Two-for-two so far with a couple of victories at Waterford Speedbowl, Randy Cabral is still not ready to declare himself a contender for the Northeastern Midget Association championship. He is, however, the driver to watch when NEMA pulls into Monadnock Speedway on Saturday, May 24.

Monadnock is one of the “trickiest” venues on the NEMA schedule. The club returned there last year after a 10-year hiatus and it was a trio of veterans – Greg Stoehr, Jeff Horn and Nokie Fornoro – that filled the podium. Nokie, a winner back in 1981, is the only other current NEMA driver with a Monadnock win.

While he still believes his new job – a custodian for the Plymouth, MA school system – may cause some conflicts with race dates, he is not unmoved by making history. Three straight wins have not happened a lot in NEMA’s long history. The last to do it was Horn back in 1993.

Since then six drivers, including Cabral, have won two straight. Russ Stoehr did it five times.

Gene Angelillo’s “Marilyn’s Passion” team has had incredible success at Monadnock. Prior to ’05, the track hosted NEMA 22 times and Drew Fornoro won 12 of them. Pointing out “it is without doubt a driver’s track,” Angelillo is quick to credit Fornoro.

Joey Payne Jr., second and third so far this season, hopes to add to Angelillo’s Monadnock success.

Payne, Stoehr and Fornoro take what they hope will be championship campaigns to Monadnock. Unlike most of the stops, a large share of the NEMA competitors do not have extensive experience at Monadnock.

Bobby Santos III, no stranger to answering new challenges, will be a competitor to watch, as will sister Erica and Adam Cantor.

NEMA has raced only at Waterford to this point but it is apparent many teams are at the top of their game. Cabral’s 12.742 seconds lap captured the spotlight. He had seven sub-13 seconds laps in the feature. Three others – Bobby Santos III, Erica Santos and Greg Stoehr – had at least one.

Source: Pete Zanardi, NEMA Public Relations
Photo Credit: NormMarx.com