Randy Cabral's Win at Waterford - for Shane

Emotional Speedbowl Win For Cabral
Randy Cabral went into Sunday’s Northeastern Midget Association feature at Waterford Speedbowl’s Budweiser Modified Nationals “racing” for Shane Hammond. It was a week to the day that Hammond died as a result of injuries suffered at Thompson Speedway’s Icebreaker. After a long rain delay, Randy took the lead at the resumption of the race with 21 laps remaining and went on to post his fifth career and second-straight win at the Speedbowl. “I told [Shane] I was going to race for him,” said Cabral, who held off a determined challenge from Joey Payne Jr. “I had to make it count. To win was unbelievable.” He said up until Friday night he was not going to race. At Shane’s wake, “I saw him there and realized ‘man, he ain’t going to be happy if I don’t go racing.’” When the rain came three laps in, Cabral, riding second, “was kind of mad at Shane. I said why did you do this to me?” He had charged from fourth to second on the first lap. When the race resumed an hour and half later (officials decided to run another feature extending the interruption), Cabral’s attitude changed. “My car wasn’t handling that great before the rain,” he explained. “I think Shane helped me out because we came back and the [Bertrand 47] was unbelievable.” When Erica Santos, the leader when the rains came, bobbled in turn one on the restart, Cabral blasted into the lead. Payne, Greg Stoehr and Adam Cantor followed. Clearly in control, Cabral turned an electrifying 12.848 seconds lap. A green white checker finish gave Payne a final shot. “I thought he was going to go when I did but he went a couple feet before me,” Cabral said. “It made it exciting for the fans.” Following runner-up Payne was Stoehr, Cantor and Erica Santos. “It was a hard race,” said Payne. “If anybody deserved this race it was Randy. I’m glad to see him win it in Shane’s’ memory. They were such close friends.” He talked to Hammond’s mother Deb on a cell phone in Victory Lane. “She called [club president] Mike Scrivani during the race,” Cabral explained. “Mike said ‘I can’t talk right now’ and put the phone down without hanging up.” Cabral then asked the crowd to yell out “Shane.” The final yellow came when a car spun in turn one, forcing Cabral to go through the wet infield. “I hit something slippery on the track and just started sliding,” he said. “I told myself ‘I’m not stalling this car out. I just kept it going until I got back on the track.” Overheating knocked Nokie Fornoro out shortly after the race resumed. A last lap bid for third sent Bobby Santos III through the wet off turn four. He held on to finish seventh, a spot behind William Wall. NEMA is now idle until May 3-4 when it helps Seekonk Speedway open its season. 2008 POINTS HERE
Waterford Speedbowl Nationals - 4/13/08
Pos.	#	Driver	Hometown	Owner
1	47	Randy Cabral	Plymouth, MA	Tim Bertrand
2	45	Joey Payne	Fairlawn, NJ	Gene Angellilo
3	26b	Greg Stoehr	Bridgewater, MA	Greg Stoehr
4	7ny	Adam Cantor	Dix Hills, NY	Cantor Racing
5	44	Erica Santos	Franklin, MA	Ed Breault
6	5	William Wall	Shrewsbury, MA	Wall Motorsports LLC
7	98	Bobby Santos III	Franklin, MA	Robert Santos Jr.
8	30	Paul Scally	Raynham, MA	Paul Scally
9	87	Doug Cleveland	Sudbury, MA	Doug Cleveland
10	22	Chris Leonard	Pelham, NH	Dave Leonard
11	77	Andy Shlatz	Enfield, CT	Mike Luggelle
12	28	Paul Luggelle	Holbrook, MA	Paul Luggelle
13 DNF	2	Lee Bundy	Kennebunkport, ME	Lee Bundy
14 DNF	9	John Zych Jr.	Mendon, MA	John Zych
15 DNF	4	Nokie Fornoro	Stroudsburg, PA	Mike Jarret
16 DNF	33	Shawn Torrey	Marshfield, MA	Shawn Torrey
17 DNF	63	Jeremy Frankoski	Huntingon Station, NY	TSR Motorsports Inc.
18 DNF	99	Aaron Wall	Shrewsbury, MA	Power Point Race Cars
19 DNF	78	Brian Cleveland	Billerica, MA	Linda Cleveland
20 DNS	11	Mark Irving	Worcester, MA	Charles Camosse

STARTING GRID - 4/13/08 9 John Zych Jr. 44 Erica Santos 22 Chris Leonard 26b Greg Stoehr 45 Joey Payne 47 Randy Cabral 98 Bobby Santos III 7ny Adam Cantor 4 Nokie Fornoro 63 Jeremy Frankoski 2 Lee Bundy 30 Paul Scally 5 William Wall 11 Mark Irving 78 Brian Cleveland 77 Andy Shlatz 33 Shawn Torrey 99 Aaron Wall 28 Paul Luggelle  87 Doug Cleveland
Waterford Nationals - Sat 4/12 - Heat 1 Pos. # Driver Hometown Owner 1 26b Greg Stoehr Bridgewater, MA Greg Stoehr 2 47 Randy Cabral Plymouth, MA Tim Bertrand 3 7ny Adam Cantor Dix Hills, NY Cantor Racing 4 9 John Zych Jr. Mendon, MA John Zych 5 63 Jeremy Frankoski Huntingon Station, NY Jon Seaman Sr. 6 5 William Wall Shrewsbury, MA Steve Wall 7 30 Paul Scally Raynham, MA Paul Scally 8 11 Mark Irving Worcester, MA Charles Camosse 9 77 Andy Shlatz Enfield, CT Mike Luggelle 10 33 Shawn Torrey Marshfield, MA Shawn Torrey Waterford Nationals - Sat 4/12 - Heat 2 1 44 Erica Santos Franklin, MA Ed Breault 2 45 Joey Payne Fairlawn, NJ Gene Angellilo 3 98 Bobby Santos III Franklin, MA Robert Santos Jr. 4 4 Nokie Fornoro Stroudsburg, PA Mike Jarret 5 22 Chris Leonard Pelham, NH Dave Leonard 6 2 Lee Bundy Kennebunkport, ME Lee Bundy 7 78 Brian Cleveland Billerica, MA Linda Cleveland 8 28 Paul Luggelle  Holbrook, MA Paul Luggelle  9 DNF 99 Aaron Wall Shrewsbury, MA Power Point Race Cars 10 DNF 87 Doug Cleveland Sudbury, MA Doug Cleveland
Waterford - Sat 4/12 - NEMA Lites
NEMA Lites in Exhibition Runs #09 - Stephanie Doty #18 - Jesse Slate #20 - Andy Shlatz #33 - Shawn Torey #35 - Randy Cabral #52 - Kevin Park #66 - Mike Lugelle/Steve Powers

Abby Martino at the 2007 Waterford Budweiser Modified Nationals

NEMA, Speedbowl: A Torrid Love Affair

(WATERFORD, CT - Speedbowl PR ) It’s doubtful if anybody loves Waterford Speedbowl more than the Northeastern Midget Association. A large contingent ranging from 34-year veteran Nokie Fornoro to 17-year old Chris Leonard agree with Joey Payne Jr. – “it’s probably the best Midget Track on the east coast.”

“If I had to pick any midget track that I would like to race on once a week, 52 weeks a year, it would be the Speedbowl,” says Fornoro.

NEMA is one of the visiting divisions for the 12th annual, April 12-13, season-opening Budweiser Modified Nationals. The $5,000-to-win SK-150 headlines the 10-division show that also includes, in addition to the Bowl’s Late Model, Sportsman, Mini Stock and Legend divisions, the Pro4 Modifieds, AllStar Trucks, Allison Legacy Cars and NEMA Lites.

It is, all agree, a “momentum track” with the best turning mid 17-seconds laps in competition. “You can get those things really wound up at the Speedbowl,” continues Fornoro. “The cars really want to go there.”

Fornoro, Payne (three wins), Randy Cabral (4), Bobby Santos III (4) and, Ben Seitz (4) will come to the Nationals with strong Speedbowl resumes. The Speedbowl-NEMA marriage dates back to 1953, NEMA’s initial season.

Fornoro’s first (1981) and fourth (last year) Speedbowl wins are separated by a quarter century. He remembers the last repaving in 1988 taking “a couple seasons to get the bite that’s there now. It is excellent. It’s a racy joint.”

And a challenging place as well. “That race track changes in a 25-lap midget feature like you can’t believe,” he says. “It changes day to night, day to the next day.”

The key challenge is probably tires. “You can light up a tire there, blister it if you don’t let it cool,” Fornoro continues. “That’s how fast that track is.”

“It’s at Waterford where people run their best,” the now-retired Russ Stoehr pointed out several seasons ago. “We go to the Speedbowl, all of us, expecting to do well.”

“I just love the place,” says Bobby Santos III who points to both the surface and layout. “You can pretty much put the car where you want it, three, maybe four, lanes of racing.” Santos’ first full Midget win came at the Speedbowl.

“I’ve made four-wide passes on both the bottom and the top at the Speedbowl,” says Randy Cabral who was near flawless in winning last year’s Finale. “There is not another track we go to where you can do that.” Cabral has four career Speedbowl wins.

“I’ve passed three wide there,” says Payne. “I’ve passed on the bottom, in the middle, on the top. There are three racing grooves and I’ve used them all.”

“The Speedbowl is definitely our favorite track,” says Leonard. “The minute I saw the place, I knew it was a perfect midget track. It’s just so much fun to race there.”

It is “smooth but with some transitions,” says Fornoro who offers a primer on where to expect the action. “Going into one it looks like you can really sail it in there but you have to be careful because the fence can pull you in,” says. “Off two, there’s a little dip and if you hit that the wrong way it will loosen you up pretty good. It narrows up real hard out of four and you can eat the fence through there.”