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 4th at the Hammond Memorial Sat. 7/24 - Waterford Speedbowl |
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| During the torrential
rain that hit the Speedbowl at about 4 PM, it looked like there
would be little chance of getting in the Shane Hammond Memorial
race on Saturday, July 24th. But after three hours of pumping
out the infield sections and drying the track surface, the Bowl
was declared ready for racing. With rain expected later in the
night, heats were dropped for all classes but the NEMA Midgets
received one more short practice/tire scrub session before the
first feature. Chris lined up in the second row, outside positon. At the green Chris quickly jumped up to third as the #30 fell back. While the#77 battled with John Zych in the #9, Russ Stoehr in the #45 and Chris' teammate Rancy Cabral in the #47 were working their way to the front. After a couple of mid-race cautions, Russ moved by to challenge his brother Greg in the #26 while Randy took over third place. Chris fiinished in fourth about 6 car lenghts behind Randy. Chris continues with his string of Top 3 to Top 6 finishes which has been marred only by the hard crash at Thompson. |
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 4th at Stafford Extreme Tuesday - 7/6 |
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| After a big push to
repair the damage to the #75 from the Thompson crash the
previous Thursday, the Bertrand Motorsports team cars rolled
into Stafford Motor Speedway on a brutally hot July 6th. With
fresh rear suspension and axle parts, the #75 showed good speed
in the practice sessions and had a good run in the heat. In the fourth starting spot for the 30 lap feature, Chris broke free on the first attempt at a start when the #9 of John Zych failed to go. But the start was called off and Chris slotted in third for the retry. At the green, Chris held his position and Cole Carter in the #39 battled Erica Santos in the #44. Randy Cabral #47 started to slice through the field, passing car after car on the low side in turn four. Using lapped traffic on lap 26, Randy slipped into the lead by a determined Jim Miller #3m who had held Randy off for eight circuits. Cole caught Chris on the last lap and powered by on the low side in turn three to grab 3rd place. Chris chased him down the main straight right up to the checkers to record a fourth place finish. With both the #7ny of Adam Cantor and the #26b of Greg Stoerh DNFing at Stafford, Chris makes up a bunch of points and moves into third in the standings. |
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A DNF &
a 13th at
Thompson Thursday Night - 7/1 |
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| It was a tough Thursday
night for the #75 at Thompson International Speedway in
Thompson, CT. During practice, a problem cropped up with the
fuel pump drive. In the heat, Chris pulled off into the infield
with the motor not running cleanly again. Starting near the back of the field in the feature, Chris had the motor running strongly and was making his way forward, passing the #44 of Erica Santos on the low side. Then the car was into the wall on the front straight with a flat left rear. Celebrating teammate Randy Cabral's win in the Bertrand #47 was the happy point of the night. After a tow back to the parking area, the rear suspension and axle was pulled apart to assess the damage and get a jump on returning the #75 to racing shape for the Xtreme Tuesday race at Stafford Motor Speedway coming right up on 7/6. |
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6th at
Lee USA Friday Night - 6/25 |
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| After two solid rounds
of practice, Chris fought a heavy push that developed in the
heat. The shots in the second row below on the left show he was
still turning left half way down the Lee backstraight. A trip
into the well lit trailer for some adjustments restored the
handling of the #75. In the feature Chris passed his way up to a 6th place finish, moving by the #3m of Jim Miller in the final laps. Bertrand Motorsports stable mates Randy Cabral and Mike Ordway Jr. in the #39 placed 9th and 10th battling problems with their machines. |
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TWIN STATE SPEEDWAY - FRIDAY, JUNE 11TH . |
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| First NEMA Podium Finish for Chris | ||||||||||||
| Chris posted a third
place finish on NEMA's single stop at Twin State Speedway on the
2010 schedule. This was Chris' first Top 3, podium finsh in the NEMA Midget events and a chance to join Bertrand Motorsports teammate Randy Cabral in Victory Circle. To take 3rd, Chris raced around Russ Stoehr #45 and Jeff Horn #A-1, two of NEMA's multi-win veterans. |
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Rain Instead of a Feature
at Monadnock Speedway The Monadnock Opener Weekend - 5/29 |
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| After a brief shower in
the afternoon, the NEMA Midgets and Lites managed to run their
practices and heats at NEMA's first trip to Winchester, NH for
2010. But the rain came again just as the Midgets were about to
line up and the event was called about 9 PM. The plan is to run twin 25 lap features at the next visit to Monadnock on July 31st. Heat pictures are below. |
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Chris &
the #75 Open the 2010 NEMA Season at the Waterford Speedbowl The Budweiser Blastoff Weekend - 3/27-28 |
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| In the earliest opening
of the NEMA season ever, the Midgets and LItes headed for the
Waterford Speedbowl on March 27th and 28th. In preparation,
Chris and the new ride for 2010, the Ciconni/deRitis #75, had
tested at Seekonk Speedway two weekends prior and had cut laps
in the 11.0s - fast lap in a 2009 Seekonk NEMA feature had been
a 11.007. The low temperatures and an extended program with 14 different divisions made Saturday a long, tough day. Three rounds of practice were shortened to two rounds as sessions ran long with spins and dropped oil. The single NEMA heat got off at about 7:15 PM for a quick 10 laps. Running well in the top six, the #75 began smoking as some oil leaked on the header insulation. With the header tucked out of sight in the right side body pod, NEMA officials couldn't see what was happening and threw the black flag in the interest of safety. After clean-up, a change of oil lines, and cutting some vents in the side pod, the #75 was pushed started for a short test at 10 PM after all the night's features were completed. Everything looked good for Sunday's feature race. After Waterford's Sunday morning Pit Party which allows the fans to come on down into the infield to see the cars up close, the NEMA midgets remained in place to be pushed off for a set of warm up laps at 11:40. A short break for the opening ceremonies offered a final preparation period for the Bertrand Motorsports crew headed by Tim Bertrand. The NEMA cars pushed off for the 25 lap feature at 12:15 under overcast skies. Starting in 8th (the NEMA handicapping system places a driver in a new car towards the back for a couple of events), Chris fell into line behind Bertrand Motorsports teammate Randy Cabral in the #47. Randy and Chris both moved by the #7ny of Adam Cantor and the #26b of Greg Stoehr to take fourth and fifth positions. The cold track conditions made most of the cars way too free. Up front Chris Leonard charged to a popular first time win holding off Russ Stoehr in the #45 and Erica Santos in the #44. The caution-free race was completed in 5 minutes and 40.75 seconds for the fastest ever 25 lap NEMA race at Waterford. Chris turned the fastest lap of the NEMA feature of 13.222 enroute to a 5th place finish and a solid start for the new ride. |
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| Top NEMA Rookie Chris deRitis Gets Cicconi Ride for 2010 | |
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Brockton, MA – Chris deRitis, the Northeastern Midget
Association’s 2009 Rookie of the Year, will be driving Lou
Cicconi’s #75 Esslinger-powered Drinan chassis in 2010. The
three-year old car will be housed at Bertrand Motorsports, Tim
Bertrand serving as Crew Chief. Chris's teammate will be 2008 &
2009 NEMA Champion Randy Cabral in the Tim Bertrand #47. The car will be ready for NEMA’s opener March 27-28 at Waterford Speedbowl. “We tested there in October and it was damn cold,” said Chris’ father Dan. “Chris turned times that compare favorably with those set by the fastest cars during the warm months.” deRitis, 22, made his full-midget debut last summer in the Chris Desrosiers’ Power Point car, finishing fifth in points with eight top tens in 14 starts. He had a fourth at the Speedbowl. “Power Point is a great team and we enjoyed it very much,” continued deRitis. “We now look forward to input from both Lou & his Dad and Tim & his Dad.” Bertrand, no stranger to Esslinger or Drinan, is NEMA’s two-time defending owner champion. Cicconi drove the car a couple times in 2008. The move continues the tight relationship between Cicconi and deRitis. “Lou got us involved with the TQs,” deRitis said, “and he was instrumental in Chris’ ride with Power Point.” Young deRitis brought a strong ACTQMRA resume to NEMA beginning with a Rookie of the Year effort in 2006. He was second in points in 2007, third in 2008. Dan was the 2008 owner champion. “No doubt he proved himself in ’09,” said Bertrand, part of a very successful team with two-time driving champion Randy Cabral. “Chris is a talented driver and it is a good car. I am looking forward to an exciting season.” |
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Chris Sets
Lap Record in Time Trials at Atlantic City TQ Race - Jan
29-30,'10 15th in The Gambler's Classic Feature After Hose Failure |
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Race Reports
at AARN site Here -
At the Atlantic City Gambler's Classic,
Chris once again had a fast car but poor luck in Saturday's
Feature. In Friday night's time trials Chris recorded a scorching 8.9098 seconds lap to best the field and set the track record for the Boardwalk Hall indoor circuit. The night's race action included a Consolation win for Chris and a 21st place feature finish. On Saturday, Chris took a TQ heat win as did mentor and builder of Chris' #66, Lou Cicconi Jr. In the 40 lap Gambler's Classic finale, Chris was running well, up to 4th and then back to 6th, when a water hose failed, and the sprayed water triggered a multi-car wreck on lap 19. The race was red flagged as track personnel rushed to extinguish a wild fire at the car of Mike Tidaback. Chris was scored with a 15th place finished while Cicconi took the win after charging into first on lap 11. Cicconi became only the second driver in the eight year history of the race to have won the Gambler's Classic twice. |
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| The Coffee Cup at Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI - Fri.-Sat. 12/4-5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On December 4th and 5th, Chris
was behind the wheel of the #66 Risque Racing TQ midget at
the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI for the indoor
auto races promoted by Len Sammons and Area Auto Racing
News. The state of the art #66 is the creation of Chris'
racing mentor "Liquid" Lou Cicconi Jr.
With 48 entries battling for 24 starting positions in the features, the field was filled with top competitors from TQ, ISMA, NASCAR, and INDY racing. GO HERE for the AARN race reports posted on the NEMA site. In Friday time trials the #66 posted a terrific sixth place lap of 8.57 seconds. Running right behind "Liquid" Lou's #57 and settling in for a great finish, Chris had the cooling fan in front of the radiator become unplugged. The car overheated and Chris retired and missed Friday's feature. In Saturday's heat, Chris had nice top four finish - while racing hard with Friday's feature winner Mike Lichty in the #1 and Saturday's eventual winner Mike Stefanik in the #36. That put Chris mid-pack in the starting field of 24 for the 40 lap feature. Success in indoor racing depends to a great degree on luck in being at the right place at the right time to miss the big pile ups that keep happening. With almost no place to go, any two car tangle quickly turns into a 5, 6, 7, 8 or more car pile. Only a few laps into the feature Chris got caught up in a turn three tangle but suffered no damage. Back to racing but at the end of the field, Chris was battling in traffic when the right front wheel of the TQ on the inside clipped the #66 and sent the cooling fan housing flying. With the fan motor and blade dancing around at the end of the wiring, Chris stopped to have the loose parts removed by the track crew. However, the officials did not let the #66 continue and pushed it off through the exit tunnel. Even though Chris was afraid of overheating again without the fan, he had at least wanted to give it a shot. Chris was disappointed with the results but pleased with the weekend's on track performances. |
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The 2009 NEMA Awards Banquet -
Sat. 11/21 NEMA ROOKIE of the YEAR |
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| Chris poses with
NEMA President Mike Scrivani after receiving the NEMA Ed Clotheir Rookie of the Year Award at the NEMA Banquet at White's of Westport in Westport, MA on November 21st. At right, Chris shows off the trophy for his 5th place in the 2009 Drivers Points. |
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