October 3, 2004

L to R: Bobby Santos, 2nd; Mike Jarret from Helping Hands;
Mark Buonomo, 1st; and Ben Seitz, 3rd.

Seekonk, MA: It has been a long time coming and finally, Mark Buonomo of Waltham, MA has posted his first win of the 2004 season in Northeastern Midget Association competition. The talented young driver has been in contention on many occasions for both car owners Tim Bertrand and Bobby Seymour but mechanical troubles have shut him out of victory lane. It all changed on Sunday at Seekonk Speedway with a dominating performance in the NEMA 25 presented by Cape Cod Aggregates when he led 21 of 25 laps to score the win.

"I really want to thank the Seymours for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to show what I can do in a racecar," said an excited but hoarse Buonomo, who was suffering from laryngitis. "Bobby (Seymour) had this car absolutely on a rail all weekend and Mike (Seymour) worked hard on the motor. You can't ask for more on a beautiful Sunday afternoon."

On the initial start, Pete Pernesiglio put his car upfront as Bobby Santos III and Buonomo battled for the runner-up spot. Santos put up a brief fight before relinquishing the position to Buonomo. On lap four, Buonomo completed his march to the front taking over the top spot from Pernesiglio. He quickly ran out to a sizeable lead, leaving Santos to do battle with Pernesiglio.

Santos went around Pernesiglio on the backstretch on lap eight but a spin by his teammate Randy Cabral brought out the caution to negate the pass. On the restart, it was Buonomo, Pernesiglio, Santos, Ed Breault, and Joey Payne inside the top five. Point leader Ben Seitz was just outside the top five looking in.

A second attempt at lap eight was cut short when the #33 of Tommy Spada went spinning. Buonomo was able to maintain his spot at the head of the field when racing resumed. Santos stormed passed Pernesiglio while a three-car battle for third was developing between Pernesiglio, Payne, and Seitz. Seitz came out on top to claim third. Payne went to fourth moving Pernesiglio back to fifth. Jeff Horn, making his first start of the 2004 season, was cruising toward the front in the outside groove.

At the halfway marker, Buonomo continued to lead with Santos, Seitz, Payne, and Nokie Fornoro taking chase. Pernesiglio had fallen back to sixth while Horn was up to seventh and Cabral had worked his way back to eighth after his problem earlier in the event.

The best battle on the field pitted Seitz against Santos for the second position. Payne and Fornoro were locked in a fight of their own. Santos was successful in holding off Seitz. Payne could not hold off the charge of Fornoro.

Attrition began to play a role as the race progressed. Early season feature winner Tim Heath dropped off the pace on lap 13. Russ Stoehr headed for the infield on lap 20. Horn saw his good day go sour when his new A-1 went up in smoke on lap 20 to bring out the caution.

The action was hot behind Buonomo on the restart. Seitz made a bold move to dive low on Santos in an effort to take over second but he could not make the pass stick. He had to settle back in line in third. Payne, not satisfied with fourth, took back third from Fornoro with the race back under green.

The dicing from second on back allowed Buonomo to head unchallenged to the checkers. Santos held off Seitz for second while Payne and Fornoro rounded out the top five. Cabral's comeback resulted in a sixth-place finish. Pernesiglio settled for seventh over Breault, Keith Botehlo, and Adam Cantor. Botehlo of Attleboro, MA, who started 21st after encountering mechanical troubles during qualifying, earned the hard-charger award and an extra $50 for passing the most cars.

With only two races remaining in the 2004 season, Seitz continues to the lead the point standings.

"It was a good day points-wise," said Seitz. "We gained points by finishing ahead of both Payne and Cabral. I really have to thank my car owner Pete Valeri and our sponsor Cape Cod Aggregates. They have given me a championship caliber team and I am going to do everything I can to get them the title."

Sunday's race was the 57th appearance of the Midgets at Seekonk but the first in some two-seasons. It was a welcome return for both NEMA competitors and fans. Rookie Shane Hammond put into perspective the prestige of a Midget race at Seekonk when he said, "It has been my lifelong dream to run at Midget at Seekonk."

Unfortunately Hammond's first appearance ended early with mechanical problems.

As the presenting sponsor of Sunday's event Cape Cod Aggregates and owner Sam Lorusso, a long-time supporter of NEMA racing, helped to make the D. Anthony Venditti Memorial even more special for the Northeastern Midget Association. An additional $2,500 in the purse made the D.A.V. Memorial one of the highest paydays for NEMA all season.

Next up for the Northeastern Midget Association is the Waterford Speedbowl's Finale on October 9&10, 2004 followed by the XTRA-Mart World Series at Thompson International Speedway on October 15-17, 2004. The action at Waterford gets underway with qualifying heats on Saturday beginning at approximately 1:00 PM. The 25-lap NEMA feature is expected to roll-off at 1:15 PM Sunday afternoon, October 10. For details visit www.speedbowl.com.