OSWEGO, NY – The NEMA Midgets made their long awaited return to Oswego Speedway on Saturday night, and it was Jim Miller in the No. 3m dominating the field for his first Oswego win, and first NEMA victory since 2001.
Miller started on the front row and immediately blasted to the lead, out running Russ Stoehr and Oswego Supermodified driver Jeff Abold to the line in the 30-lap main.
Seth Carlson and Randy Cabral completed the Top 5 in the NEMA main event, which went green to checker with 16 cars making the call.
“I haven’t run here in 10 years and I think we had a 3rd place finish then, and we were disappointed, and look where we are today, unbelievable,” said Miller, standing in Chris Nelson Insurance Victory Lane. “This is unreal. It is a big win for me, it really is. What a racecar we had tonight, I just can’t believe it.”
Miller and Doug Cleveland started in row one, with Miller gaining the early advantage in the No. 3m. Behind Miller, Cleveland and Greg Stoehr in No. 77 were starting to position themselves, but each would pull off the race track within the first two laps moving Oswego Supermodified pilot Joey Payne up to second in the No. 44.
By lap six Miller had already built a full straight lead on Payne, Carlson, Stoehr, Phil Dimario, and Abold.
Abold began to mount his charge through the field on lap nine as he made his way under Dimario in turn two to move to fifth, and he quickly began to draw a bead on Stoehr running fourth in the No. 45.
Stoehr could feel the pressure from Abold as he then set-up Carlson with a high side move out of turn two to move into third behind Payne.
For several laps Payne, Stoehr, Carlson and Abold were locked in a tremendous battle for positions two through five, as Miller continued to dominate the field with a half-track lead by lap 17.
The race’s 18th circuit saw Abold slip under Carlson for fourth, putting him in perfect position to take advantage of Payne in lapped traffic just one lap later.
The No. 44 of Payne would get hung up behind a lap car low out of turn two on lap 19 leaving the outside lane open for both Stoehr and Abold to fly by moving to second and third.
Payne, who appeared to be battling a tight racecar through the first half of the event, would continue to back slide from there as both Carlson and Cabral would also make their way passed the No. 44 to move into the Top 5.
With Miller checked out in front of the field, the battle would be left for the runner-up position between Stoehr and Abold. Stoehr, who has more Oswego Speedway Midget wins than any other driver, appeared to have the handle on Abold, but the young 23-year old pilot gained an edge on Stoehr into turn one with just a handful of laps left and looked to have a lane open low in turn two.
However, as Abold looked low the opening closed and the No. 05 ran directly up the tail tank of the Stoehr No. 45. Somehow each car was able to continue on without further delay.
The quick tangle between Stoehr and Abold would be the final bit of drama in the fast paced feature event which took only 8:43.861 seconds to complete. Jim Miller would continue to streak on to his first career Oswego Speedway win in convincing fashion.
Stoehr, Abold, Carlson, Cabral, Payne, Mike Horn, Dimario, Anthony Marvglio, and Todd Bertrand finished the Top 10 order.
Stoehr commented on running with Abold in the last few laps.
“Jeff (Abold) is certainly a great driver, and he has a lot more laps of experience at this place than I do,” said Stoehr. “But we had a good fast car tonight and this Dumo’s Desire car was on its game tonight. Hats off to Jimmy Miller and congratulations to Jeff on a fine third place finish.”
Oswego Supermodified regular Abold also spoke with infield announcer Keith Zehr at the conclusion of the event.
“I want to apologize to that whole team there; I had a good run going on Russ and we were dead even through three and four and I had been getting great runs through one and two,” said Abold. “That lap I just tried to sneak it in there on the bottom and we just touched wheels enough that I got up over his tire. It is definitely not the way I was trying to get by him there; it is not what I was hoping for.”
Abold was excited to be able to race at Oswego Speedway, this time in a Midget.
“I love racing with these guys, especially at Oswego Speedway,” said Abold. “I have been waiting for this race all season long. We got the old girl dusted out and ready to go, so a podium finish, first night out, I am pretty happy with that.”
Cumens Comes on Strong Late, Wins NEMA Lites Main Event
For the second year in a row, a Cumens is a main event winner at Oswego Speedway. Last Classic Weekend Alison Cumens took the checkered flag in the ATQMRA TQ Main event, but on Saturday night it was brother Ian pulling into Chris Nelson Insurance Victory Lane at Oswego Speedway as the NEMA Lites feature winner.
Ian Cumens passed Paul Bigelow with only two laps remaining to earn the win in the 25-lap Lites main event, the first to be held in the 62-year history of Oswego Speedway. Avery Stoehr, James Santa Maria, and Randy Cabral completed the Top 5 finishing order in the feature go.
“These Honda engines are real fast coming off so I had to get him (Bigelow) going in,” said Cumens. “I got the opportunity I needed and I capitalized on it, and it was a good choice. Thanks to the Seymour Team and everyone else helping us out, this is awesome.”
Bigelow and Danny Cugini brought the 14-car NEMA Lites field to the green, with Bigelow jumping out front early on in the No. 31. As Bigelow jumped to the lead Stoehr, who started all the way back in the tenth position, used the high side of the Speedway to pick off four cars in the first lap to move to sixth on the grid in the No. 15a.
Cumens began to make his presence known on lap five as he moved under Andy Barrows in the No. 81 to third and began to set his sights on a pair of Bigelow’s out front; Paul and Ryan.
Paul began to mount a serious lead on Ryan Bigelow for the lead besting the No. 13 by nearly a half track leading to lap nine. It was on the 9th circuit that Cumens struck again, this time driving around Ryan Bigelow to move to second. In just six laps Cumens would then knock a half straight lead behind Paul Bigelow down to just eight car lengths.
One lap later the race’s first caution hit the Speedway for the No. 50 of Carl Medeiros Jr. who spun in turn three collecting Cugini and Bethany Stoehr. The yellow lights would bunch the field with Paul Bigelow leading Cumens, Ryan Bigelow, Barrows, Avery Stoehr, James Santa Maria, Cabral, Alan Chambers, Scott Bigelow, and Brandon Igo.
On the restart Cumens would leap into the lead, but coming out of turn two the Barrows No. 81 hit the outside wall with tremendous force. Barrows was ok, but the same could not be said for his racecar.
The field would realign for another restart with Bigelow retaking the lead in the No. 31. When the race went back to green Stoehr managed to slip passed Cumens for second temporarily, only to see the No. 9 of Cumens work his way back by and begin work on Bigelow for the lead.
With an above average size track for the NEMA Lites and several caution laps, fuel began to arise as a possible issue for teams.
Bigelow appeared to be losing come momentum in the corners which allowed Cumens to fly around the No. 31 high into turn three with just two laps remaining. Cumens would fly on to the win from there with Bigelow holding onto second on an empty fuel cell.
Avery Stoehr, Santa Maria, Cabral, Chambers, Medeiros, Bethany Stoehr, Ryan Bigelow, and Igo finished the Top 10 lineup.
“When that last caution came out, all I could think about was the fuel,” said Bigelow. “We had run so many laps under caution and with about four to go, every time coming off of turn four and two, I was bobbling and I had nothing. I knew it was going to be really tight. It was on fumes coming across the line.”
Young Avery Stoehr was pleased with his third place effort.
“I was just trying to get up on the outside and carry some momentum,” said Stoehr. “We really seemed to have a great racecar; it was handling great for me tonight. This is definitely way faster than I have gone at any other track; I had a ton of fun tonight.”
Maresod Marches to US Legends Car Victory
Michael Maresod will go down in the history books as the first US Legends main event winner at Oswego Speedway. Maresod inherited the lead on Saturday night when leader Todd McCollum blew his engine down the back straightaway. As it would turn out, the event would turn only five laps as the race was called short due to the clean-up needed for the McCollum No. 51 machine. The inside track at the Speedway has no lights, which left little time in the evening to complete the main event.
Boyce Norton, Taylor Doxtator, Brad Salatino, and Dalton Rombough filled the Top 5 at the end of five laps.
“This is great,” said Maresod. “I will take a win any way I can get it. Obviously, it is not how I wanted to do it, but I’ll take it.
Maresod and Doxtator started the 15-lap US Legends main from row one, with Maresod leading the early laps in the No. 7. By the second lap Maresod, McCollum, and Norton had put a small gap on the rest of the field.
On lap three McCollum moved to the high side of Maresod to move to the point out of turn four, and began to pull away in a hurry. Just two laps later, with a sizeable lead, the McCollum No. 51 erupted in a ball of flames down the back chute with a blown motor oiling down the racing surface.
The race would then be checkered at the conclusion of just five laps with Maresod declared the winner.
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Quick Results
Saturday, August 25th, 2012
Oswego Speedway Midget Madness
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Budweiser International Classic Weekend – see www.oswegospeedway.com for more information
NEMA MIDGETS
Feature (30-laps): 1. 3m – Jim Miller, 2. 45 – Russ Stoehr, 3. 29 – Jeff Abold, 4. 71 – Seth Carlson, 5. 47 – Randy Cabral, 6. 44 – Joey Payne, 7. 93x – Mike Horn, 8. 33 – Phil Dimario, 9. 38 – Anthony Marvlio, 10. 39 – Todd Bertrand, 11. 2 – Lee Bundy, 12. 99 – Jim Santa Maria, 13. 30 – Paul Scally, 14. 9 – John Zych Jr., 15. 87 – Doug Cleveland, 16. 77 – Greg Stoehr
1st Heat (10laps): 1. 71 – Seth Carlson, 2. 47 – Randy Cabral, 3. 29 – Jeff Abold, 4. 44 – Joey Payne, 5. 87 – Doug Cleveland, 6. 38 – Anthony Marvglio, 7. 30 – Paul Scally
2nd Heat (10laps): 1. 3m – Jim Miller, 2. 77 – Greg Stoehr, 3. 9 – John Zynch Jr., 4. 33 – Phil DiMario, 5. 45 – Russ Stoehr, 6. 39 – Todd Bertrand, 7. 93x – Mike Horn, 8. 99 – Jim Santa Maria, 9. 2 – Lee Bundy
NEMA LITES
Feature (25-laps): 1. 9 – Ian Cumens, 2. 31 – Paul Bigelow, 3. 15a – Avery Stoehr, 4. 99 – James Santa Maria, 5. 35 – Randy Cabral, 6. 11b – Alan Chambers, 7. 50 – Carl Medeiros Jr., 8. 26 – Bethany Stoehr, 9. 13 – Ryan Bigelow, 10. 45 – Brandon Igo, 11. 33 – Scott Bigelow, 12. 81 – Andy Barrows, 13. 51 – Danny Cugini, 14. 57 – Dylan Duhaime
1st Heat (8laps): 1. 31 – Paul Bigelow, 2. 13 – Ryan Bigelow, 3. 9 – Ian Cumens, 4. 26 – Bethany Stoehr, 5. 50 – Carl Medeiros Jr., 6. 33 – Scott Bigelow, 7. 45 – Brandon Igo
2nd Heat (8laps): 1. 81 – Andy Barrows, 2. 51 – Danny Cugini, 3. 35 – Randy Cabral, 4. 99 – James Santa Maria, 5. 15a – Avery Stoehr, 6. 57 – Dylan Duhaime
U.S. LEGENDS CARS
Feature (RED /Checkered Flagged after 5 Laps*): 1. 7 – Michael Moresad, 2. 8 – Boyce Norton, 3. 60 – Taylor Doxtator, 4. 13 – Brad Salatino, 5. 41 – Dalton Rombough, 6. 29 – Joel Hall, 7. 06 – Zach Porter, 8. 19 – Gordy Hall, 9. 44 – Breane Gilligan, 10. 78 – Mike McDonald, 11. 51 – Todd McCollum
*Todd McCollum’s blown motor on lap 5 oiled the racing surface, causing a lengthy delay in cleaning up the racing surface. The inside racing oval at the Speedway does not have lights, which forced an early end to the Legends Main.
1st Heat (8laps): 1. 51 – Todd McCollum, 2. 60 – Taylor Doxtator, 3. 13 – Brad Salatino, 4. 29J – Joel Hall, 5. 44 – Breane Gilligan, 6. 9x – Kyle Hoffman, 7. 54 – Vern LaFave, 8. 5 – Chad Windsor
2nd Heat (8laps): 1. 8 – Boyce Norton, 2. 7 – Michael Moresed, 3. 41 – Dalton Rombough, 4. 06 – Zach Porter, 5. 19 – Gordy Hall, 6. 78 – Mike McDonald, 7. 39d – Devin Thornton
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