This Day in NEMA History...
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May 15th
1994...Flagger Steve Dumas could have left the yellow and the red at home. Drew Fornoro (Angelillo #45 ) won the 25-lap non-stop feature at Oxford Plains. Mike Seymour (Tapply #8), Bentley Warren (Seymour #29x), Bobby Seymour (Schrader #29) and Paul Lawless (Lawless #6) were second through fifth. The heats, won by Russ Stoehr and Mike Seymour, were all non-stop as well. |
Drew Fornoro and Mike Seymour at Star in 1995 - a familiar battle in the mid 1990's.
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May 16th
1975... Dave Humphrey (McCarthy #47) won the season opener at Westboro. Johnny Evans (Yuris #83), Johnny Coy Sr. (Fusco #17), Johnny Mann (Cali #1) and eventual champion Bobby White (Germond #12) followed in order. Humphrey, Bill Eldridge, Drew Fornoro and Dutch Schaefer have each won four NEMA season-openers. |
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Left: Car owner - John McCarthy, a three time champion and served as NEMA president for 12 years, poses with his Badger driven by the great Dave Humphrey - a combination that could win on any given night.
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May 17th
1997...In command all the way, Babe Shaw (Shaw #107), showed Drew Fornoro (Angelillo #45), Mark Buonomo (Buonomo #76), Paul Lawless (Lawless #6) and Chuck Welling (Johnson #69) the way home in a 25-lapper at Star for his second career feature win. A husband and wife team, Babe and Sue Shaw would earn a career-best 3rd place in the NEMA Championship this same year. |
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Left: Babe took a hiatus from the driver's seat shortly after his great 1997 season and went in to win again with Jeff Horn at the helm. However, Babe made a cameo behind the wheel at Seekonk in 2005 shown here. (Marx Photo)
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May 18th
1956...Ronnie Evans and car owner Walter Mordenti, two early NEMA stalwarts, teamed up to win at Westboro. Al Pillion, on his way to the championship in the Kelly #33, and King Carpenter were second and third. |
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Left: Ronnie Evans aboard the Mordenti #78 battles with eventual 1956 champion, Al Pillion, in the famous Kelly brothers #33. (Les King Photo)
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May 19th
2001...Bobby Seymour (Scrivani #9), took the lead from Rudy Boetticher Jr. on lap 15 and held on to capture the 25-lap Kelley Memorial at Star. Boetticher (Boetticher #45) was second followed by Mark Buonomo (Buonomo #76), Jeff Horn (Shaw #107) and early leader Barry Kittredge (Kittredge #21). |
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Left: 1987 NEMA Champion, Bobby Seymour waves to the crowd at Waterford Speedbowl during his final campaign as a driver in 2002. (Marx Photo)
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May 20th
1984...Mike Seymour’s first NEMA win (in the Seymour #7) came in the season-opener at Monadnock. Nokie Fornoro (Scrivani #21) was second, Drew Fornoro (Angelillo #1) third, Bobby Seymour (Seymour 4) and Lee Smith (Lowrey #17) was fifth. Billy Mann and car owner Everett Rogers started their championship drive with a sixth. |
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Left: Mike Seymour and Butch Walsh do battle on the banks of Star Speedway in 1984, a decade before Mike won the NEMA Driver's championship and two owner's championships for Bill and Nickie Tapply.
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May 21st
1955...The first driver to reach double figures in career wins, Bill Eldridge scored number 10 in the Leonardi #75 at West Peabody. Jim Cunningham was second with Ray Roberts third. Testimony to Eldridge’s strength in NEMA’s early days: when he reached 20 wins (July 25,1958) his closest rival – Al Pillion – had eight. |
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Left: NEMA's first champion, Bill Eldridge, who in the first six years of NEMA's life, won four championships driving the Gibbey Parmentor #55.
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