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 Joey Payne the Race Winner at
Waterford on Nov. 4th
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| Waterford
Finale - 11/4/06 |
| Pos. |
# |
Driver |
Hometown |
Owner |
| 1 |
45 |
Joey Payne |
Fairlawn, NJ |
Gene Angellilo |
| 2 |
4 |
Nokie Fornoro |
Stroudsburg, PA |
Mike Jarret |
| 3 |
47 |
Randy Cabral |
Plymouth, MA |
Tim Bertrand |
| 4 |
26 |
Greg Stoehr |
Bridgewater, MA |
Greg Stoehr |
| 5 |
37g |
Shane Hammond |
E. Bridgewater, MA |
Jack Glockner |
| 6 |
99 |
Mike Keeler |
Danbury, CT |
Power Point
Racing |
| 7 |
17 |
Ben Seitz |
Monument
Beach, MA |
Pete Valeri |
| 8 |
36 |
Cory Cleary |
Plymouth, MA |
Glen Cabral |
| 9 |
11 |
Howie Bumpus |
Lakeville, MA |
Don Berrio |
| 10 |
30 |
Paul Scally |
Randolph, MA |
Paul Scally |
| 11 |
55 |
T,J. Sweeney |
Danbury, CT |
Kevin Keeler |
| 12 |
77 |
Mike Lugelle |
Hull, MA |
Mike Lugelle |
| 13 |
52 |
Kevin Park |
Foxboro, MA |
Kevin Park |
| 14 |
87 |
Doug Cleveland |
Sudbury, MA |
Doug Cleveland |
15
DNF |
3 |
Tommy Spada |
Kensington, CT |
Gino Spada |
16
DNS |
21 |
Barry Kittredge |
Marlboro, MA |
Barry Kittredge |
17
DNS |
16 |
Matt O'Brien |
Wilmington, MA |
Jim O'Brien |
18
DNS |
22 |
Andy Shlatz |
Enfield, CT |
Alex Shlatz |
Top Four Heat One:
99 - 47 - 37 - 11 |
Top Four Heat Two:
26 - 17 - 4 - 45 |
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Payne
Scores Decisive Victory
at Waterford Finale;
Seitz Scores Third Straight Championship |
Waterford, CT (November 4th, 2006):
The Northeastern Midget Association finally completed its last race of the season after
two previous attempts at the Waterford Speedbowl. In the feature event, Ben Seitz made
history winning his third straight driver’s championship, the second for Peter
Valeri, and Joey Payne of Fairlawn, NJ put in a dominating performance to win the event.
Seitz became one of three drivers ever to have won three straight driver’s
championships.
It took only a short time for Payne to go to work on Saturday afternoon. Starting eighth,
Payne was fourth after a lap one caution and went quickly to work, putting himself into
the lead a lap later. He was followed at that point by seventh starting Nokie Fornoro in
the MJ Motorsports entry and Randy Cabral in the Bertrand Motorsports machine.
Once in front, Payne began his dominating performance as the race went green to checkered
from the first caution on. At the halfway point, it was Payne, who had distanced himself
from Fornoro, a quick closing Cabral, Greg Stoehr and Shane Hammond. Mike Keeler in the
Power Point Racing #99, a fading Ben Seitz, Cory Cleary, Howie Bumpus and Paul Scally were
fighting for positions six through ten.
Nothing phased leader Payne, not even the heavy lapped traffic, as he went on to score a
commanding win over Fornoro and Cabral. Greg Stoehr continued to show improvement over the
last half of the season with another strong performance to finish fourth, as Hammond was
fifth, Keeler was sixth, Seitz seventh, Cleary eighth, Bumpus ninth and Scally rounded out
the top ten. Payne lapped up to the sixth place car.
“The crew made a few small adjustments before the feature, and they were sure the
right ones,” said Gene Angelillo, Dumo’s Desire #45 team owner. Since coming
back after a devastating wreck in July, Payne and Angelillo have put in three straight
second place performances and a season capping win at Waterford.
Seitz was the driver’s champion for the season, Valeri the owner’s champion,
Randy Cabral second in the driver’s points and Mike Jarrett second in the
owner’s points. Nokie Fornoro put in a valiant effort having missed one race to
finish third in the driver’s points and Tim Bertrand was third in the owner’s
points. |
Rescheduled
to Nov. 4th
Graphic by Keith Cyr |
| Powerpoint Racing and Mike Keeler Team Up at
Waterford |
Newburyport, MA -
Look for something different with two teams for the final NEMA race of the season at
Waterford Speedbowl’s Double Down Shootout scheduled for this Saturday at the
venerable Connecticut Speedway. Mike Keeler will strap into the Powerpoint Racing, Marine
Engines sponsored # 99 car of Chris Desrosier, and newcomer Aaron Wall will fill-in for
Keeler in the Autocraft Engines powered, MKM Property Maintenance # 55 entry of Kevin
Keeler.
Desrosier decided to take advantage of Mike’s 14 seasons of experience in a variety
of car types and the Keeler team’s success in the NEMA ranks. “We needed to find
a way to figure out what we were doing right and what we were doing wrong,” said
Desrosier, “I think my car can win”. After a Thursday of testing at the
‘Bowl produced sub-13 second laps, it was obvious that the # 99 car could be a potent
contender.
With only 10 points separating fifth through seventh in the driver championship, some
would wonder why Keeler, just 8 points out of fifth, would step out of the car that won
NEMA’s previous appearance at the Speedbowl in August to pilot the # 99 car.
“After the top-shelf job Chris did repairing our badly damaged chassis last season,
we’ll do anything we can to get his program dialed-in better. Besides, I think I can
win Waterford again in this car too!” Keeler said.
Aaron Wall is excited to be behind the wheel of the # 55 car as he weighs the possibility
of a move to the more powerful winged NEMA midget ranks. “Lots of the Focus drivers
would like to race with NEMA. I’m glad to have this opportunity.” Wall said.
2006 saw him race his way to fourth place in the USAC Ford Focus Northeast Division
championship standings in his sophomore USAC season. Like Keeler, Wall began his racing
career more than a decade ago in Quarter Midgets.
Look for an exciting program of racing as the drivers and teams of NEMA battle to
determine the final championship point standings this Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl. |
A NEMA Showdown at
Waterford’s Double Down |
Waterford, CT (October 23, 2006): And
then there was one. Only one race remains to determine the 2006 Northeastern Midget
Association (NEMA) championship. It all comes down to this final race at the Waterford
Speedbowl on October 29, 2006. The Northeastern Midget Association championship will be
decided at the Double Down Shootout Special event at the shoreline oval on Sunday.
Despite a large lead, two-time and defending driver champ Ben Seitz of Monument Beach, MA
still will have to work for the title. Should Seitz finish in the 14th position or better
he will pull off the three-peat.
On the other hand, the owner’s championship is still very much up for grabs.
Seitz’s car owner Peter Valeri goes into the final event with a 54-point advantage on
Mike Jarret, car owner for Nokie Fornoro. Seitz will have to finish sixth or better to
seize the championship for Valeri. Jarret leads third-place owner Bertrand by virtue of a
start for the Helping Hands of America team by Shane Hammond in Fornoro’s absence.
Randy Cabral, in his first year driving for the potent Bertrand Motorsports team, sits
second in the driver points 79 markers behind Seitz. Fornoro is third, 75 points behind
Cabral. Even after missing a race due to a devastating crash at Stafford, the “Jersey
Jet” Joey Payne sits fourth in points.
Each of the top-four drivers have visited victory lane this year. Payne’s lone win on
the season came at the Speedbowl in the opener in April. Seitz, Cabral, and Fornoro each
have posted two wins this year.
It is a tight point race from fifth position back to seventh with only points 10 points
separating Shane Hammond in fifth, from sixth-place Mike Keeler and Bobby Santos III.
Keeler, who sits just outside the top-five, took a career-first at Waterford earlier this
season.
Bobby Santos III of Franklin, MA is the only three-time winner on the season for the Club.
He will be looking for his fourth at the Speedbowl. Hot off his sixth-place finish for
Bill Davis Racing in his ARCA Series debut, the rising star will again be behind the wheel
of the Seymour #9 for the finale.
Cory Cleary sits eighth, 36 points behind Santos III. Mike Ordway, Jr. and Pete
Pernesiglio round out the top five.
The number crunching will conclude on Sunday, October 29, 2006 with the running of the
final 25-lap NEMA feature during the Double-Down Shootout at the Speedbowl. Pit tickets
will go on sale at 10:00 AM with the pit gate opening at 10:30 AM. Practice begins
promptly at noon. The grandstand will also open at noon. Qualifying is scheduled to begin
at approximately 1:30 PM including heat races for the Midgets. Features will start at
approximately 3:00 PM.
Tickets for the special event are $20.00 for adult general admission, youth (6-14) tickets
are available for $5.00. Pit Pass are available for $38.00. For more information on the
event at the Waterford Speedbowl, log on to www.speedbowl.com.
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