THOMPSON, Conn. – Northeastern Midget Ass’n President Tim Bertrand has released the club’s schedule for the upcoming season.
The schedule features 14 NEMA midget shows and 17 NEMA Lites shows, with 13 combined NEMA Midget/NEMA Lites shows on the schedule.
“We plan to play off of the success that we had over the last couple of seasons, as a club. We had strong car counts in the 30 car range every week, with a season high of nearly 40 cars at the Boston Louie event,” said Bertrand. “I see us only continuing to gain momentum for 2020. We’ve got a number of new teams coming into the Lite series, have at least three new full time teams in the NEMA division, with 3-4 others returning for 2020.”
The Northeastern Midget Ass’n will play part in nearly all of the Northeast’s most prestigious races: The Thompson Icebreaker, the Star Classic, the Boston Louie Memorial, Seekonk’s Open Wheel Wednesday, Lle’s Open Wheel Opener and Oktoberfest, Waterford’s 4 Cylinder Frenzy and Thompson’s World Series of Racing.
NEMA starts its season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park’s annual Icebreaker event, with a Lites only race. The club will visit Thompson on two other occasions, one with the Whelen Modified Tour in August, and the World Series in October.
“Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park has enjoyed its great partnership with with the Northeastern Midget Ass’n. For the past several seasons, they have provided some of the most exciting competition at Thompson and we are delighted to welcome them back in 2020,” said General Manager of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Terry Eames.
The club will return to Star Speedway with two combined shows and two Lites only shows this season. The highlight on the schedule is a return to the Star Classic, one of the biggest open wheel races in the country.
“NEMA did a great job for us last year at the Star Classic, and is a great addition to our race card,” said Star Speedway General Manager and owner Bobby Webber Jr. “We are excited to have them return a number of times this year, and continue our over 60 year tradition here at Star Speedway.”
The schedule will feature two trips to Seekonk Speedway, one with the Lites during Open Wheel Wednesday and the other, the Boston Louie Memorial, with the International Supermodified Ass’n in August.
NEMA will also return to two tracks this year, Claremont Motorsports Park for the track’s season opening event alongside the Granite State Pro Stocks, and one at Hudson Speedway, where NEMA has not competed at in nearly 20 years.
Three shows at Lee USA Speedway are on the docket, after NEMA rekindled its relationship with the speedway after the change of ownership last season. The last time NEMA visited the speedway, Sammy Swindell earned his lone victory of the season, extending his 49 year winning streak. Swindell is slated to compete with NEMA on a handful of occasions again in 2020.
NEMA also returns to Wiscasset, Monadnock and New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
“The Speedbowl is extremely excited to have NEMA headline our Inaugural 4 Cylinder Frenzy show, on Saturday Sept. 12, 2020. The NEMA midgets always provide the most exciting side by side action and down to the wire finishes! This will be the premier 4 cylinder show in the Northeast and will be one of our biggest events of 2020,” said Speedbowl General Manager Mike Serluca.
2020 Northeastern Midget Ass’n Schedule
April 4 – Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, Conn. (Lites)
April 24 – Claremont Motorsports Park – Claremont, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
May 2 – Star Speedway – Epping, N.H. (Lites)
May 16 – Lee USA Speedway – Lee, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
June 6 – Wiscasset Speedway – Wiscasset, Maine (NEMA & Lites)
June 20 – Star Speedway – Epping, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
June 21 – Hudson Speedway – Hudson, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
July 1 – Seekonk Speedway – Seekonk, Mass. (Lites)
July 18 – Lee USA Speedway – Lee, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
Aug. 1 – Star Speedway – Epping, N.H. (Lites)
Aug. 12 – Seekonk Speedway – Seekonk, Mass. (NEMA & Lites)
Aug. 19 – Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, Conn. (NEMA)
Sept. 12 – New London-Waterford Speedbowl – Waterford, Conn. (NEMA & Lites)
Sept. 19 – Star Speedway – Epping, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
Oct. 3 – Lee USA Speedway – Lee, N.H. (NEMA & Lites)
Oct. 10-11 – Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, Conn. (NEMA & Lites)
Oct. 25 – New London-Waterford Speedbowl – Waterford, Conn. (NEMA & Lites)