by Jay | Jan 23, 2010 | ACT
Waterbury, VT – The Kendall Roberts-owned Vermont National Guard team of veteran driver John Donahue filed the first full season entry for the American Canadian Tour (ACT) 2010 season. There was plenty of excitement following the recent 2009 Banquet of Champions, and ACT headquarters received the Donahue entry 24 hours after the entry forms were sent this week.
“We are very excited about taking a run for the title this year,” said car owner Kendall Roberts. “We really came together as a team around TD Bank 250 time last season when Dale Shaw started giving us a hand, and John and the team have been very busy getting things freshened for the 2010 season. Everyone is excited about our new car, and we still get charged up about weekly racing at Thunder Road. We will be ready as soon as spring gets here,” concluded Roberts. The Donahue team is only one of three teams that ran the entire ACT US Tour and a full weekly schedule at Thunder Road in 2009. Jamie Fisher of Shelburne, VT and Eric Chase of Milton, VT were the other drivers to tackle both schedules in 2009, and are expected to do the same in 2010.
The National Guard team took advantage of the ‘big shows’ last year to make a racing statement to the Late Model teams in the region. An impressive third place at Oxford, Maine during the TD Bank 250 started the march to the front for the Graniteville, VT team. Donahue thinks of the Oxford oval as kind of his second ‘home track’. Several years ago he raced weekly at the famous speed plant. The next two months were highlighted with outstanding ACT Tour finishes — a 4th at Waterford, CT, 2nd at Twin State in Claremont, NH, and a 2nd at the Bond Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road in Barre, VT finished the summer season. A solid run to 5th in the first ACT Invitational on the mile at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September turned many heads. Closing the season a week later on the ¼ mile high banks of Thunder Road by capturing the $10,000 to win 47th annual Chittenden Milk Bowl was the highlight of the season for the National Guard team.
Karl Allard from Ste. Felicien, QC, driver for the Quebec City-based Larue Industries Racing team has filed the first full season entry for the Série ACT Castrol. In 2010 the popular series will run at five different tracks throughout the Province of Quebec.
Allard, a world class snowmobile racer, is a perennial challenger for the ACT title. A former ADL Series Champion in Quebec, Allard is one of the most respected drivers on both sides of the border. “We really want to win an ACT title one of these years, and I think 2010 just might be our year,” said Allard. He has qualified for every ACT Castrol event over the past three years and has completed the most laps of any driver. Allard finished 5th, 2nd and 3rd during the past three ACT Castrol Series campaigns. The Larue team often competes in the US, including the Oxford 250 and had a solid top five run going at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during the first ACT Invitational last September. He finished 12th in the all star field.
“We have announced very good schedules for our competitors on both sides of the border for 2010,” said the ACT Media Director and Statistician, Nick Bigelow. “It is great to see these early entrants. It is a sure sign that there is going to be some enthusiasm for both our tours, and it also means that spring and a new racing season is just around the corner.”
The ACT Tour will open on April 18th with the traditional Governor’s Cup 150 at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH. The ACT Castrol Series opens outside Montreal at the Autodrome St. Eustache on May 22nd.
by Jay | Jan 23, 2010 | PASS
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (January 19) – Jeff and Jane Day’s New Day Motorsports LLC are proud to announce that veteran driver Brandon Ward will be the new driver of their #62 for the 2010 racing season. The New Day Motorsports team, along with Ward’s personal race team, Brandon Ward Racing (BWR), will join together to compete in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model division and will make a run at both the PASS South and PASS National Championships. Previously, BWR joined with the Cline Brothers’ team to win the 2006 UARA-STARS Late Model Championship. The BWR personnel bring extensive racing knowledge and experience that will only help strengthen New Day Motorsports. Ward’s 2010 Chevrolet Impala will be equipped with a Hamke Chassis and Five Star Bodies and powered by B & R Automotive. While primary sponsorship is still available, several fine associate sponsors will be returning including: Yarbrough Transfer Company, Rayco Safety Inc., Miller Welders, Old Town Jewelry & Pawn, Texas Pete Sauces, Hank Thomas Performance, Precision Built Spindle, and Oakley Paint.
Ward will also return to Mac Hill Motorsports for the 2010 USAR Pro Cup Series after a successful season that saw him win two races and finish fourth in points. Despite the challenge of competing in two different series in one season, Ward is excited about his chances with the PASS South Super Late Models. And, why shouldn’t he be? In his first start with New Day Motorsports at last year’s Howler 125 at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Ward finished 10th in a stellar field of Super Late Models.
“I’m really pumped to have this opportunity to drive the New Day Motorsports Chevrolet for the entire 2010 season,” said Ward. “Jeff [Day] and I worked great together last year with my Pro Cup car and I’m glad we’ve been able to put this deal together. Of all the cars I’ve driven over the years, it’s just been a blast to drive these PASS Super Late Models. The yellow #62 of New Day Motorsports is one of the most recognizable cars in PASS South and I’m honored Jeff asked me to drive it. I think we’ve got a great shot at some championships and I can’t wait to get to New Smyrna in a couple of weeks to take that first PASS checkered flag for New Day Motorsports.”
With the addition of Brandon Ward to the New Day Motorsports team, car owner Jeff Day hopes this takes his team to the next level.
“Brandon and I are both from Winston-Salem and I’ve been impressed with him for a number of years,” said Day. “In everything Brandon’s ever driven, he’s been a winner. As soon as we got the chance to work together last year, our communication was right on target. I think Brandon will compliment the great roster of drivers PASS already has and I know he will give us the opportunity to join the elite teams and compete for wins and championships.”
Brandon Ward’s racing career started in Go-Karts in 1989 where he won multiple championships over the next ten years. Ward then moved to the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series finishing a career high third in points in 2004. Ward won three races in his NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series career at Bristol Motor Speedway, Motordrome Speedway, and Kentucky Speedway. From there, Ward moved on to the UARA-STARS Late Model Stock series where he won the championship in 2006. After winning Rookie-Of-The-Year honors and the Most Popular Driver Award in the 2007 USAR Pro Cup Series, Ward continues to be a threat for victory lane.
New Day Motorsports has been an integral part of the PASS South Series since 2006. With former driver Mark Gibson behind the wheel, the team scored its best finish with the series in the 2008 Piedmont Pride 125 at the Caraway Speedway, finishing fourth after leading the most laps. New Day Motorsports and Gibson finished in the top ten in PASS South points in 2007 and 2008 and finished second in the 2009 PASS National Series behind champion Ben Rowe.
New Day Motorsports first chance at a checkered flag in 2010 is right around the corner with the inaugural Florida Winterfest on January 29-30 at the New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, FL. For more information please visit newdaymotorsports.com or brandonwardracing.com.
The Pro All Stars Series is on line at www.proallstarsseries.com .
by Jay | Jan 18, 2010 | New
Morin sweeps Pro finals at XTown for Rock Maple Racing snocross series
Brunelle, Todd split Semi-Pro classes
MIRABEL, Quebec (Jan. 18, 2010) — Any time you host a snowmobile race in the province of Quebec, the natives make a little extra effort to win in front of the home crowd.
And when it’s a points race in front of a huge audience just outside Montreal, that effort goes up a notch.
Although Mathieu Morin has gone on to achieve a great deal outside of his hometown of Val-D’Or, his desire to win at home has never been stronger. Morin swept the Pro finals over the weekend, as Rock Maple Racing (RMR) completed Round 3 (Pro and Semi-Pro teams) on the 2009-10 snocross schedule Sunday afternoon at XTown.
Last weekend’s race drew the top snocross riders in the eastern U.S. and Canada to the popular motocross venue. Sunday’s action was capped by a $2,250-to-win “Dash for Cash” for the Pro riders, won by Dave Allard of St. Felecien. With the top riders from SCM, CSRA and RMR, fans enjoyed plenty of aggressive, side-by-side racing both days.
The track at Mirabel was much larger than what RMR teams are used to, with lap times of over one minute. The big jumps and challenging downhill section required finesse and focus for racers to succeed.
For Rock Maple teams, points were awarded on Saturday for Stock classes while Open classes earned points on Sunday. Morin (Ingles Performance/Ski-doo) went wire-to-wire in Saturday’s Pro Stock final, with Bobby LePage (Hulten Speed Sports/Polaris) second and defending champion Danny Poirier third. While LePage worked his way forward after a slow start, Morin simply checked out. After Poirier’s domination last year, Morin is replacing frowns with smiles on the faces of Ski-doo racing directors.
Corin Todd (D&Z Racing/Ski-doo) continued his 2010 hot streak north of the border. Todd, of Otego, NY, held off a hard-charging Lucas Brunelle for top honors in Semi-Pro Stock. Ash Woskob finished a solid third, with Lincoln Lemieux and SCM regular Pierre Fillion completing the top five.
Sunday’s finals brought more of the same for Morin, as he completed the sweep in Pro Open. After nailing the holeshot, Morin blasted into another time zone as LePage tried to run him down. The Minnesota native ran out of time and settled for second, while Allard claimed third. With two native sons on the podium, the fans cheered so loud you could have heard them in Sherbrooke.
In the Semi-Pro Open final, Brunelle, who lives just 40 minutes from the track and had practiced there prior to the race, dominated with a flag-to-flag victory in front of the Quebec faithful. Lemieux put on a whale of show in pursuit but ran out of time, while RMR veteran Michael George came home third. The Semi-Pro riders from Rock Maple looked impressive against the SCM regulars, grabbing the hardware on their visit to Canada.
Several other RMR regulars made the trip to Mirabel last weekend to stay sharp and hone their skills. On Saturday, Leo and Hunter Patenaude both earned a win in Junior competition. And on Sunday, Leo Patenaude won the Sport Stock 600 final.
Other RMR regulars who raced in Mirabel include Chris Ingles, who put in a career-best performance in the Sport division; Brennan Berardo, Jason Stone, Renaud Alexandre, Garret Mees, Robert Graeber, Cody Flach, Joe Lemieux, Steffanie Lemieux, Montana Jess, Melanie Acker, Wade Acker, Paige Calderwood, Daryl Nutting, Danny Graves, Jarett Catlin, Andrew Collins and Tim Randall. While they weren’t racing for points, every rider in the support divisions gave it their all at Mirabel.
RMR would like to extend a since thanks to Marcel Fontaine of SCM and the staff at XTown for hosting such a world-class event. Next up for teams here in the states is the debut of snocross at The Lodge at Belmont, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 23-24. Located on the site of a former dog racing facility, The Lodge at Belmont will offer amenities for fans not seen at most winter motorsports events.
For full results in all classes from Mirabel, please go to www.scmracing.com. For more information about Rock Maple Racing, go to www.rockmaple.com.
by Jay | Jan 16, 2010 | ACT, Canada, New England
South Burlington, VT – American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model stock car Champion Brian Hoar of Williston was honored for his sixth career ACT Late Model Tour Championship on Saturday, January 16 at the Sheraton-Burlington Hotel and Conference Center in South Burlington, VT. Hoar currently holds the record for the most career wins in ACT Late Model Tour history with 25, including back-to-back wins at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and Waterford Speedbowl in 2010. These wins, plus 11 top tens in 13 starts, helped Hoar edge out runner-up Scott Payea. Hoar was joined by over 500 teams, fans and officials as he celebrated his first championship with new car owner Rick Paya. Paya also has previous ACT Tour championships as a crew chief and car owner with Jean-Paul Cyr.
The 41st Annual MacTavish Award was given to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) for their contribution to Northeast stock car racing. The prestigious MacTavish Award is named for legendary New England racer Don MacTavish who was killed in 1969 while racing at Daytona International Speedway. In 2010, NHMS hosted the first annual ACT Invitational, which invited 36 of the best Late Model competitors from around the region. It was the showcase event for ACT Late Model competition during the 2010 season.
Thunder Road International Speedbowl crowned Milton’s Jean-Paul Cyr as the 2009 50th Anniversary Season “King of the Road.” The seven-time ACT Late Model Tour Champion took a break from the touring scene in 2009 and set his sights on the 50th Anniversary Season title. He joined forces with car owner Joey Laquerre and crew chief Jeff Laquerre. Cyr used his Times Argus Mid-Season Championship win to beat “Senator” Phil Scott for the championship.
The NAPA Tiger Sportsman title went to Williamstown’s Jimmy Hebert in just his third season. Hebert also scored the first feature win of his career in 2009. The 2009 Tiger Sportsman Tri-State Series Championship was won by Morrisonville, New York’s Shawn Duquette. Duquette tied Jason Bonnett for the title, but used his two victories to win the tie breaker. Veteran Gary Mullen of Tunbridge took the top Allen Lumber Street Stock honors. Donnie Yates of North Montpelier won the Power Shift Junkyard Warriors title.
Over $85,000 plus trophies were awarded to the top teams in all divisions of Thunder Road and the ACT Tours for their efforts during the 2009 season.
The second annual ACT Crew Chief of the Year Award went to John Doiron. Doiron was the crew chief for his son, Joey, who won the ACT Rookie of the Year Award for 2009. John was recognized for his hard work, dedication, enthusiasm and attitude on the ACT Tour and the continual improvement of the Berwick, Maine Doiron race team.
A new award was created this year in memory of Pete Hartt, who covered the American-Canadian Tour and Thunder Road during his time with WDEV Radio and as the sports editor for the Times Argus. The Pete Hartt Memorial Media Award was presented to WCAX sports anchor Seth Leavitt for his support of regional stock car racing.
Troy Germain, “The Voice of ACT” from St. Johnsbury received the Ken Squier Award. Germain was presented the award for his hard work and dedication as the ACT Tour and Thunder Road announcer.
The Gordon R. Nielsen Rookie Achievement Award went to Hyde Park’s Tucker Williams. Williams is the 2009 Allen Lumber Street Stock Rookie of the Year and led the division with four wins. His first career feature win came on opening day of 2009 in his first feature start. Other rookies that qualified for the award were from the ACT Tour, Joey Doiron of Berwick, Maine along with Thunder Road Late Models, Dylan Smith from Randolph and NAPA Tiger Sportsman, Erik Steel of Barre.
Sportsmanship and Most Improved driver awards were presented for all divisions based on driver and official voting. ACT Late Model Tour winners were Chip Grenier of Graniteville for the Sportsmanship Award and Graniteville’s John Donahue for Most Improved. Thunder Road Late Model awards went to Brooks Clark from Fayston for Sportsman and Cambridge’s Craig Bushey for Most Improved. The Thunder Road Sportsman awards were presented to Wolcott’s Brendan Moodie for Sportsmanship and Bradford’s Derrick O’Donnell for Most Improved.
The Ed Carroll Memorial Award for Sportsmanship in the Street Stocks was awarded to Craftsbury’s Mike Martin. The Junkyard Warrior Sportsmanship Award was given to Cabot’s Ken Christman.
The 2010 ACT Late Model Tour season will kick off on Sunday, April 18 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH. Thunder Road will open its gates for the first time on Sunday, May 2 for the 12th annual Merchants Bank 150. For complete schedules and more information visit www.acttour.com or www.thunderroadspeedbowl.com.
by Jay | Jan 14, 2010 | Maine, PASS
FARMINGDALE, Maine — With 10 championships between them, Maine racers Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark are teaming up for a winter road trip.
A long winter road trip — to Florida.
Rowe, who has four PASS North Series championships as well as PASS South and PASS National championships on his resume, and Clark will field a joint effort for the inaugural PASS Winterfest 150 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Jan. 29-30. The event is the first of five PASS National Championship races scheduled for the 2010 season.
“We wanted to go down and support this race, because we think it could grow into something really big in the future,” said Clark, a four-time PASS North champion, including the last two series titles. “If everything goes well, we should both have a chance to win this one.”
Clark’s race hauler will carry both his familiar Clark’s Car Crushing No. 54 and Rowe’s new Community Pharmacies No. 48. The deal to pool the resources of Johnny Clark Motorsports and Mulkern Racing was finalized at last weekend’s Northeast Motorsports Expo held at the Augusta Civic Center.
Rowe was named Touring Series Driver of the Year at the Expo.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Rowe, who will debut with his new team and new crew chief, Seth Holbrook, at New Smyrna. “Me and Johnny have never teamed up before, so it’s going to be a blast.”
Of the two drivers, only Clark has New Smyrna experience, having competed on multiple occasions in the annual New Smyrna World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing held each February.
He compared New Smyrna’s high-banked half-mile layout to Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway, a track familiar to PASS North Series competitors.
“It’s a lot like Thompson,” Clark said. “It’s big and fast, and it’s definitely a fun and challenging track. It’s extremely hard on brakes, and you need one of the biggest motors you can find there.”
Rowe said he’ll take Clark’s word for it, having never raced at New Smyrna himself. He has, however, watched a number of races there from the pit area.
“It does race a lot like Thompson — at least that’s what Johnny tells me,” Rowe said. “Hopefully he’ll help me out when we get there and we can go from there.
“We’re going to take a bunch of guys from the north down there and see what we can do together.”
Teams hit the track on Friday, Jan. 29 for an extended practice session. Qualifying and feature racing will be held on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Winterfest 150 is tentatively scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. green flag.
