Tired Out: Todd Bertrand Recovers From Early Day Woes To Win NEMA Midget Feature At Waterford

WATERFORD – When it comes to being at the racetrack, it’s not about how the day starts, but rather how it finishes, and Todd Bertrand was proof of that Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Todd Bertrand celebrates his NEMA Midget victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Race Dog Photography)

Todd Bertrand celebrates his NEMA Midget victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Race Dog Photography)

Bertrand, of Suffield, recovered from the woes of practice issues, motor issues and heat race issues to win the 25-lap Northeastern Midget Association feature at Wings and Wheels night Saturday at the Speedbowl.

It was the second NEMA Midget feature victory of the season for Bertrand, who won in the division’s season opener on April 7 at Waterford.

Randy Cabral of Plymouth, Mass. was second and Russ Stoehr of Bridgewater, Mass. third.

In the first practice of the day Bertrand had a leaky oil line fitting, necessitating a trip back to the shop for repairs, meaning he missed the rest of practice.

“In the heat race we chose a right rear tire that was from May that Doug Coby ran in a heat race that only had two heat cycles,” Bertrand said. “I was just being cheap and I was like ‘Yeah, I’ll just run it.’ So I almost hit the wall I got so loose. I knew that the car was going to be good once we got a new tire on it.

“My dad [Gil] was really ticket after the heat race because we chose an old tire and he was like ‘I’m about to load this thing right up and bring it home.’ I just kind of blocked him out and said ‘Ok, that’s in the past, now we’ve got to work on what’s going on right now which is the feature.’ I just kept my head in it.”

The new tire worked out for Bertrand, who put up an eye-popping fast lap of 12.794 seconds during the feature on the way to victory.

“The track was phenomenal,” Bertrand said. “This is the best night of racing I think out of the whole year because you’ve got so many open wheel divisions that all put good rubber down on the track. 12.7 is a fast lap time. I don’t think anybody has turned that in a feature for a long time.”

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