10/9/2019
Swindell Keeps 49 Year Win Streak Alive with NEMA Win at LEE USA’s Oktoberfest; Stergios Takes Lites
Three time World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell invaded the Northeastern Midget Association this past Saturday night at the LEE USA Speedway to take down the NEMA portion of the event in convincing style, winning by nearly 4 seconds over teammate and points leader Avery Stoehr. Swindell kept what is to believed to be the longest winning streak of any American race car driver alive, with a win in 49 consecutive seasons. In the Lites portion of the event, PJ Stergios took down the victory.
In the NEMA feature, an oiled down track made for a difficult first lap as the cars headed into turn one. Alan Chambers shot into the lead off of turn two, and fourth place starter Sammy Swindell followed him in tow, with teammate Todd Bertrand following around the outside.
On lap three, Swindell drove to the outside of Chambers in turns three and four, and completed the pass entering turns one and two. A lap later, Berrand would take second, and the chase was on. As the field neared the halfway point, the smooth and consistent Swindell opened up his lead to nearly a straightaway over Bertrand.
With five to go, Swindell had opened up his lead to nearly a half track over the field, and Bertrand was fading, after having to pit before the green flag with a flat tire, and fighting stagger issues. Swindell would go on to take down the well celebrated vitroy, over teammates Avery Stoehr, Alby Ovitt and Bertrand. Jim Chambers finished fifth, followed by Randy Cabral, Paul Scally, Alan Chambers, Andy Lunt and Lanson Fornoro.
“Wow, I really need to thank Tim and the Bertrand crew for tonight. We had it all going perfect tonight, and its just great to win here at LEE and keep the win streak alive,” said Swindell. “This is a fun, racy place and we had come here a few weeks back so it was nice to be able to come back and finish it off. Thanks to the track for having us,” he said.
In the Lites feature, Chase Locke jumped out from the pole into the lead. Locke began to set a torrid pace, after setting the Lites track record of 13.7 earlier in the evening. Disaster struck for Locke on lap eight, as the came into contact with the turn two wall, ending his night. Locke had the fastest lap of the feature, at 13.9 seconds.
When the green flag flew, PJ Stergios vaulted into the lead, with Richie Coy in tow. As the laps counted down, Stergios poured on the heat, pulling away from the field. Stergios, consistently running laps in the 14.0 second range, would go on to take down the victory over Coy by a margin of 4 seconds.
Following them across the line were Matt Merry, who was later determined to fail a width inspection, Ryan Locke, Randy Cabral, Paul Scally, Chris Vose, Kyle Valeri, Jim Cataldo and Drew Eldridge.
“With the weather so cold, we made some major adjustments to the car before the feature event and it worked out really well to get the Oktoberfest monkey off our back. I hated to see Chase get into the wall. I’d rather finish second than to win this way. He was real fast,” said Stergios.
NEMA conludes its season this coming weekend at the Thompson Speedway World Series of Racing
?
Zych, Cugini Take NEMA Wins at Waterford Closer
John Zych drove from the tenth starting position using the outside lane to take down his second win in a row, as the three time champion bested a strong field this past Saturday at the Speedbowl in Waterford, CT. In the Lites race, 2018 champion Danny Cugini utilized a late race restart to take down the win in the Lites portion of the race. Very strong car counts, with thirty four midgets capped a successful 2018 season for the Northeastern Midget Association.
In the NEMA feature, Mike Horn jumped out into the lead from his front row starting position. Horn looked very strong in the early stages of the race, as behind him newcomer Alby Ovitt in the Stoehr 15a and Paul Scally in the 30 were hounding him. Ovitt would look to the outside of Horn on lap twelve, and Scally would peek under Ovitt on lap thirteen. Behind them, John Zych had battled his way up to the fourth position, advancing past Todd Bertrand on lap fourteen - and Zych then set his sights on the leaders. Ovitt would move past Horn for hte lead on lap fourteen, and would lead until lap seventeen when Zych moved past Scally for third on lap fifteen, and by Ovitt for the lead on lap eighteen.
Zych would really pour it on in the final seven laps, dropping his lap times from 13.7 to 13.1, the fastest laps of the feature, to take down his second win in a row for the JZ Racing team, with his Dad, John. Scally would finish the season strong with a runner up finish, followed by Ovitt, Todd Bertrand, Avery Stoehr, Randy Cabral, Jim Chambers, Mike Horn, Chris Deritis and Keith Rocco.
In the Lites feature, youngster Jake Trainor jumped out into the lead. Behind him, Jim Cataldo was having a great run, staying within striking distance. The Trainor/Cataldo duo were chased by Avery Stoehr in the Scrivani 21 for a good portion of the first half of the event. Trainor running a higher line, kept his composure, and looked like the car to beat. Behind this trio, Danny Cugini and Kevin Iannarelli were slicing their way through the field.
A caution on lap seventeen would change the game for Trainor. When the green flag dropped, Cugini would bolt from his fourth spot around the outside of Stoehr, and Cataldo, and a lap later would blast around the outside of Trainor. Cugini would go on to dominate the remainder of the feature event to cap off a 2018 championship season for his team. Stoehr would finish second followed by Trainor, Iannarelli, Cataldo, Richie Coy, Kyle Valeri, Ryan Locke, Ben Mikitarian, and Randy Cabral.
NEMA's season concludes with its annual awards banquet at Whites of Westport on November 10th.
Article Credit: Timothy Bertand
