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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
19th
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NEMA LITES - STAR -
9/19/20 |
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Pos.
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#
|
Driver |
Hometown
|
Owner |
|
1 |
11 |
PJ Stergios |
Candia, NH |
Bill
Stergios |
|
2 |
21 |
Joe Bailey |
Monroe, NJ |
Mike
Scrivani |
|
3 |
38 |
Ryan Locke |
Chester, NH |
Ryan Locke |
|
4 |
16 |
Matt Seavey |
Pittsfield, NH |
Christopher Butterweck |
|
5 |
19 |
Richie Coy |
Haskell, NJ |
Richie Coy |
|
6 |
35 |
Anthony Marvuglio |
Bridgewater, MA |
Glen Cabral |
|
7 |
1 |
Ian Cummings |
- - - |
Seymour
Performance |
|
8 |
88 |
Chase Locke |
Chester, NH |
Jeff Locke |
|
9 |
17 |
Kyle Valeri |
Monument Beach, MA |
Peter Valeri |
|
10 |
55 |
Drew Eldridge |
No Chelmsford, MA |
Drew
Eldridge |
|
11 |
03 |
Dennis Potter |
- - - |
Dennis Pottter |
|
12 |
94 |
Tiana Kibbe |
Fairfield, CT |
Curt Kibbe |
|
13 |
9 |
Ben Mikitarian |
Northborough, MA |
John
Mikitarian |
|
14 |
53 |
Dylan Coutu |
- - - |
- - - |
|
15 |
97 |
Jim Santa Maria |
Burlington, Ct |
Jim Santa Maria |
|
16 |
44 |
Jordan Eldridge |
Merrimack, NH |
Jordan Eldridge |
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17 |
00 |
Bradley Osgood |
Claremont, NH |
Bradley Osgood |
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HEAT 1:
38, 1, 19, 97, 55, 88, 03, 00 |
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HEAT 2:
16, 9, 17, 21, 11, 35, 94, 53, 44 |
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| Heats >> |
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Feature >> |
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Photos by Rich Hayes
rhayesfoto@aol.com |
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Photos by
Mike Rothwell
speedfanaddict@gmail.com |
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NEMA MIDGETS - STAR -
9/19/20 |
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Pos. |
#
|
Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
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1 |
7 |
Alan Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Mike Chambers |
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2 |
9 |
John Zych Jr. |
Mendon, MA |
John Zych Sr. |
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3 |
8 |
Jake Trainor |
Medway, MA |
Mike Trainor |
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4 |
48 |
Todd Bertrand |
Danielson, CT |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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5 |
39 |
Avery Stoehr |
Lakeville, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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6 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
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7 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Raynham, MA |
Paul Scally |
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8 |
21 |
Jim Chambers |
Atkinson, NH |
Jim Chambers |
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9 |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Matt O'Brien |
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10 |
69 |
Matt Merry |
Plaistow, NH |
Matt Merry |
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11 |
A1 |
Jeff Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Jeff Horn |
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12 |
50 |
Lanson Fornoro |
Brockton, MA |
Pete Pernesiglio Sr. |
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13 |
17 |
Ben Seitz |
Bourne, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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14 |
74 |
Randy Cabral |
Kingston, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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15 |
47 |
Mike Horn |
Ashland, MA |
Bertrand Motorsports |
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HEAT 1:
7, 8, 48, A1, 50, 16, 30, 21 |
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HEAT 2: 47,
17, 39, 74, 9, 87, 69 |
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Alan Chambers Takes
First NEMA Victory;
PJ Stergios King of O'Brien
Memorial at Star Classic |
Epping, NH -- This past Saturday the
Northeastern Midget Association rolled into Bobby Webber's
Star Speedway for one of New England's largest short track
races of the year, the Star Classic. Banner car counts in
all divisions and beautiful weather highlighted the evening.
NEMA presented the Webber family with a celebratory gift,
marking a 40 year partnership between the club at Star
Speedway at its drivers' meeting, accepted by Tim Webber.
NEMA celebrated Jim O'Brien, a legendary car owner
and club officer who, for a span of four decades,
personified the best of NEMA. He was an innovative
fabricator and mechanic, and with his sons by his side, he
always built his own cars and motors. For years he served as
a NEMA contest board member, once a vice-president, and for
13 consecutive years as treasurer. His life-long dedication
to the club was truly outstanding, and in 2003 he was
inducted into the NEMA Hall of Fame. However, most notably,
Jim was always one that stood up and fought for fair
competition and defended the "little guy" - racers who ran
with small budgets.
In the Lites feature, PJ Stergios
returned to victory lane in the 50 lap feature event.
Stergios, after sitting our pieces of the last two seasons
due to health complications, was back in exceptional form
for the O'Brien Memorial. He pulled off a convincing victory
over Joe Bailey, who had an impressive run in the Scrivani
21. Stergios would take down the 50 lap event win, followed
by Bailey, Ryan Locke, Matt Seavy - an exceptional run,
Richie Coy, Anthony Marvuglio, Ian Cummens, Chase Locke,
Kyle Valeri and Drew Eldridge.
"I've been watching
NEMA race at Star since I was a kid in the frontstretch
stands, so a win on Classic weekend means a lot to me. The
car was spot on today, and these 50 lap races seem to suit
my style a little better. With 5 to go I was just trying to
do my best to leave enough tire left in case of a late race
restart, but thankfully that never came. I'd like to thank
my wife Chloe and my Dad for all the help, and also the
Webber family for putting on an awesome event," said
Stergios.
In the NEMA feature, Alan Chambers and Mike
Horn brought the field down to the green flag. Chambers
would get the jump on the start with Horn dogging his rear
bumper. Horn would drop out on lap seven with an ignition
pickup issue, and Chambers would begin to set a torrid pace.
Behind him, young Jake Trainor and three time champion, John
Zych, were working their way through traffic. Trainor ran an
excellent race, in the runner up spot, before Zych would
over take him on the last lap. Chambers was masterful in
lapped traffic, as he would go on to take down his first
ever victory, followed by Zych, Trainor, Todd Bertrand,
Avery Stoehr, Doug Cleveland, Paul Scally, Jim Chambers,
Matt O'Brien and Matt Merry.
"It feels great to get a
win in a club that has been around for over 60 years and add
my name to the books with the legends we all grew up
watching! To get it at Star Speedway one of the clubs most
visited tracks, and at the Classic that I have been watching
since as long as I can remember just makes it that much
better! We worked hard this offseason, switching everything
from the engine package to the suspension. I have had a good
car all season, it was just a matter of putting it all
together finally. With 5 to go I caught up to lap traffic, I
have raced a lot of races at Star Speedway and was confident
in the car I had, if anyone was catching me at that point I
didn't think they could get through the traffic as quick as
I could I knew we had a good car, when I saw I was starting
pole position the only strategy at that point was to get out
front and run smooth consistent laps I would like to thank
Sean at Scotts roofing services and Jon at Circle
Performance engines for all the support, and also Jim
Chambers, Eric Decourcy and Steve Bullek for the help on the
car and all the work they put in. I huge thank you to Star
Speedway and the O'Brien family for all the work they put
into making the show happen!," said Chambers. |
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The Jim O'Brien Memorial Special Awards |
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Spirit of Jim O'Brien Awards - Sponsored by
Jim O'Brien & Sons Engineering:
Outstanding Racer - Tiana Kibbe
Outstanding Competitor - PJ Stergios
Outstanding Innovator - Mike Scrivani
Hard Charger Awards -Sponsored by Bertrand
Motorsports
Jim O'Brien Memorial NEMA Lite - PJ
Stergios
Bob Webber Sr Memorial NEMA - Jim
Chambers
Heat & Feature Bonuses - Sponsored by
Seymour Performance Racing
NEMA Lite Heat 1 - Matt Seavey
NEAM Lite Heat 2 - Ryan Locke
NEMA Heat 1 - Alan Chambers
NEMA Heat 2 - Mike Horn
$50 Finishing Bonus for 4th Place -
Sponsored by Valeri Construction
NEMA Lite - Matt Seavey
NEMA - Todd Bertrand
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The Jim O'Brien Memorial would like to
acknowledge the
following sponsors: |
Gold Sponsor - R.E. Dinneen Architects, Inc
Silver
Sponsor - United Consultants, Inc
Bronze Sponsors -
Scrivani Family, Engels Family, Dan O'Brien & Family.
Spirit of Jim O'Brien Awards by Jim O'Brien & Sons
Engineering - 50 years of family racing!
Outstanding
Innovator $100
Outstanding Racer $100
Outstanding
Competitor $100
Hard Charger Awards by Bertrand
Motorsports
Jim O'Brien Memorial NEMA LITES Hard Charger
$50
Bob Webber Memorial NEMA Hard Charger $50
$25
Heat Winner Bonuses by Seymour Performance Racing
$50
Feature Winner Bonuses by Seymour Performance Racing
Contact Matt for Sponsorship
Opportunities - please text @ 617-549-8663 or email
arcracer16@yahoo.com |
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Jim O'Brien Memorial Race
at the STAR Classic on
9/19 |
The Northeastern Midget
Association will invade Bobby Webber's STAR Speedway in
Epping, NH on Saturday night September 19th, for what's sure
to be New England's largest open wheel race of 2020 - the
annual STAR Classic. The NEMA Lites will take the green for
the annual Jim O'Brien Memorial Race, which will be a 50 lap
event for the NEMA Lites, and a 25 lap event for the NEMA
midgets. The NEMA Lites & NEMA will run the O'Brien race
alongside the main event of the International Super Modified
Association (ISMA) as they compete in the Bob Webber Sr
Memorial 125, and the 350 Supers running the Randy Witkum
Memorial 60.
The O'Brien brothers are very proud to
have their father's annual memorial event at Star, a track
that dates back as far as any along with the Northeastern
Midget Association. Star is a very special place for the
O'Briens - it's where Jim earned his first victory in 1973
with driver Johnny Evans, where Jim's son
Matt began his
midget driving career in 1990, and where Jim helped his son
Dennis earn victories in roadrunners and street stocks for
over a decade. It's only fitting to honor Jim's legacy at
this historic event.
As the Webber family celebrates
their 40 th year of promoting at Star, the O'Brien's
commemorate their family's 50 th consecutive season of NEMA
racing. Brothers Matt and Dennis O'Brien will both be on
hand with Matt competing in the NEMA midgets, and Dennis as
crew chief on his brother Chris' Lite car along with his
driver, 350 Supermodified stand out, Matt Seavey. All of Jim
O'Brien's grandkids will also be there turning wrenches,
providing support, and cheering them on.
An O'Brien
Memorial win will be a coveted one and on the mind of the
O'Brien's driver, Matt Seavey, and many other NEMA Lite
racers. A few of those include hot shoe brothers - Ryan and
Chase Locke; recent winners Jim Cataldo and Paul Scally; the
always fast PJ Stergios and Richie Coy; up and coming
drivers Kyle Valerie, Drew Eldridge, and Tiana Kibbe; and
former NEMA Champion and Lites competitor, Randy Cabral. As
the only two-time winner of this event, Randy will certainly
be looking for the hat trick.
"Jim was such a good
guy as he always thought about the little guy. Maybe we
aren't considered to be the little guys anymore, but for
many years when we were showing up with a 1979 Edmunds on a
snow mobile trailer, Jim was always there to greet us with a
smile. It would be such an honor to win this race," said
Cabral, a five-time NEMA champion. "He did so much for the
club. I'd like all of the younger generation to understand
who he was and the impact he had on what we have today. Jim
O'Brien was a staple in the foundation of NEMA. He was one
of the pioneers who helped pave the way for pavement midget
racing in the Northeast as we see it today," said Cabral.
Jim O'Brien was a legendary car owner and club officer
who, for a span of four decades, personified the best of
NEMA. He was an innovative fabricator and mechanic, and with
his sons by his side, he always built his own cars and
motors. For years he served as a NEMA contest board member,
once a vice
-president, and for 13 consecutive years as
treasurer. His life-long dedication to the club was truly
outstanding, and in 2003 he was inducted into the NEMA Hall
of Fame. However, most notably, Jim was always one that
stood- up and fought for fair competition and defended the
"little guy" - racers who ran
with small budgets.
In the same spirit of Jim O'Brien, the NEMA Lites were
created with two principals: cost effectiveness and fair
competition. While the NEMA Midgets are considered the
fastest midgets in the world, the NEMA Lites boast to be
"lite" on the wallet, making them the perfect fit to
highlight the Jim O'Brien
Memorial Race.
Jim
O'Brien will be on the minds of the NEMA midgets as well.
Matt O'Brien will be looking to shine in his new Drinan
chassis, as will other NEMA regulars Doug Cleveland, Paul
Scally, Alan Chambers, and former champion and last year's
O'Brien Memorial NEMA winner John Zych Jr, who will be
looking to turn his season around with another victory.
NEMA rookie of the year contenders Matt Merry and Jake
Trainor will be looking to upset the field with a win. Jake
was the 2018 O'Brien Memorial winner in the Lites. NEMA
legend Jeff Horn will be taking a break from racing dirt
midgets and sprint cars for a special appearance driving the
family's A1 midget. Responsible for writing a lot of NEMA
history at Star, the
ageless Horn will be looking for his
7 th victory at Star and his first since his Stafford
victory in 2005.
Bertrand Motorsports will have a
stable full of midgets on hand, together with NEMA champion
and third generation driver Avery Stoehr, multi-feature
winner Todd Bertrand, multi-time champion Randy Cabral,
stock car champion Alby Ovitt, and multi-feature winner Mike
Horn, who will be looking for redemption after having to
settle for second the last time he sat in a Bertrand seat.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for this
prestigious event. Please email Matt O'Brien at
arcracer16@yahoo.com. |
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