NEMA 2008 BANQUET - WHITE'S OF WESTPORT -
NOV. 22ND
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THE CHAMPIONS
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Twin State Speedway -
Open Wheel Sunday - Oct. 26th |
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A 5th for Randy in the
#47. |
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Thompson International
Speedway - World Series - Oct. 19th
72008 NEMA Owners
and Drivers Champions
Cabral & Bertrand Clinch NEMA Titles
with World Series Win
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(Final
NEMA Points HERE) |
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NEMA Race Report - Thompson, CT - Randy
Cabral clinched the driving championship for
himself and the owner’s title for Tim
Bertrand Sunday with a victory in the 25-lap
Northeastern Midget Association feature at
Thompson Speedway’s World Series. It was the
third straight and the eight win of the
season for the #47 team.
“A perfect way to cap it off, victory in the
World Series,” said Bertrand, calling the
season-long effort “the perfect package.”
Starting eighth, Cabral took the lead from
Joey Payne (Angelillo #45) down the front
straight away heading into lap four. Four
cautions slowed the action as Cabral moved
under the checkered a half-straightaway
ahead of Nokie Fornoro, the latter coming
from last in the Jarret #4.
Both Cabral and Bertrand were concerned when
Fornoro, who had almost no practice and fell
out on lap one of his qualifying heat on
Saturday, lined up second on a lap 12
restart. Bobby Santos, running second,
brought out the yellow spinning off turn
four into the infield, collecting John Zych
with him (Zych #9).
Cabral “caught a look” at the leader board.
He told himself “Nokie just came from last
to second, I’m done.” Bertrand was equally
pessimistic. “On the restart, Nokie was
right there and I said ‘he’s playing with
us,’” offered Bertrand. “Than Randy started
to pull away and I realized ‘hey, we are
pretty good today.’”
Cabral got away on three more restarts
leaving Fornoro to battle eventual third
place finisher Greg Stoehr (Stoehr 26b). “If
we didn’t have those cautions he was going
to have a hard time,” said Fornoro. “He
started getting loose and I was getting
tighter. It would have been interesting in
traffic.”
Adam Cantor (Cantor #7ny) and Mike Horn
(Horn #P30) filled out the top five.
Coming from sixth, Payne grabbed the lead
following a first lap yellow. Cabral
followed him past early leader Erica Santos
(Breault #44) with Bobby Santos III (Santos
#98s) third.
“It looked the 45 was having motor
problems,” said Cabral who had planned on
taking his time going to the front. “The 45
was a lot faster in our heat (won by Payne)
on Saturday. I saw the problem and decided
to try and take advantage.”
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Copper World Classic |
It
was an exciting start and a disappointing ending
for Bertrand Motorsports at Phoenix
International Raceway this past week at USAC’s
Copper World Classic.
45 cars entered the race, - and there were to be
two 45 minute practice sessions. Unfortunately,
Ryan Newman in the Bertrand Motorsports #39 was
in the fourth group, which hit the track for the
first time nearly an hour after the practice
session started. After a couple of quick
practices, and last minute adjustments, the team
hit the track for qualifying after setting the
34th quickest time out of 45 cars at 27.009. In
qualifying, Ryan could not quite get on the
throttle as much as anyone would have liked as
the team fought a “loose off” condition all day
long. He turned in a time of 27.109, which put
the #39 38th quickest out of the remaining 43
cars. Unfortunately, only 36 cars qualified for
the feature event, and the Bertrand Motorsports
team having not competed previously with USAC
was not eligible for a provisional starting
spot.
“A long distance learning experience,” commented
Tim Bertrand. “We came off a tremendous 2008
season win the wing on the car, and thought we
had a good baseline set up for the 1 mile track
at PIR. A few of the changes we made to the car
over the winged season to improve it’s handling
characteristics ended up being the reasons for
the loose condition we encountered this past
week. Ryan says he wants to try this again next
year, so perhaps we will! We’ve already talked
about running 4-5 winged races together next
season with NEMA and are looking forward to it.” |
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Ryan Newman Files
Entry for 2008 Copper World Midget Field
Former USAC standout and 2008 Daytona 500 winner
Ryan Newman has filed an entry for this year’s
Copper World Classic in Phoenix on Thursday
November 6th.
Newman comes to Phoenix along with the 2008
North Eastern Midget Association (NEMA)
Championship team Bertrand Motorsports, owned by
Tim Bertrand, and their #39 Drinan/Esslinger.
The Bertrand team will be hauling out and back
from Massachusetts, nearly a 5,000 mile round
trip.
“We’re very excited to be able to field a car
for Ryan at this year’s Copper World,” said car
owner Tim Bertrand. “We were scheduled to run
together earlier this year in the NEMA event at
Lee USA Speedway during the Loudon (New
Hampshire) race weekend, but the race was rained
out. When Ryan and I talked coming out of that
event, the Phoenix race seemed like a great
place to team up again,” commented Bertrand.
USAC’s 1995 Midget Rookie of the Year and 1999
Silver Bullet Series Champion, Newman had 13
Midgets win before moving to NASCAR in 2001. The
popular Hoosier also has two USAC Silver Crown
and two USAC Sprint Car wins. |
The No. 39 is of
significance to Newman who is presently driving
the Sprint Cup Alltel Dodge for Penske Racing.
It was the number on his last Midget (also a
Drinan chassis) and will be the number of his
2009 Cup ride with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Since joining Penske, Newman has 13 Sprint Cup,
seven Busch (Nationwide), four ARCA wins and
most recently a Craftsman Truck Series win at
Atlanta on October 25th, 2008.
“I’m looking forward to the Copper World race,”
said Newman. “It will be a great chance to get
back to my roots and have some fun. The last
time I was there in 2000, we finished second to
(Tony) Stewart. Hopefully we’ll be able to come
back and contend this year.”
USAC RACING STORY HERE:
Newman Eyes Phoenix
"COPPER WORLD" Double |
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Hot
Pepper Promotions Announced as Sponsor
for Ryan Newman Midget Entry at PIR |
Boston, MA - Bertrand Motorsports has
announced a new sponsor for Ryan Newman’s midget
entry at this year’s Copper World Classic to
take place on Thursday, November 6th at Phoenix
International Raceway. Fort Lee, New Jersey
based Hot Pepper Promotions will join as a
primary sponsor in addition to the team’s
secondary sponsors in Atlantic Coast Trailer
Sales, Wild Child Signs & Designs, Race Engine
Development, Drinan Race Products and Esslinger
Engineering.
“Without sponsors, it makes it nearly impossible
to compete at this level,” commented team owner,
Tim Bertrand. “We thank the whole team at Hot
Pepper and hope that the racing community will
embrace the very unique offering that they have
put together for teams, both large and small.”
Hot Pepper Promotions has become an important
leader in the promotional products industry. The
company works with some of the world's most
respected companies to help them build brands
and drive sales with powerful promotional gifts
and products. Their elite clientele list
includes large companies such as MGM Studios,
The Windbreaker Jacket Company, and others, down
to small local race teams looking for
promotional items to promote sponsor activities.
“We’re very excited to be a part of Ryan’s
activities at PIR and excited to be teamed up
with Bertrand Motorsports,” said Hot Pepper CEO,
Spencer Ross. “We are also looking forward to
further expansion into the Motorsports industry,
assisting teams of all sizes with their
promotional needs,” commented Ross.
More information on Hot Pepper Promotions can be
found on their website at
www.hotpepperpromotions.net |
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The D. Anthony
Venditti Memorial Festival of Speed - Oct. 12th
77th Win of 2008
for Randy
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>> The Win for Randy in the 47
After a rear axle failure in the
heat on Saturday and a rebuilt of the 47,
Randy came up from a 12th place starting spot to battle
with Greg Stoehr #26b for the lead. Cutting through
lapped traffic was a big part of the game over the
closing laps. Randy was first scored the leader on lap
22. |
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>> Major Crash for
Jeremy in the 47b on Saturday
In Heat 1 of Saturday's
qualifying, Jeremy was in the lead when the 47b tangled
with the 26b of Greg Stoehr entering turn 3. Jeremy
spun around and headed backwards in to the angled
concrete wall at the track entrance gate. Hitting evenly
with both right side wheels, the 47b took a hard shot
and was destroyed. Jeremy was taken to the hospital and
kept overnight. Jeremy returned to the track as a
spectator on Sunday pretty sore and with a bruised lung
and a concussion, but pretty lucky considering.
VIDEO OF THE CRASH NOW ON YOUTUBE HERE |
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The Finale at Waterford
Speedbowl on Oct. 4 & 5
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A sweep of The Finale
for Bertrand Motorsports!
Randy 1st and Jeremy 2nd in the Midgets and
Todd the winner in the Lites! |
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NEMA's 900th FEATURE!
Pass 400 Weekend at Beech
Ridge Motor Speedway on Sept. 20th
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A 6th for
Jeremy in the #47b in a strong run.
>>
A DNF and a 21st with a dead
battery for Randy after leaping into
the #39 and starting last when the #47 also had
electrical problems. |
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Monadnock Speedway - August 30th |
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2nd for Jeremy in the 47b
- 8th for Randy in the #47 |
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Waterford Speedbowl - Wings & Wheels -
August 16th |
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Randy's seventh career Speedbowl win and the
third in four starts this season in the Bertrand
#47. It was his second straight and fifth
overall win of “a dream season” and the 17th of
his career.
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Seekonk Speedway - Boston Louie Seymour
Memorial - August 9th |
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The Win for Randy - 4th
for Jeremy in the #47b
NEMA Site Link |
“With a Little
Help From My Friends” would have been the
appropriate sound track. Randy Cabral won
Saturday night’s Northeastern Midget Association
Boston Louie Seymour Memorial at Seekonk
Speedway with a motor borrowed from the Santos
crew.
Starting eighth, Randy Cabral had the lead when
the first caution showed on lap three. Only a
second yellow on lap eight interrupted Cabral’s
run to his fourth win of the year in the
Bertrand #47. Pole sitter Paul Scally was the
only other leader.
Jeff Abold, in the Seymour #29, came from deep
in the field to dog Cabral over the final 10
circuits. There was less than a car length
between them at the checker.
The motor broke in the first practice and Cabral
said he had “given up on things” when Bobby
offered their spare motor. “Who else blows a
motor in practice and has time to change it?”
offered Cabral while complimenting both the
Santos and his own crew.
Ironically Bobby Santos III was third followed
by Cabral’s new teammate Jeremy Frankoski and
Joey Payne. It was the second “Louie” for Cabral
and the first for the Bertrand team.
Cabral was wearing a glove that belonged to
Shane Hammond, his close friend who perished at
Thompson earlier this season. “It was the glove
that actually waved to the crowd before we went
green and it was the glove that held the
checkered flag on the victory lap,” he said from
Victory Lane.
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Waterford Speedbowl - Nostolgia Weekend -
August 2nd |
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An 8th for Randy in the
#47. |
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