Joey Polewarczyk Jr.: ACT Late Model Tour
Circuit Riverside Speedway Race Preview
Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, N.H., and the ACT Late Model Tour head north of the border for the Can-Am 200 at Circuit Riverside Speedway in St. Croix, Quebec, on Saturday, August 14. The race is a combination event for the ACT Late Model Tour and its Canadian-based cousin the ACT Castrol Edge Series, and the race counts toward both championship battles. Polewarczyk has made just two career visits to the fast .625-mile track with a top-10 finish last time there in 2007. Including a win at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway last month, Polewarczyk rides a string of four consecutive top-10 finishes into the Can-Am 200 that have raised him to fourth in the ACT standings — just two points behind John Donahue for third place and 135 points behind overall leader Brian Hoar.
WHO: Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H.
TEAM: No. 97 Pole’s Automotive/NH Precision Ford Fusion
BEST CAREER RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY FINISH: 8th (June 2007)
LAST RACE AT RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY: 8th (June 2007)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Can-Am 200
WHERE: Circuit Riverside Speedway, St. Croix, Que. (.625-mile oval)
WHEN: 5 p.m., Saturday, August 14
ACT Late Model Tour
LAST RACE: Friday, July 30, Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. (9th-place)
NEXT RACE: Saturday, August 21, Waterford Speedbowl, Waterford, Conn.
POINTS POSITION: 4th
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JOEY, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT CIRCUIT RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY?
It’s right by a river, I can tell you that. (laughs) It’s fast, fast — with long straightaways and a paper-clip turn at the end of each of them. You use a lot of brake and then to get off that corner, you get back on the throttle as fast as you can. Then do it again.
It feels like a lot of stop and then go. It’s definitely different from what we’re used to seeing. It’s not one of the best tracks for me. I don’t like to use a lot of brake — that’s not the kind of track usually where I’m good. But that’s what it’s all about there — brakes more so than throttle.
DOES THE FACT THAT IT’S A COMBINATION RACE CHANGE ANYTHING FOR YOUR TEAM?
Not at all. We go in with the same mindset. I don’t think there’ll be as many American guys — there will probably be more Canadian drivers than American drivers, that’s just my gut feeling. They race that track twice a year, every year. I think they have the advantage there.
Our mindset is not to get beat up in our qualifier. We’ve got to save our brakes, save our stuff and be there at the end. Two hundred laps at a 5/8 mile — it’s going to be a long night.
WITH THE RECENT RUN YOU’VE HAD, INCLUDING THE WIN AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY LAST MONTH, YOU’VE CLIMBED INTO THE ACT CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE. CAN YOU WIN IT?
We’ve been talking about that this past week. There’s only four races after this weekend, and it’s really getting down there. But Brian (Hoar) is so tough — I don’t think he’s finished out of the top-10 yet this year.
Fourth through second is separated by only 20 points — and we’re only two behind John (Donahue). We know we’re racing for second. Brian is 120 points ahead of me. We’re racing for second, but we want to get to that runner-up spot. That would be our best points finish and would really put us in position to go after the title next year.
Obviously we want to win the championship, but that 37 team has hit on everything right all year. They’ve just done an incredible job.