July 28, 2010 Seekonk, Massachusetts: Aston, Pennsylvania’s Lou Cicconi “knew right from the start” he had the winning car. “You want to pass when it’s the least punishing to the race car,” he said.

Starting seventh, “Liquid Lou” drove under Plymouth’s Randy Cabral in traffic on lap 11 and won the Northeastern Midget Association’s feature at Seekonk Speedway’s Open Wheel Wednesday. Running consistent laps of 11.3, Cicconi dominated the final laps, finishing a quarter of a lap ahead of point leader Cabral. Early leader Ashland’s Mike Horn was third with Adam Cantor of Dix Hills, New York and Bridgewater’s Russ Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45) following. Cicconi took second from Horn in the backstretch on lap six. He quickly closed on Cabral who had taken the lead from Horn with four gone.

“I didn’t pass Randy right away,” said Cicconi, who was “waiting for the traffic.”

Cabral said, “I wanted to go inside the lapped car, put it down low. I went outside but the car came up and trapped me. Lou slipped under me. My car got better at the end, but I let him get too far out in front.”

Horn settled into a steady run in third as he continues to “pay my dues.” He enjoyed a battle with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Chris deRitis, the latter dropping out with mechanical woes. “I guess its one spot at a time,” said the second generation racer.

Despite a brief yellow on lap 13, Cicconi needed only seven minutes and 36 seconds to cover 25 laps. His best lap was 11.303. Cicconi had an “awesome” car on a track “I really love.” It was Lou’s fourth Seekonk win and seventh overall NEMA triumph.

Fairlawn, New Jersey’s Joey Payne won Showdown of Champions for NEMA Lite midgets on Open Wheel Wednesday. Beating back a brief challenge from Chris Perley, Payne scored a convincing win. Perley held on for second followed by Lou Cicconi. John Astle Jr. and Vin Annarummo held up Seekonk’s honor completing the Top Five followed by Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, Russ Wood and Rick Martin.

“I really wanted this bad,” said Payne who took home the Coastal 181 Trophy and dedicated the victory to the late Gene Angelillo.

Payne drew the pole and then traded starting spots with Annarummo, “a move that worked in my favor.” Coming from eighth, he was immediately in a four-way (sometimes four-wide), lead-swapping battle that also included Cicconi, Perley and Astle.

“We were not going to push it and put on a show for the fans,” said Perley, who won the Rich Vogler Award. “At the drop of the hat, that went out the window.”

On the outside, Payne pulled away from Astle on the restart with Perley moving from fourth to second. They moved through one and two nose-to-tail, Perley looking low. “I saw him,” Payne said of long-time rival Perley. “He was going to have to drive his tail off to get by.” Payne “kept the car down in the groove. I didn’t want him under me.”

Payne, who replaced Bentley Warren in the field, could put the car “anywhere I wanted,” the result of much work with the Mikitarian crew a week ago and again before the race. “We got the car to be really good,” he added.

TV personality Jackie Arute, the event’s producer, said, “The first half of the race really showed a trust between drivers. It was like a throwback, something you don’t see a lot of these days.”

Bobby Seymour, originator of the event, was especially pleased with the finish involving three of the most accomplished open cockpit drivers in the East. Cicconi went on to win the regular NEMA feature for Seymour as well.

”Any race involving the name Rich Vogler, the best driver I ever saw, is one you want to win,” said Payne, who welcomed the opportunity to honor Angelillo: “best car owner I ever had.”

The transponder on Payne’s car was not working. Cicconi turned an 11.881. Perley’s best was 11.902.

Invitational (20 laps) 1 Joey Payne (Mikitarian 9), 2 Chris Perley (LeClerc 12), 3 Lou Cicconi (Seymour 29), 4 Freddy Astle (Sherman 23), 5 Vinnie Annarummo (Scally 4), 6 Mike Stefanik (Bertrand 48), 7 Ted Christiopher (Mucciacciaro 45), 8 Russ Wood 51, 9 Rick Martin (Medeiros 50) NEMA Lite Midgets

A-main (25 laps) 1 Lou Cicconi (Seymour 4), 2 Randy Cabral (Bertrand 47), 3 Mike Horn 93, 4 Adam Cantor 7ny, 5 Russ Stoehr (Angelillo 45), 6 Greg Stoehr 26, 7 Jeff Abold (Seymour 29), 8 Jeff Horn A1, 9 Jim Miller 3m, 10 Anthony Marvuglio (Cabral 35), 11 Erica Santos (Breault 44), 12 Russ Wood Jr 51, 13 Joey Payne (Mikitarian 9), 14 Lee Bundy 2, 15 Paul Scally 30, 16 Eddie LeClerc 12, 17 Matt O'Brien 16, 18 Brian Cleveland 78. DNF Chris deRitis (Cicconi 75), Anthony Nocella (Seymour 29), Todd Bertrand 48. DNS Aaron Wall 55. NEMA Midgets