Alex Labbe Marches to ACT Riverside St-Croix Can-Am Win
St-Croix, QC – Alex Labbe of St-Albert, QC led the final 80 laps of the American Canadian Tour Can-Am 200 at Circuit Riverside Speedway Saturday, August 24 on his way to his first Série ACT win of the season. Labbe held off runner-up finisher Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. over the last several restarts to claim the victory in the combination ACT US and Série ACT QC event. It was his second career Série ACT win and first since joining the Larue Industrial Snow Blower team in 2013.
Pole sitter Jean-François Déry jumped out to the early lead over the first 27 laps until Wayne Helliwell, Jr. climbed his way from his ninth starting position to challenge for the lead. The pair would swap the lead several times through numerous restarts with Helliwell leading the majority of the first 120 laps. On lap 121, Labbe jumped to the point and would never relinquish the lead. Polewarczyk made several attempts to steal the win but could not find the grip on the outside and settled for second just ahead of Déry.
Patrick Hamel and Dany Trepanier battled their way from the 17th and 18th starting positions respectively to complete the top five. Ben Lynch came home sixth just ahead of Claude Leclerc who recovered from a late race incident that shuffled him back to outside of the top ten. Helliwell faded over the final few restarts and came home eighth ahead of Stephane Descoste and Jimmy Hebert.
The 200-lap event saw 19 cautions including a mandatory yellow on lap 100 for a fuel stop. The majority of the teams also took advantage of the yellow to change right side tires. The event took two hours and forty-one minutes.
Labbe becomes the 13th qualifier for the ACT Bond Auto Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21.
Just three events remain for the Série ACT including next Saturday, August 31st, when they will run a 150 lap event on their final visit to Autodrome Montmagny in Montmagny, QC. The ACT US has just two point counting events left including next Sunday, September 1st, when the Tour returns to Thunder Road in Barre, VT for the VT Foodbank Labor Day Classic 200.
Riverside Can-Am 200 Unofficial Results
American Canadian Tour
Circuit Riverside Speedway – St-Croix, QC
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Pos. (Start) Driver, Hometown, Laps Completed
1. (3) Alex Labbe, St-Albert, QC, 200 Laps
2. (6) Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH, 200 Laps
3. (1) Jean-Francois Dery, Quebec, QC, 200 Laps
4. (17) Patrick Hamel, St-Croix, QC, 200 Laps
5. (18) Dany Trepanier, St-Edouard, QC, 200 Laps
6. (20) Ben Lynch, Huntersville, NC, 200 Laps
7. (16) Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie,QC, 200 Laps
8. (9) Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, NH, 200 Laps
9. (27) Stephane Descoste, Oka, QC, 200 Laps
10. (10) Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, VT, 200 Laps
11. (8) Patrick Cliche , St-Jean-Chr., QC, 200 Laps
12. (2) Steven Boissonneault, Lyster, QC, 199 Laps
13. (13) #Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT, 199 Laps
14. (28) Rowland Robinson Jr., Steuben, ME, 196 Laps
15. (7) Etienne Cliche , Vallee-Jct., QC, 196 Laps
16. (5) Daniel Descoste, St-Joseph-du-Lac, QC, 195 Laps
17. (19) #Travis Stearns, Auburn, ME, 194 Laps
18. (23) Rejean Bissonnette, St-Adele, QC, 194 Laps
19. (12) Patrick Boyer, Quebec, QC, 194 Laps
20. (26) Eric Lehoux, St-Elzear, QC, 191 Laps
21. (4) Jonathan Bouvrette, Blainville, QC, 184 Laps
22. (11) Donald Theetge, Boischatel, QC, 182 Laps
23. (14) William Roberge, Pintendre, QC, 169 Laps
24. (21) Gaetan Gaudreault, Quebec, QC, 131 Laps
25. (24) Jacques Poulin, E. Broughton, QC, 118 Laps
26. (22) #Martin Goulet, Mascouche, QC, 105 Laps
27. (25) #Christopher Bedard, Montreal, QC, 94 Laps
28. (15) Andre Beaudoin, St-Augustin, QC, 55 Laps
Lap Leaders: Jean-Francois Dery, 1-27; Wayne Helliwell, Jr., 28; Dery, 29-34; Helliwell, 35-39; Dery, 40-50; Helliwell, 51-120; Alex Labbe, 121-200.
Time of Race: 2:41:11
Margin of Victory: .190 seconds
Cautions: 19 (laps 3, 16, 20. 25. 33. 38. 39. 49. 81. 87. 94. 100(fuel stop), 115, 118, 133, 179, 182, 194, 195)
Heat Winners: Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Jimmy Hebert, Alex Labbe
Consi Winners: Andre Beaudoin