{"id":22917,"date":"2018-03-31T10:55:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T14:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=22917"},"modified":"2018-03-31T07:56:40","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T11:56:40","slug":"payea-ready-to-begin-act-title-defense-at-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/03\/payea-ready-to-begin-act-title-defense-at-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"Payea Ready to Begin ACT Title Defense at Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colchester’s Scott Payea (#37VT) will be going for his second straight American-Canadian Tour championship in 2018. (Alan Ward photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Waterbury, VT<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 After finally breaking through for his first American-Canadian Tour (ACT) championship in 2017, Colchester\u2019s Scott Payea is ready to return to the fold in 2018. Payea and his Rick Paya\u2013led RPM Motorsports\/Harrison Redi-Mix team will begin their title defense at the season-opening New Hampshire Governor\u2019s Cup on\u00a0Sunday, April 15<\/span><\/span>\u00a0at Lee USA Speedway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Payea is coming off one the best ACT seasons in recent memory. The veteran won five of the nine events in 2017, including a series-record four straight. The effort earned him the championship after previously finishing second in the standings four times.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all excited to get going,\u201d Payea said. \u201cI don\u2019t even want to think about trying to live up to last season though. It was pretty much a dream season. We\u2019re just going to go back out with the same focus each race, work hard, and hopefully have the best car each week.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over the past two years, Payea and RPM Racing have been one of the most formidable Late Model teams in the Northeast. They have posted eight wins together, with their first coming at Lee USA in the 2016 New Hampshire Governor\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOur relationship just keeps getting better and stronger,\u201d Payea said. \u201cWe clicked right away the first year and picked up some wins. Then last year everything just came together. The more we all work together, the better our communication gets. People know what their roles are and the crew knows what I need with the car. It\u2019s a pretty natural relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Payea will be looking for his second win at Lee on\u00a0April 15<\/span><\/span>. His team was one of the first to enter the upcoming ACT Late Model Tour season and will look to begin the 10-race schedule on a high note.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIn this schedule, each race is important,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just want to start off with a solid run and build on that each race.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He will have plenty of competition at Lee and during the season-long championship battle. Williamstown, VT\u2019s Jimmy Hebert and Lebanon, NH\u2019s Rich Dubeau will both return to the ACT Late Model Tour after finishing in the top-5 in points in 2017. Steuben, ME\u2019s Rowland Robinson, Jr. had the best ACT season of his career this past year and will look to become a serious title contender.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Others who have filed full-season entries include former New Hampshire Governor\u2019s Cup winner Miles Chipman and sophomore Connecticut racer Ray Christian III. New Hampshire brothers Corey and Bryan Mason, both former Late Model champions at Speedway 51, are among the new drivers who have entered for the full season. A large contingent of S\u00e9rie ACT competitors are expected at the season opener as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ACT will open its 33rd<\/sup>\u00a0season of competition with the 28th<\/sup>\u00a0New Hampshire Governor\u2019s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway on\u00a0Sunday, April 15<\/span><\/span>. Qualifying begins at\u00a01:15pm<\/span><\/span>\u00a0for an afternoon of racing that also includes the R&R Late Model Sportsmen and Northeast Classic Lites. The pits will open at\u00a08:00<\/span><\/span>and the front gates will open at\u00a09:00am.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0An optional practice day is scheduled for\u00a0Saturday, April 14<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information, contact the ACT offices at\u00a0(802) 244-6963<\/a>,\u00a0media@acttour.com<\/a>, or visit\u00a0www.acttour.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waterbury, VT\u00a0\u2013 After finally breaking through for his first American-Canadian Tour (ACT) championship in 2017, Colchester\u2019s Scott Payea is ready to return to the fold in 2018. Payea and his Rick Paya\u2013led RPM Motorsports\/Harrison Redi-Mix team will begin their title defense at the season-opening New Hampshire Governor\u2019s Cup on\u00a0Sunday, April 15\u00a0at Lee USA Speedway.   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,7,8,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-act","category-lee-usa-new-hampshire","category-new-hampshire","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22918,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22917\/revisions\/22918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}