.
.
 
 
xx   xx
        
2009 July 15th on2009 to July 7th2008
2nd for Randy and 4th for Chris
at the Boston Louie Memorial on 8/28
 First NEMA Win for Chris, 3rd for Randy,
 and 8th for Todd in his NEMA Midget Debut

at the 3rd Annual Wings and Wheels
Waterford, Saturday, August 14th
 
Todd Bertrand Set For NEMA Midgets Debut
Brockton, MA – Todd Bertrand has picked the right track to make his Northeastern Midget Association debut. Todd, a vital part of the NEMA Lites over the past three years, will be stepping into the family #39 Saturday at Waterford Speedbowl’s Wings and Wheels.

A NEMA Lites winner at Waterford in 2008, Bertrand has posted two podiums in ‘Bowl action this summer. He will be part of a busy pit that includes the #47 of two-time defending champion Randy Cabral and the #75 of Chris deRitis.

Anthony Nocella, a frequent winner in the Lites, will be making his second NEMA start in the Seymour car.
Slated to be a full-time NEMA competitor in 2011, Bertrand, a winner at Monadnock this year, will be reporting to pre-season soccer camp at Western New England following the Waterford race.

Cole Carter drove the car to two podiums earlier this year. Ryan Newman is among the names that have filled the seat.
2nd for Randy, 4th for Chris
 and 5th for Todd
Monadnock, Saturday, July 31st
 
 
2nd for Randy & a DNF for Chris
Open Wheel Wednesday
Wednesday, July 28th
  
 
 
   
 5th for Mike Stefanik in the #48
Showdown of Champions
Wednesday, July 28th
   
 
Mike Stefanik was the Champion in the Bertrand #48 Lite for the Showdown, a new addition to Seekonk's Open Wheel Wednesday. Mike had practice in the car both on the 7/21, the origianal date for OWW before the rain came, and on 7/28. Starting position were determined by the drivers selecting frisbees off the hood of Jack Arute's BMW which was used as the Showdown pace car. Mike drew #5 out of the 9 Champions.

The Showdown was an incredible race with the field of nine moving away as one group when the green fell. Seekonk's wide corners made for three wide and four wide action. Mike was up to thrid (maybe even briefly to second) in the first ten laps of the 20 lapper. After a debris yellow, the field stretched out a bit on the restart but not much. Mike finished in 6th and had a great time as did all the Champions.
         
         
         

Saturday, July 24th

Midgets: 3rd for Randy, 4th for Chris
Lites: Win for Randy, 3rd for Todd
During the torrential rain that hit the Speedbowl at about 4 PM, it looked like there would be little chance of getting in the Shane Hammond Memorial race on Saturday, July 24th. But after three hours of pumping out the infield sections and drying the track surface, the Bowl was declared ready for racing. With rain expected later in the night, heats were dropped for all classes but the NEMA Midgets received one more short practice/tire scrub session before the first feature.

Chris in the #75 lined up 4th while Randy in the #47 was on the 5th row in 10th. As thre green fell, both moved up past
slower cars. Russ Stroehr in the #45 came forward to challenge his brother Greg in the #26 for the lead. Randy came by the
#75 for third while Chris held off John Zych in the #9 to score another solid fourth.

Randy and Chris have solid holds on 1st and 3rd in the NEMA Midgets points standings.

In the Lites 27 lap feature, Todd and Randy has a long way to go with Todd in 18th (last) and Randy slotted in 14th. Two caution periods for crashes (one becoming a red to clear the track) closed up the field and helped the #48 and #4 work
up to the front. Randy blasted inside the #20 in turn three on lap 21 for the lead while Todd took 3rd from the #12 in
the last couple of laps.

The Lites Win gave Randy the chance to point to the sky and salute his friend Shane.

With another podium finish, Todd has the best finishing record in the Lites division.
Lites
Feature >

 1st WIN for Randy at Stafford
3rd for Cole and 4th for Chris
Extreme Tuesday, July 6th
The NEMA Midgets, ISMA Supers, and Pro-4 Mods returned to Stafford Motor Speedway for the 7th Annueal CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday on a brutally hot and dusty July 6th.

Diving inside car after car in turn four, Randy sliced through the field until he got to the #3m of Jim Miller. After 8 laps of
Miller holding just the right line needed to keep the #47 back, lapped traffic entered the mix on lap 26 of 30, and Randy nipped by as Jim got caught up with the slower cars. Randy scored his first-ever Stafford win, after second places at the two previous visits. It was his third win of the season, the second in a row, with the fastest lap of the feature at a 17.842.

Cole Carter was back in the #39 and battling with Chris deRitis in the #75 in the closing laps. Cole dove low entering turn three on lap 30 and pulled ahead, just barely holding Chris off for third place as the checkers flew.

Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race
The WIN for Randy at Thompson
3rd for Cole and 13th for Chris
Thursday, July 1st
Holding off a final corner challenge from Russ Stoehr in the #45, Randy powered back to the line just a couple of feet
ahead to take the win in the 2010 Marvin Rifchin Trophy Race at Thompson. Coping with brake problems and overheating,
Randy kept low and forced Russ to make a run on the outside. Russ pulled just slightly ahead on the exit of turn four but
lost the drag race to the checkers. Cole Carter took the Bertrand #39 to a third place finish. Facing a variety of problems,
Chris deRitis in the #75 wound up in 13th after spinning into the wall on the main straight with a flat left rear.
Cole Carter Returns To Bertrand Midget
Brockton, MA - The Cole Carter-Bertrand Motorsports relationship continues when Carter drives the Bertrand #39 in Northeastern Midget Association action at Thompson (Thursday, July 1) and Stafford (Tuesday, July 6).

Carter, part of one of open wheel racing’s most storied families, collected a fourth at last year’s Thompson World Series for Bertrand. He was also second at Seekonk Speedway’s Boston Louie.

He’ll be part of NEMA’s busiest pit, a teammate of both Randy Cabral and Chris DeRitis.

Following grandfather (Duane) and father (Pancho), Carter has been driving family-owned equipment since 2000. He was fourth in the 2005 national standings.
Todd 3rd, Chris 6th, Randy 9th, & Mike 10th
on Friday, June 25th at Lee USA
 
Mike Ordway Jr. to Join Lee USA NEMA Field
on Friday, June 25th in the Bertrand #39
Brockton, MA – Mike Ordway Jr. will be in the Bertrand #39 for Friday night’s Northeastern Midget Association event at Lee USA Speedway. Ordway brings a strong resume to the ride.

Pointing out the 2005 350-Super champion “studies Lee USA Speedway like a quintessential student,” owner Tim Bertrand called the second generation driver “a great choice.”

The NEMA Lites will be on hand as well in what will be the club’s only visit to Lee this season.

Ordway will be a teammate of two-time defending champion Randy Cabral and Chris DeRitis in what has become NEMA’s busiest pit. USAC standout Cole Carter and Sprint Cup regular Ryan Newman drove the car to runner up finishes last year.

Equipped with a new Esslinger engine out of Circle Performance in Brockton, MA, the 2006 ISMA Rookie of the Year joins a field bolstered by the season debut of Jeff Abold (in a joint effort by the Abold and Seymour families) and Bobby Santos III (who is subbing for sister Erica in the Breault 44). Jeff Horn, a Lee winner last September, leads a NEMA rush to the third mile that includes, in addition to Cabral and DeRitis, Adam Cantor, Jim Miller, Lee Bundy, Barry Kittredge and Greg and Russ Stoehr.
A 7th for Todd on Fast Friday
 Second Seekonk Fast Friday of 2010 - 6/18
TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY - FRIDAY, JUNE 11TH
.
NEMA Firsts for Cabral, Honda
NEMA RACE REPORT: Claremont, NH - Randy Cabral ran a Twin State Speedway win streak to three Friday night, capturing the 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature in convincing fashion. It was the first-ever win for the Stewart Racing Engines Honda.

Coming from the fourth starting spot, Cabral won a pair of restarts inside two laps en route to his 27th career victory.

Cabral bested pole sitter Jim Miller (Miller 3m), the only other leader, on an 11th lap restart. Yellow, however, flew immediately when Miller spun in turn two and Cabral did it again, this time against Adam Cantor (Cantor 7ny).

The leaders quickly left behind a third place battle between that eventually went to Chris deRitis (DeRitis 75) over Jeff Horn (Horn A-1). Russ Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45) was fifth.

“I really do like this place,” said Cabral, who ran third before grabbing second from Horn in turn one with seven gone. “It is so technical, so much fun.”

The motor, he continued, actually “bogged” on the restart enabling Miller to get a slight edge. The car, however, “was running so well” he was able to move around Miller through one and two.

The win with Honda, which comes in the second race, was “really significant,” offered Cabral. He pointed out the team, notably his dad Glenn, “put so much effort into it over the past year and a half.”

Chris deRitis scored his best ever finish in NEMA with the 3rd place posting.

In the Lites, Todd finished 2nd to continue a fine run of top 4 finishes including one win.

The Bertrand crew worked on six cars that raced the Twin State event.
 
Photos by John DaDalt
 A 4th for Todd on Fast Friday
 First Seekonk Fast Friday of 2010 - 6/4
The NEMA LITES Midgets hit Seekonk Speedway Friday, June 4th for the first of four appearances on the "Fast Friday" program. With a solid showing of 17 cars on hand,  the Lites had one round of practice before the heats. Todd started 8th in Heat 2 and ran up into 6th.

The #48 gridded in 11th  for the twenty lap feature. Running with the Randy Cabral in the #4 and Anthony Nocella in the #29, Todd worked his way forward. Side by side with the #29 for much of the race, Todd moved by the #18 of pole sitter David Moniz in the final laps  to score a 4th place finish.
Lites
Heat >
Lites
Feature >
The Win for Todd in the Lites,
A Rainout for the Midgets

The Monadnock Opener - 5/29
(NEMA RACE STORY - WINCHESTER, NH) Wheeling the Tim Bertrand #48, Todd Betrand defeated a large field of NEMA Lites entries at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway on Saturday evening to score his first feature victory of the season.

Following a mid-race restart, Betrand chose the outside in overtaking the leaders, cruising to the 20-lap win. Completing the top-3 was Anthony Nocella and Paul Lugelle.

“The cautions kept-coming tonight,” stated Betrand in victory lane. “I took my time in this one. The car was great – we were really hooked-up. It also helped us that the track was in such good shape. The last lap was a little tough when I saw those two cars get-together. I saw the smoke, and was lucky to get through-it."

In the Midgets, Randy ran the #47 to a second in Heat #2. The rain came just before the NEMA midgets hit the grid. NEMA now plans to run double features at the next Monadnock event on July 31st.
NEMA
MIDGETS
HEAT 2 >
The New Graphics!
Bertrand Motorsports Rockets into the 2010 Racing Season
The Budweiser Blastoff Weekend - 3/27-28
Waterford, CT - 2008/2009 NEMA Champion Randy Cabral took his K&N Engineering/Stewart Racing Engines Honda powered #47 to a 4th place "maiden voyage" on Sunday, March 28th at the Waterford Speedbowl. Very pleased with the new engine package, Cabral was amongst the fastest cars all weekend - turning a blistering 12.920 second lap during the day on Saturday.

"We are every bit as competitive as any car on the track at this point from an engine perspective," Said Cabral. "Our K&N Engineering/Stewart Engines 47 was fast all weekend - and on Sunday we were simply battling a free car on loose track conditions. We have a lot here to work with for the remainder of the year."

Cabral's teammates - Todd Bertrand had an outstanding run in his K&N Engineering #48 Ford Focus car on Saturday night, finishing 2nd after leading 15 laps of the NEMA Lites feature, and Chris deRitis turned the fastest lap of the NEMA feature of 13.222 enroute to a 5th place finish in the #75 car maintained by Bertrand Motorsports.

"We had a great weekend. It felt great to be back at the track, and felt we had an outstanding opening weekend," said team owner Tim Bertrand. "We believe that between the three cars, we'll have a great 2010."
Saturday >
Sunday >
Top NEMA Rookie
Chris deRitis
Gets Lou Cicconi
NEMA Midget Ride
with Tim Bertrand
the Crew Chief
Brockton, MA – Chris deRitis, the Northeastern Midget Association’s 2009 Rookie of the Year, will be driving Lou Cicconi’s #75 Esslinger-powered Drinan chassis in 2010. The three-year old car will be housed at Bertrand Motorsports, Tim Bertrand serving as Crew Chief.

The car will be ready for NEMA’s opener March 27-28 at Waterford Speedbowl. “We tested there in October and it was damn cold,” said Chris’ father Dan. “Chris turned times that compare favorably with those set by the fastest cars during the warm months.”

DeRitis, 22, made his full-midget debut last summer in the Chris Desrosiers’ Power Point car, finishing fifth in points with eight top tens in 14 starts. He had a fourth at the Speedbowl.

“Power Point is a great team and we enjoyed it very much,” continued deRitis. “We now look forward to input from both Lou & his Dad and Tim & his Dad.”

Bertrand, no stranger to Esslinger or Drinan, is NEMA’s two-time defending owner champion. Cicconi drove the car a couple times in 2008.

The move continues the tight relationship between Cicconi and deRitis. “Lou got us involved with the TQs,” deRitis said, “and he was instrumental in Chris’ ride with Power Point.”

Young deRitis brought a strong ACTQMRA resume to NEMA beginning with a Rookie of the Year effort in 2006. He was second in points in 2007, third in 2008. Dan was the 2008 owner champion.

“No doubt he proved himself in ’09,” said Bertrand, part of a very successful team with two-time driving champion Randy Cabral. “Chris is a talented driver and it is a good car. I am looking forward to an exciting season.”
   
NEMA Champ Bertrand Installs Honda Power for 2010
Brockton, MA - Two-time Northeastern Midget Association champion Bertrand Motorsports will march to a different beat in 2010. Honda will power the #47 when Randy Cabral begins his quest for a third straight driving title in the season opener at Waterford Speedbowl
on March 27-28.

“It is, of course, a major change and challenge for us,” says owner Tim Bertrand of the enhanced Dual Overhead Cam Honda “K series” motor. Engineered by Stewart Racing Engines of Indianapolis, it is found under the hood of the Honda CRV SUV.

Over the past 50 years no Midget group in the country has been more forward thinking than NEMA. Bertrand, after a third straight owners crown, sees a movement that could be the equal of the “stock block” revolution of the 1960s when, among others, the Falcon, Pinto and Chevy II motors were dominant.

“It utilizes a block and a head directly out of a street car and has incredible reliability,” says Bertrand of the new motor. He points out Greg Stoehr’s similarly powered Circle Performance Mazda #26b has already provided an example of stock block reliability.

“There have been no failures attributable to any major component in better than 1000 miles of both racing and testing,” Stewart says of its “USAC/NEMA” motor.

The Bertrand endeavor will bring added luster to the 2010 season, a 15-race (six tracks) journey that will run into October. Only Albany-Saratoga Speedway, back for the first time since 1977, is not well known. There are few secrets left at Waterford Speedbowl and at, Monadnock, Lee USA Speedway, Seekonk and Thompson Speedways.

“We fully expect to run well with the Honda but we also expect a very competitive season,” says Bertrand. “Considering the equipment and the talent, the mix of veterans and youngsters, and the speeds we achieve, this is as good as NEMA has been in a while.”

The owners championship went to the final laps a year ago. “However it may appear, nothing is easy in NEMA,” says Bertrand.

The competition includes motors. Honda will be doing battle with some established powers. Esslinger was the number one winner in ’09 but Gaerte, Autocraft, Mopar and Mazda sat in Victory Lane as well.

Bertrand is quick to point out that he is still committed to the Esslinger Engineering, as a second and possibly third car will still carry that power plant. “This was a great opportunity for Randy and our team to expand our horizons with a new opportunity, but we will still regularly run the Esslinger power plant in our team cars,” said Bertrand.

He again plans on a series of guest drivers for the #39. Last year, Ryan Newman and Cole Carter were among the nationally known drivers competing for Bertrand in NEMA races.  
NEMA 2009 BANQUET - WHITE'S OF WESTPORT - NOV. 21st
.
THE 2009 CHAMPIONS
.
  Bertrand Motorsports Announces
K&N Engineering, Inc.
as Corporate Sponsor for '09-'10 Seasons
Team owner Tim Bertrand announced a relationship with K&N Engineering for the 2009 season, as the team’s Corporate Sponsor. The team’s three NEMA midgets, along with the team’s NEMA Lite Ford Focus powered midget, and two Micro-Sprint cars will all carry the K&N Logo in 2009 and 2010.

“We’re extremely excited to be welcomed as a part of the K&N racing family,” said Tim Bertrand. “To associate ourselves with a brand leader such as K&N, and be able to take advantage of the latest technology advancements in this field is very exciting to us.”

K&N Engineering, of Riverside, California, is the inventor and leading innovator of reusable cotton gauze filter technology for automotive applications. From humble beginnings as a family run business over 40 years ago, K&N Engineering, now a truly global company with offices in the U.K. and the Netherlands, continues to exist as a family owned business with an enthusiast mindset and a direct connection with motor sports that carries over throughout all levels of management and manufacturing.

Today, K&N exists as both the sales and brand leader for performance filters, and maintains a stocking catalogue of over 3,500 part numbers, including an extensive line of both factory replacement drop-in filters, FIPK (Fuel Injection Performance Kit) applications, and its line of innovative Performance Gold oil filters.   www.knfilters.com

“We’re looking forward to working with Tim and the Bertrand team. The many avenues of exposure that this relationship gives us – asphalt, dirt, NEMA and NEMA Lites, as well as the opportunity to be associated with the team’s drivers such as Ryan Newman and Randy Cabral is a great opportunity for K&N,” said K&N’s Corporate Race Accounts Manager, Bob Harris.
2009 July 15th on2009 to July 7th2008