IT’S A BIRD, IT’S A PLANE – IT’S THE NEMAS: NEMA Lites & Midgets
Official Photography: Pete & Mary Taylor
Website: www.petespicks.smugmug.com
By Sophie D. Gabrion, Media Rep / Wiscasset Speedway
WISCASSET – The Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) is the nation’s oldest race club of its kind, and last weekend, they rocked the house at Wiscasset Speedway! These cars are four cylinder, open-wheel racecars without starters or clutches. As the association states on their website, “If it is bolted into a midget, it serves one of only two purposes: safety or speed.”
To say that the NEMA Lites are impressive to watch would be a colossal understatement. Like surfboards with very severe buzz cuts, these microscopic machines paraded past the grand stands in lines 4-wide, like marching soldiers. Four laps into their 25-lap spotlight feature, Bethany Stoehr of the #15A stalled in the middle of turn two where Jim Cataldo of the #7 made contact and sent her into a violent pirouette. Alan Chambers of the #17 was also caught in the short-notice tangle, which ended the race early for all three.