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NEMA Feature - World Series - Sun. Oct. 25th |
|
Pos. |
# |
Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
|
1 |
4 |
Nokie
Fornoro |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Mike
Jarret |
|
2 |
A1 |
Jeff
Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Jeff
Horn |
|
3 |
47 |
Randy
Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim
Bertrand |
|
4 |
39 |
Cole Carter |
Indianapolis, IN |
Tim
Bertrand |
|
5 |
3m |
Jim
Miller |
Weymouth,
MA |
Jim
Miller |
|
6 |
P30 |
Mike Horn |
Ashland,
MA |
Mike Horn |
|
7 |
99 |
Chris deRitis |
Philadelphia, PA |
Power
Point
Race Cars |
|
8 |
8w |
Rich
Gerbe |
Franklin Sq.,
NY |
Lee
Gerbe |
|
9 |
21 |
Abby
Martino |
Norfolk,
MA |
Joan Martino |
|
10 |
9 |
John Zych
Jr. |
Mendon,
MA |
John
Zych |
|
11 |
2 |
Lee
Bundy |
Kennebunkport, ME |
Lee
Bundy |
12
DNF |
44 |
Erica
Santos |
Franklin, MA |
Ed
Breault |
13
DNF |
45 |
Russ Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
Gene
Angelillo |
14
DNF |
7ny |
Adam
Cantor |
Dix
Hills, NY |
Cantor
Racing |
15
DNF |
36 |
Corey
Cleary |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen
Cabral |
16
DNF |
47 |
Lanson
Fornoro |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Glen
Cabral |
17
DNF |
29 |
Bobby Santos III |
Franklin, MA |
Bobby
Seymour |
18
DNF |
77 |
Doug
Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Mike Luggelle
|
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|
Nokie Fornoro
Takes Rifchin Trophy;
Cabral, Bertrand are Driver and
Owner Champions |
Thompson, CT – Taking
control on a lap 16 restart, Nokie Fornoro captured the 25-lap
Northeastern Midget Association feature Sunday at Thompson
Speedway’s World Series. The Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race was the
final outing for Fornoro’s owner Mike Jarret.
Rifchin Trophy Story
Below
The season finale, it was the 110th career Midget victory for
Fornoro, 45 of them in NEMA including three this year.
A second straight driving championship all but secured going in,
five-time winner Randy Cabral gave Tim Bertrand his second
straight owners title with a third place finish. Bertrand
finished with a four-point bulge on Jarret.
Fornoro beat leader Jeff Horn into the first turn on the
restart. Cabral secured third on the restart as well, falling in
behind Horn. The top three ran to the checkered followed by
Cabral’s teammate Cole Carter (Bertrand #39) and Jimmy Miller
(Miller #3m).
“It is an emotional win,” said Fornoro, pointing out his
relationship with Jarrett “is a lot deeper than a owner/driver
thing. I wanted this for him.” He said he was ”focused” on
“getting the car to run the way I like it here. You have to go
really hard in the corner to make it turn right.”
“You live by the yellow and you die by the yellow,” offered Horn
who had a half-a-straightaway advantage when yellowed appeared.
Running hot, he said the car “bogged down on the restart. I was
a dead beat. It came back but it was too late.”
Fornoro, who was also having motor problems (“there was smoke in
the cockpit”) said he was not happy with the yellow either. In
the end, he added, it came down to just how fast the restart
would be. It was pretty fast and I just took it in very hard.
The car was set up for the middle and the top.”
“It was the only time I went into one and the car actually
stuck,” said Cabral on the pass for third that wound up giving
Bertrand the owner crown. “Once I realized how bad my car was
and how good he was, I knew I had to keep Nokie in view.”
Horn was the second leader. Russ Stoehr (Angelillo #45), who
started sixth, had the lead before the race was a lap old.
Stopped by a broken hose clamp, he gave up the lead to Horn on
lap seven, the latter jumping out to a sizable lead.
Boxed in early, Fornoro actually dropped back from his seventh
starting spot. “Once I got it up the race track I knew I could
catch Russ and Jeff,” he said. It didn’t take him long to
realize “I had the best car.”
After a spirited three-lap battle with Miller, Fornoro moved
into second on lap 12. He confident he'd catch Horn "maybe with
two or three laps left." |
|
|
Tribute To
A Legend
-
Marvin Rifchin
at "We Did It for
Love"
The
Worlds
Largest
Drag
Racing
Photo
&
History
Website |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Tribute to Marvin at Thompson in July of 2006 |
|
Rifchin Trophy
Awaits
NEMA Thompson Winner |
Brockton, MA –
The winner of the 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature
at Thompson Speedway’s World Series (Oct. 17-18) will come away
with the inaugural Marvin Rifchin Memorial Trophy. The trophy
race, originally scheduled for July 2 (a rain out), honors
Rifchin, owner of M&H Tire and an integral part of NEMA from its
inception in 1953. Rifchin died on June 3 at age 93.
“Everybody would like to have this one,” says NEMA President
Mike Scrivani Jr. “The number of people he touched directly, the
influence he had on our club over the years is immense.”
Defending champion and current point leader Randy Cabral leads
NEMA into what is the club’s first 2009 visit. Other contenders
include Nokie Fornoro, Adam Cantor, Russ and Greg Stoehr and
Jeff Horn. Cabral was the winner of the “Marvin Rifchin
Appreciation event in 2006.
“We want to thank Thompson Speedway promoter Donald Hoenig for
his participation in honoring Marvin,” adds Scrivani.
Midgets and, soon after, stock cars, captured Rifchin’s
attention in the immediate post World War II era. Joining his
father Harry in the tire recapping business, M&H (the H stands
for Harry) became one of the first companies to make tires
specifically for racecars.
More than willing to take on the tire-making giants (notably
Goodyear and Firestone), Rifchin’s influence throughout
motorsports grew to epic proportions over some five decades. His
association with legend Don Garlits is part of drag racing
folklore. He played a major role in the Modified glory days of
the 1960s and 70s.
Rifchin’s contributions are evidenced by his membership in four
Halls of Fame including NEMA’s. He is in the National Hot Rod
Association, the New England Auto Racing and the Specialty
Equipment Manufactures Association (SEMA) halls as well.
“Still,” says long-time NEMA car owner and official Bruce Beane,
“Marvin stayed close to NEMA. He was part of the family. The M&H
logo was part of NEMA’s image for many years for many very good
reasons.”
Beane points out Rifchin was outgoing not only with his product
but also with his time and his intelligence.
“Over the years a lot of guys raced because of Marvin’s
generosity,” sums up 13-time owner champion Gene Angelillo. “He
really had a special place in his heart for the competitor. Near
the end of his life he was at a lot of our races and that was
really good for NEMA. The guy loved the Midgets.” |
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 |
|
Thompson Always A
Test For NEMA |
Pointing out Thompson
Speedway “separates the men from the boys” is both a “true” and
a “tired” observation. It has been so for over half a century.
It will continue when the Northeastern Midget Association’s
25-lap Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race joins World Series festivities
Oct. 24-25 with a 25-lap feature.
En route to victory in last fall’s World Series, Randy Cabral
had a fast lap of 17.620 in the Bertrand 47. How far have the
speeds increased over the years at Thompson? In the fall of 1974
Dave Humphrey’s 21.428 seconds qualifying run had everybody
buzzing.
The race honors Rifchin, the tire manufacturer (M&H) who was a
long-time contributor to NEMA.
Rifchin Trophy Story
Above
Cabral, defending driver champion and current point leader, will
be looking for his eighth career win at Thompson (five in
Bertrand equipment). He has won the past two World Series and
three of the last six. The owners point race, however, holds the
spotlight as Mike Jarret (and driver Nokie Fornoro) hopes to
chase down Cabral’s owner Tim Bertrand.
Although there have been exceptions, Thompson tends to favor the
veteran competitors. Cabral, the all-time Thompson NEMA winner
with seven, can also expect plenty of competition from Greg and
Russ Stoehr, Adam Cantor and Jeff Horn, all winners this year.
USAC veteran Cole Carter, second at the Boston Louie, returns to
the Bertrand stable. Carter will be in the car Ryan Newman drove
to a second earlier this year at Lee USA Speedway.
“Thompson is a stand on it place,” Tim Bertrand, “a test of both
driver and car.” Straightaway speeds are over 125 mph.
“You have to challenge the place but you have to show it the
utmost respect too,” says Fornoro, a four-time Thompson winner.
The Thompson NEMA win list, going back to a victory by Dutch
Schaefer in 1960, is one of the most impressive in NEMA. “The
good drivers have always looked forward to Thompson,” says NEMA
President Mike Scrivani Jr. “A Midget victory at Thompson looks
very good on the resume.”
Dave Humphrey, Hank Rogers Jr., Gene Bergin and Nokie Fornoro
won at Thompson in cars owned and prepped by Mike Jr. and his
legendary father.
Like the Scrivani family, the Stoehr brothers have a long
Thompson history. Greg Stoehr’s Thompson win, in the Zahar car
back in 1993, came after a late-race pass of brother Russ. The
brothers have not raced each other at Thompson since that day.
Gene Angelillo, Russ Stoehr’s current owner, grabbed his 100th
NEMA win at Thompson in 2000. Joey Payne Jr., in a backup car,
passed Russ Stoehr with two to go.
NEMA
Winners at Thompson
No. Driver - First Last
7 Randy Cabral - 2001 2008
6 Johnny Mann - 1972 1978
5 Drew Fornoro - 1985 2003
4 Johnny Coy Sr. - 1969 1981
4 Nokie Fornoro - 1982 2005
4 Armond Holley - 1976 1977
3 Bob Cicconi - 1978 1987
3 Ben Seitz - 2005 2007
3 Russ Stoehr - 1994 2002
2 Mark Buonomo - 2001 2004
2 Dave Humphrey - 1970 1971
2 Russ Klar - 1969 1972
2 Hank Rogers - 1980 1980
2 Bobby White - 1979 1979
One-time Thompson winners: Gene
Bergin (1969), Lennie Boyd (1979), Kyle Carpenter (2002), Joey
Coy (1992), Johnny Coy Jr. (1981),
Ryan Dolan (2002), Leigh Earnshaw (1979), Ronnie Evans (1970),
Mike Favulli (1989), George Ferguson Jr. (1978), Walt Gale
(1968), George Monsen (1978), Joey Payne Jr. (2000), Bobby
Santos III (2003)Dutch Schaefer (1960), Greg Stoehr (1993),
Butch Walsh (1986),
Hank Williams (1960). |
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Cole Carter Back
For Thompson |
Cole Carter, a USAC Midget,
Sprint Car & Silver Crown driver and part of one of American's
greatest auto racing families, will return to the Northeastern
\Midget Association at Thompson Speedway's World Series (Oct.
24-25).
Carter, the son of Midget legend Pancho Carter, will again be
part of the Bertrand Motorsports stable. He had a second at
Seekonk Speedway's Boston Louie in August. This time he will
drive the No. 39 car that Ryan Newman drove to a second place at
Lee earlier this year.
"He was really impressed with the winged Midgets and told us he
would like to return," said owner Tim Bertrand. "We've been
working on it ever sense." Carter led the first half of the
Seekonk race.
The Carter and Bertrand families will "team up" for a trip to
Phoenix International Speedway's Copper Classic in November.
Carter, who finished third in Phoenix a year ago, will drive his
own Beast chassis powered by one of Bertrand's engines.
The team, currently ahead in both the driver (Randy Cabral) and
owner standings, has been busy throughout the season with
"guest" drivers, the list also including Pete Skias and Teddy
Christopher. |
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