NEMA - NorthEastern Midget Association

Weds., June 27th, 2018 - Seekonk Speedway
29 Laps for NEMA Midgets & 33 Laps for NEMA LITES
Dedicated to the Memory of Dave Steele
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Cabral King of NEMA’s Boston Louie;
Cugini Conquers LITES

Randy Cabral became the first four time winner of the Northeastern Midget Association's prestigious Boston Louie Memorial this past Wednesday at the Cement Palace, at Seekonk MA. Danny Cugini capitalized on his front row starting spot to take down the Lites portion of the show which featured 28 cars taking the green flag.

In the NEMA event, the day started with time trials. Avery Stoehr brought his Bertrand Motorsports #39 back after an awful wreck at the Wiscassett Speedway to take down the fastest time at a blistering 11.19 second run. Via an invert, Paul Scally brought the field to the green for the Dash for Cash. Scally bested a very stout field, taking down the win over Randy Cabral and Stoehr. Sammy Swindell, making his second NEMA start finished seventh in the dash.

In the NEMA feature, current Whelen Modified Tour points leader, Justin Bonsignore, jumped out into the lead from his pole starting spot. Bonsignore was quickly pursued by Cabral, when a caution flew on lap three. On the restart, Cabral would take the lead with Bonsignore and teammate Todd Bertrand in tow.

Bonsignore's night would come to an end on lap 14, when a battery issue side lined him for the evening. Cabral would go on to win by over a half track, and was never seriously challenged. Bertrand would finish second followed by teammate Avery Stoehr for an all Bertrand Motorsports podium. Paul Scally was fourth followed by Jim Chambers, Sammy Swindell, Doug Cleveland, Bethany Stoehr, Matt O'Brien and Andy Lutz.

"The car was just unreal tonight, we all worked well together on some changes and they worked great," said Cabral. "The setup was spot on and these new tires from Hoosier are just awesome. I think we could run them two nights and still have a shot to win," he said.

In the Lites portion of the show, the day started with Kevin Iannarelli setting the track record, blistering the previous record of 11.68 seconds with a 11.59 second lap. In the dash for cash, NJ's Richie Coy of the famed Coy Racing family took top honors.

In the feature, via the luck of the draw, Danny Cugini brought the 28 car field to the green flag.

Cugini would jump into the lead, but was hotly pursued by NASCAR rising star Calvin Caroll. The duo was quickly into lapped traffic, while further back, Seth Carlson, Jim Chambers and Matt Swanson were working their way through traffic.

As the laps wound down, in a green to checkered run, Cugini would begin to stretch out his lead and was never seriously challenged. Caroll would finish second in his best Lites finish to date and Carlson would finish third. Following them across the line were Jim Chambers, Matt Swanson, Dylan Duhaime, Avery Stoehr, Ryan Locke, Jessica Bean and Ray Parent.

"To win this race is just awesome," said Cugini. "The crew worked so hard to keep us out front today, the car was unreal. I need to thank my Dad, Mom, Max and the whole team," said Cugini.

NEMA picks back up on July 14 at the Iron Mike Memorial at the Monadnock Speedway.










*Photos by Norm Marx*
*Heats >>*
		*Photos by John DaDalt*

*NEMA MIDGETS - SEEKONK SPEEDWAY - 6/27/18*
Pos.	#	Driver	Hometown	Owner
1	74	Randy Cabral	Kingston, MA	Bertrand Motorsports
2	48	*Todd Bertrand*	*Danielson, CT*	Bertrand Motorsports
3	39	*Avery Stoehr*	*Lakeville, MA*	Bertrand Motorsports
4	30	*Paul Scally*	*Raynham, MA*	Paul Scally
5	21	Jim Chambers	Atkinson, NH	Mike Chambers
6	1	*Sammy Swindell*	*Germantown, TN*	Bertrand Motorsports
7	87	Doug Cleveland	Sudbury, MA	Doug Cleveland
8	5B	*Bethany Stoehr*	*Bridgewater, MA*	Greg Stoehr
9	16	*Matt O'Brien*	*Wilmington, MA*	Matt O'Brien
10	18	Andy Lunt	- -	Christian Briggs
11	47	*Justin Bonsignore*	*Holtsville, NY*	Bertrand Motorsports
12	*15a*	Alvy Ovitt	Barrington, NH	Russell Stoehr














		*Photos by* *John Dadalt &* *Norm Marx*
*Heats >>*

	*Photos by John DaDalt*

NEMA LITES - SEEKONK SPEEDWAY - 6/27/18

Pos.	#	Driver	Hometown	Owner
1	51	*Dan CuginI*	*Marshfield, MA*	*Dan Cugini*
2	24	Calvin Caroll	Andover, NJ	Joe Caroll
3	6	*Seth Carlson*	*Brimfield, MA*	*Seth Carlson*
4	12	Jim Chambers	Atkinson, NH	Jim Chambers
5	76	Matt Swanson	*Concord, MA*	Frank Manafort
6	5	Dylan Duhaime	Loudon, NH	Jim Cataldo
7	21	*Anthony Payne*	*Fairlawn, NJ*	Mike Scrivani
8	38	*Ryan Locke*	*Chester, NH*	*Ken Locke*
9	5b	Jessica Bean	Farmland, IN	Jessica Bean
10	45	Ray Parent	Tiverton, RI	Bertrand Motorsports
11	9	Ben Mikitarian	Northborough, MA	*John Mikitarian*
12	14	Chad Labastie	Uxbridge, MA	Chad Labastie
13	19	Richie Coy	Haskell, NJ	Richie Coy
14	17	Kyle Valeri	Monument Beach, MA	Peter Valeri
15	48	*Matt Janisch*	*Nazareth, PA*	*Mark Janisch*
16	35	*Paul Newcomb*	*- -*	*Glen Cabral*
17	8T	Jake Trainor	Medway, MA	Mike Trainor
18	36	Randy Cabral	Kingston, MA	*Glen Cabral*
19	2	*Bruce Finley*	*Webster, MA*	Jim Cataldo
20	*14b*	*Connor Gross*	*Asbury, NJ*	Connor Gross
21	41	*Meg CuginI*	*Marshfield, MA*	*Glenn Cugini*
22	52	*Tyler Rivard*	- -	*Kevin Park*
23	27	*Kevin Iannarelli*	*Shirley, MA*	Kevin Iannarelli
24	93	*Jake Smith*	*Stroudsburg, PA*	*Ted Smith*
25	9R	Chris Lamb	Colfax, NC	Chris Lamb








			*Photos by* *Mike* *Rothwell*







		*Photos by* *John Dadalt &* *Norm Marx*

NEMA MIDGETS AWARDS

Dash for Cash - Sponsored by Gill Bertrand
Paul Scally #30 - $100

Dave Steele Fast Time Award - Gill Bertrand
Avery Stoehr #39 - 11.199 - $100

Hard Luck Award - Kevin Park & Bobby Seymour
Jim Santa Maria #99 - $200

Dedication Awards - Dave Shore
of Vintage Midget Racing
Doug Cleveland #87 - $300
Paul Scally #30 - $300

Hard Luck Award - Steve & Rosemary Stapp
from Brownsburg, IN
Pete Pernisiglio #50 - $ 100

NEMA LITES AWARDS

Long Distance - South Metro Sports Complex
Jessica Bean #5b - Farmland, IN - $100
Matt Janisch #48 - Nazareth, PA - $100
Jake Smith #93 - Stroudsburg, PA - $100

Dave Steele Fast Time - Jon McKennedy
Kevin Ianarelli #27 - 11.599 - $100

Rookie of the Race - Jim Cataldo & South Metro Sports Complex
Kyle Valeri #17 - $200

LITES Heat Winner - JMT Motorsports
Ben Mikitarian #9 - $100

Dave Steele Hard Charger - Kevin Park & Jon McKennedy
Matt Swanson #76 - $ 200

Dave Steele Dash For Cash - Iracing.com
Richie Coy #19 - $133

Top Father - Son Team - In Memory of Jim O'Brien
Calvin Carroll #24 - $100

The 2018 Boston Louie Format

NEMA MIDGETS

Time trials - will be the fastest time a car turns in Any of their warmup sessions

Top 8-10 Nema cars (depending on car count) will be locked into a dash for cash - complete invert. 8 laps. An invert pill will be drawn based on the dash for cash finish after the event and the # of pills will be determined on the day of the event.

The remainder of the field will run 1 8 lap heat race - and will start heads up. The finishing positions of these cars will determine their feature starting spots.

NEMA LITES

Time trials - will be the fastest time a car turns in Any of their warmup sessions

Top 14 lites cars will be locked into a dash for cash - complete invert. 8 laps. The feature lineup will be determined by an invert draw based on the dash for cash finish and the # of pills will be determined on the day of the event.

The remainder of the field will run 2 8 lap heat races - and will start heads up. The finishing positions of these cars will determine their feature starting spots.

The Legacy of Boston Louie
Lives On in the 22nd Annual
Boston Louie Seymour Memorial

For the past 20 years, the race held in honor of the Massachusetts based car owner who campaigned his winning midgets, sprints and Silver Crown cars across America , has brought together the very best in open wheel Midget racing.

On March 25, 2017, the most accomplished pavement open wheel racer in America , Dave Steele of Tampa Fl. passed away at Desoto Speedway in Bradenton while attempting to win his 100th sprint car race in the state of Florida.

When the NEMA Midgets roll into Seekonk Speedway for the 22nd Annual Boston Louie Memorial, NEMA will honor Steele by extending the customary 29 lap race to 33 laps (Steele's number) for the NEMA LITES portion of the event.

A special thanks to Seekonk Speedway, NEMA, the many sponsors, fans and dedicated race coordinators, who have helped produce this spectacular event for the past two decades.

The Seymour Family
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DAVE STEELE

Ray Parent to Join Bertrand Motorsports
at Seekonk's Boston Louie Memorial

Seekonk, MA - Northeastern Midget Association team owner, Tim Bertrand, and Anytime Realty CEO, Don Parsons, have announced that Ray Parent will once again pilot the Bertrand Motorsports #45 at this year's Boston Louie Memorial on Wednesday June 27th at Seekonk Speedway.

Parent, who is no stranger to Seekonk Speedway, having won many races at the facility, drove the Bertrand Motorsports #45 to a heat race win and eighth place finish in last year's Boston Louie Memorial.

Bertrand Motorsports has been competing with NEMA since 2001, and since then, have amassed six series championships, and owner, Tim Bertrand, is amongst the all time winningest owners on the tour.

"Ray did a fantastic job for us last year. He, his Dad, his crew and Don were just fantastic to work with, a great group of guys. I was also really impressed with Ray's ability to just jump in the car and run like he had been in one for years," said Bertrand.

Parent, who normally competes in the Thompson Late Model series, as well as the American Canadian Tour, is excited to try his hand in the mighty midgets again.

"I am very honored and excited to have Don Parsons and Bertrand Motorsports partner up and allow me to drive again at this years open wheel Wednesday. Last year we had a good run winning the qualifier and a solid top 10 finish. This year will be even more exciting having Sammy Swindell as a teammate is just awesome!!", said Parent.

"This is a great opportunity to showcase Anytime Realty within a spectacular event. We had the pleasure of teaming up with the Bertrand's last season and has grown into a great friendship. Hopefully this year we come out of it with a win with Ray Parent behind the wheel. We look forward to seeing everyone June 27th at Seekonk Speedway," said Don Parsons.

SAMMY SWINDELL with KARL FREDRICKSON
from SPEEDWAY ILLUSTRATED

Swindell to Return to NEMA
for Bertrand at Seekonk &
New London-Waterford Speedbowl

One of the most recognized names in American motorsports, Sammy Swindell, will make a pair of Northeastern Midget Association starts for Tim Bertrand/Bertrand Motorsports on Wednesday June 27th at Seekonk's Open Wheel Wednesday/Boston Louie Memorial and at the New London Waterford Speedbowl on September 15th. Swindell is a three-time World of Outlaws Champion & Five-time Chili Bowl champion.

Swindell will join a five car Bertrand Motorsports NEMA operation for the two races, with five time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby joining Swindell & teammates Todd Bertrand, Randy Cabral and Avery Stoehr at Seekonk. At the Speedbowl, Keith Rocco, who had a successful debut with the team at this year's Blastoff, will join Swindell and the team.

'I'm incredibly excited to be able to put together another deal with Sammy for 2018,' said team owner, Tim Bertrand. 'We had a great time racing together over the last couple of years and getting to know each other, and the entire team is looking forward to having him and Amy back to the Northeast," said Bertrand.

Swindell was successful in his debut two seasons ago with the team, running second fastest in qualifying, advanced from seventh to third in his heat and from fifth to fourth in the feature, against NEMA's best. Along the way he went wheel-to-wheel with teammates Randy Cabral, Todd Bertrand and held off a charge from two time and defending Champion John Zych.

"The guys did a good job the last time I came out; the car never missed a beat and never had any problems. It's nice to be able to just come in and drive something like that. The car was good all night, but towards the end of the feature it started getting way tight due to a malfunction with the bleeders," Swindell told AARN reporter Mark McKeon.

"I'm excited to be able to get back out and drive for Tim and his team. We've gotten to know each other well over the last couple of years and even teamed up successfully for the Chili Bowl last winter. A lot of the learning curve is behind us, and we should be able to get right to it off the bat this year," said Swindell.

Car owner Bertrand was ecstatic after the last time Swindell sat in the seat saw team cars driven by Randy Cabral and Todd Bertrand finish first and third respectively, in addition to Swindell's fourth place finish. "It was a great night for the team and for NEMA, and Sammy is welcome to come out any time he'd like," Bertrand said.