Ted Christopher To Make NEMA Start At Waterford Speedbowl

Story By: TIM BERTRAND / NEMA – WATERFORD, CT – Ted Christopher will make a rare start for Bertrand Motorsports when the Northeastern Midget Association visits the New London Waterford Speedbowl for its annual Wings & Wheels event.

A multi time national NASCAR “Tour” champ and 50+ event winner at the Speedbowl, Christopher will take a break from the Modifieds to drive the Bertrand #47 in the prestigious race. The car was driven previously this year by Kyle Hamilton, Doug Coby and Justin Bonsignore, to a two second place finishes and a victory, respectively.

The versatile Christopher, who has multiple wins at Atlantic City and Providence, RI is not a stranger to the NEMA’s Victory Lane. Driving a Marilyn Angelillo-owned car he won at Waterford Speedbowl on May 24, 1998. He battled Bobby and Mike Seymour over the final laps.

“I’m excited to race for the Bertrand’s again. The last couple of times we have teamed up, we have had a really good car and Tim’s stuff is always good. I really love racing the midgets, and especially at the Speedbowl. They are fast & fun to drive,” said Christopher.

Among drivers best known for their “stock car” success, Doug Coby leads the pack with four wins, followed by Gene Bergin with two. Bergin won in a Scrivani car at Thompson in 1969 and on the dirt at Lakeville Speedway in 1973 driving the Leahy #18.

Christopher’s hard-charging style, in fact, reminds many of Bergin. NEMA legend Mike Scrivani Jr. vividly recalls Bergin’s run from the back to victory at Thompson. Again like Christopher, Bergin drove a number of different style cars with success.

Bergin also notched a pair of seconds in NEMA action. Christopher was third in his first-ever NEMA race at Hudson for Angelillo in 1990. He has driven for Bertrand before, putting on an epic battle with Mark Buonomo finishing third at Stafford Speedway in 2006, when Nokie Fornoro took down the victory.

With a few exceptions, NEMA has not been kind to outsiders. Geoff Bodine and Bugs Stevens recorded second place finishes at Stafford and Thompson respectively. Reggie Ruggiero fans remember his strong run at Riverside Park.

The late Hank Stevens was a Modified legend for many years but was a Midget regular when he won for Jimmy O’Brien at Antigonish in Canada in 1970.

On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 1:32 PM, Timothy Bertrand <timothy.bertrand@gmail.com> wrote:

Chambers Bests Cugini at the Line in NEMA’s Speedway 51 Return

The NEMA Lite division made a return visit to Speedway 51 this past Saturday evening, with a strong car count and beautiful weather on tap. Jim Chambers made an impressive run to the front from deep in the field to beat a hard charging Danny Cugini to the line when all was said and done.

When the Lites feature hit the race track, Kevin Park and Richie Coy brought the field down to the green flag. Coy, who has struggled in his first season with the Lites, really started to turn things around, as he jumped out into the lead when the green flag flew.

“When the green came out, I jumped out into the lead and just tried to hit my marks and do what I did in the heat. It was a great feeling every time I around and still had the lead and didn’t feel any pressure from behind. I wanted the race to go green to checkered and when the caution flew on lap six I was pretty disappointed because I knew the fast guys were gonna be there – and they were,” he said.

When the green flag flew on the restart, Jim Chambers, had worked his way from the ninth spot into fifth, and Danny Cugini, who started tenth, was up to fourth. Cugini took command on lap eight and the duo distanced themselves from the field. Further back, Coy battled with Randy Cabral and young gun Ryan Locke had worked their way into the top five.

As the laps wound down, Cugini led Chambers, as the two were deep into lapped traffic, separated by only two carlengths. With one lap to go, Cugini had to check up for a lapped car, and Chambers stuck his #12 on the bottom, and the two drag raced down the back stretch and back to the line. Chambers took down the win by a mere .05 second advantage over Cugini. Randy Cabral, Ryan Locke, Richie Coy, Dennis O’Brien, Paul Scally, Jake Stergios, Ben Mikitarian and Jim Cataldo rounded out the top ten.

“Speedway 51 is a fast and fun racetrack and a great facility. We felt the car was pretty good all day and we had a chance for the win if thing could go our way. When feature time came we starting 9th place and knew our best chance was to get out front as quick as possible. Danny was lined up 10th and i was sure he had a similar plan. With about 2 laps to go Danny was out front and slowed coming up to lap traffic and allowed me to close the gap. With one to go Danny entered turn one way on the high side and my only chance was to throw it in down the win,” said Chambers.

NEMA picks back up its schedule at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on August 9th, with a combined show at the New London Waterford Speedbowl for Wings and Wheels on August 12th.