This Day in NEMA History...
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April 24th
2005...Ben Seitz (Valeri #17) was the winner on Spring Sizzler weekend at Stafford. He started ninth, took the lead on lap 10 and had to withstand restart challenges from eventual runner up Joey Payne Jr. (Angelillo 45). Randy Cabral (Cabral 35) was third, Kyle Carpenter (Carpenter 12) fourth and Ed Breault (Breault 44) fifth. |
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Left: Four-Time NEMA champion Ben Seitz after winning the Spring Sizzler aboard Pete Valeri's Beast in 2005. This win sparked his second consecutive championship run.
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April 26th
1987...Drew Fornoro, in Gene Angelillo’s Nissan powered #1 Badger, bested ARDC regulars Nokie Fornoro (Reider 81), John Heydenreich (Walden 4ec) at Pocono’s Mini-Indy Challenge. It was Drew’s 36th NEMA feature, putting him second to Dave Humphrey on the all-time win list. Gene Angelillo listed this among the greatest of his victories. |
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Left: Drew Fornoro strapping into the Dumo's Desire #1 at Star Speedway during the 1987 season. This Nissan power plant replaced the Mazda which was outlawed after the '86 season.
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April 27th
1974...Twenty-one years after winning his first NEMA feature, Billy Eldridge won his last, the season opener at Westboro in Rollie Lindblad’s #48 Badger. NEMA’s first dominant competitor, Eldridge still ranks sixth on the all time win list with 33. Doug Craig (Craig 6) Hank Rogers Jr. (Burnett 22), Johnny Coy Jr. (Connors 58) and Ronnie Evans (Rogers 6) were second through fifth. |
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Left: NEMA's first Champion, Bill Eldridge, poses in Rollie Lindblad's Pinto-powered badger after earning a win at Star in 1973.
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April 28th
1959...Billy Randall (Stone #11) was the winner at Norwood Arena ahead of Len Thrall and Ray Burke. It was the second of 10 NEMA wins for Randall, a legendary competitor in both midgets and sprint cars. Ed Stone, who played an influential role in the formation of both open wheel and stock car organizations in New England, won his third straight Offenhauser championship and his first overall owner title in ’59. |
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Left: 1946 picture of a young Billy Randall in the Stone Special #3, thirteen years before his Norwood Arena victory. (Photo from the Ron Heddendorf Collection)
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April 29th
1989...Howie Bumpus, in the family 66jr, won at Star with Mike Seymour (Tapply #8) second and Billy Hughes (Hendrick #1) third. It was the second career win for Bumpus who won was as a rookie the year before. Mike Favulli (Favulli #80) and Lee Smith (Czyzewski #1) were fourth and fifth. |
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Left: Third Generation racer Howie Bumpus continues the families success, earning his first victory at Riverside Speedway his rookie season. His proud father, Gordon, next to him.
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April 30th
2006...Ben Seitz (Valeri) made it two straight Stafford Spring Sizzler wins, grabbing the lead on lap two and surviving a number of late restart challenges. Joey Payne (Angelillo 45) was second with Kyle Carpenter (Berrio 11), Nokie Fornoro (Jarret 4) and Mike Ordway (Power Point 99) filling out the top five. Seitz was on his way to the third of four straight championships. Right: Ben Seitz powers his way to victory below flagman, Steve Grant in 2006.
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