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| FAST FRIDAY - JUNE 18TH |
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Seekonk 6/18 Top Three -
L to R: Jim Santa
Maria #99, 3rd;
Winner Bethany Viets #1; and
David
Moniz #18, 2nd. |
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Practice
and
Heat
Action > |
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Photos by John DaDalt |
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Rookie
Bethany Viets Makes History,
Earns First NEMA Lites Victory at Seekonk |
SEEKONK, MA - Eighteen year old Bethany Viets of Granby,
CT became the first female to win a NEMA Lites feature with her
victory at Seekonk Speedway on Friday, and joined 2007 NEMA
Midget winner Erica Santos as the only female NEMA feature
winners in the 58 year history of the organization.
Starting on the pole for the 20 lap race, Viets led every lap
and survived two restarts to earn her initial win over a 20 car
field of both veterans and talented newcomers. Fellow rookies
D.J. Moniz and Jim Santa Maria finished second and third.
After a restart on lap 2, when Paul Bigelow’s car shut down
due to a clogged fuel filter and another restart on lap 5, when
Eric Cabral’s car spun exiting turn four, the race ran non-stop
and Viets stretched her lead out to half a straightaway. She
passed lapped traffic with ease until late in the race when she
closed in on a lapped car that was fighting a handling issue.
Then she used her head, in addition to her right foot.
“We’re a low budget team, and as much I wanted to win, I didn’t
want to take any unnecessary chances and try to pass,” Viets
said in victory lane. “I knew we only had a couple of laps left
and I just prayed that I had enough of a lead that nobody would
catch me.”
Runner-up D.J Moniz started seventh and was
closing in on Viets on the final laps. “Our car was getting
looser as the race went on, and the looser it got, the faster it
went,” Moniz said. “But Bethany was really fast and I was having
a tough time catching up to her.”
It was only Jim Santa
Maria’s second time competing in a NEMA Lite and he had to work
his way from a tenth starting spot to finish third. “It was hard
work to pass cars out there,” Santa Maria said. “When Randy
Cabral got by me, I thought I was going to start falling back,
but then I was able to get by him and I knew we were in good
shape.”
Randy Cabral raced from 13th to finish fourth and
Eddie LeClerc came from 11th to finish fifth.
All three
heat races, which were won by Kevin Park, D.J Moniz and Randy
Cabral, ran without a single yellow flag.
Although she has only competed in a NEMA Lite on four previous
occasions, Viets acquired an impressive racing resume on the
clay track at Whip City Speedway. Starting in a Micro Stock at
age 12, she progressed to 750cc Mini Sprints and Quad 4 Midgets.
She has three Mini Sprint wins to go with her nine Quad 4 Midget
victories.
The night wasn’t a complete bed of roses for
Viets. During practice and her heat race, Viets fought a
handling problem after car owners Charlie Gunther and Tom Rodzen
put on a new left rear tire and struggled to adjust the stagger
properly. They eventually changed to an old tire and Viets won
with a tire that had been used in three previous features and
several practice sessions.
The NEMA Lites join the NEMA
Midgets at LeeUSA Speedway this Friday, June 25th. |
|
Lites Feature - Seekonk - Fri. June 18th |
|
Pos. |
# |
Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
|
1 |
1 |
Bethany Viets |
Manchester, CT |
Charles Gunther |
|
2 |
18 |
David
Moniz |
Fairhaven, MA |
David Moniz |
|
3 |
99 |
Jim Santa
Maria |
Burlington, CT |
Susan Santa Maria |
|
4 |
4 |
Randy
Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Bobby Seymour |
|
5 |
12 |
Eddie LeClerc
Jr. |
Taunton, MA |
Eddie LeClerc St. |
|
6 |
29 |
Anthony Nocella |
Woburn,
MA |
Matt Seymour |
|
7 |
48 |
Todd
Bertrand |
Suffield, CT |
Tim Bertrand |
| 8 |
20
|
Chris Haskell |
- |
Andy Shlatz |
| 9 |
52
|
Kevin Park |
Foxboro,
MA |
Kevin Park |
| 10 |
93
|
Jake Smith
|
Stroudsburg, PA |
Ted Smith |
|
11 |
5c |
Joey Chick |
Hubbardston, MA |
Bob Chick |
|
12 |
28 |
Paul Luggelle |
Holbrook, MA |
Paul Luggelle |
|
13 |
81 |
Andy Barrows |
New Ipswich, NH |
Bobby Seymour |
|
14 |
36 |
Eric Cabral |
Manchester, NH |
Glen Cabral |
|
15 |
23 |
Gary Sherman |
Billerica, MA |
Gary Sherman |
|
16 |
13 |
Ryan Bigelow |
E. Hampton, CT |
Randy Bigelow |
|
17 |
27 |
Vince Jacob |
Covertry, RI |
Vince Jacob |
18
DNF |
00 |
Lanson
Fornoro |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Paul Luggelle |
19
DNF |
47 |
Vinnie
Annarumo |
Swansea, MA |
Glen Cabral |
20
DNF |
31 |
Paul Bigelow |
Berlin, CT |
Randy Bigelow |
|
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