves facility. There are not a lot of secrets remaining at
Waterford. “Often, the best you run all year is at the Speedbowl,”
says Russ Stoehr.
There is just enough straightaway at Waterford for the Midgets to
show their stuff and, according to club president Mike Scrivani Jr.
“Wings and Wheels is the perfect stage for that.”
There is so much history at a track that hosted NEMA’s second race
back on May 31, 1953. Heading into Saturday night, there have been
47 NEMA winners at Waterford, the last one being John Zych who
prevailed at this year’s season opener.
The list includes Randy Cabral and Russ Stoehr, currently one-two on
the NEMA/Waterford win list. Also on the list are Todd Bertrand,
Adam Cantor, Jeff Horn, Barry Kittredge, Chris Leonard, Jim Miller,
Joey Payne, Pete Pernesiglio and Greg Stoehr, all likely competitors
Saturday night.
There is, of course, plenty of opportunity for more history to be
made. There are four brother combinations on the NEMA win list – the
Bertrands, Fornoros, Seymours and Stoehrs. There are no father-son
combinations. Jeff Horn’s son Mike, a winner at Stafford earlier
this year, hopes to start such a list Saturday night.
Zych is one of many who scored their first NEMA win at Waterford.
Hoping to join that group is Marvuglio who dominated in May before
mechanical woes struck.
Recent history makes Zych (a first and third this year at
Waterford), Cabral (two seconds), Russ Stoehr (a third and fourth)
and Greg Stoehr (a winner in May) the favorites. Zych, forced to
miss NEMA’s last outing because of business commitments, is anxious
to get back in the swing of things. While Cabral is the all-time
Speedbowl winner with eight, he hopes to end a victory draught that
now sits at 12 races.
Rookie Seth Carlson, off his first-ever NEMA win at Seekonk, brings
optimism to Waterford where he hopes to become the first
back-to-back winner in 16 races. Carlson reported he was “quick” in
practice before the rains came a few weeks back.
The Lites also posted impressive practice speeds before the rain and
expect to at least equal the 13.871 (97.325 mph) lap posted by Carl
Carl Medeiros Jr. on May 12. Medeiros hopes to make a first-ever win
at Waterford a fourth straight triumph.
Ryan Bigelow and Brandon Igo, winners at Waterford earlier this
year, aim to stop that. Other Lites contenders include Christian
Briggs, Randy Cabral, Ian Cumens, Dylan Duhaime, Bethany Stoehr and
Avery Stoehr. |
