by Jay | Sep 15, 2009 | ACT, Canada, NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Waterbury, VT – The field is set for the inaugural American Canadian Tour (ACT) Invitational to be held this weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) in Loudon, NH. The 36-car field for the historic first-ever Late Model stock car race is filled with the best short track drivers in the Northeastern US and provinces of Quebec and Ontario, Canada. The $65,000 event is slated to take green at 5:30 Saturday afternoon, following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ‘Heluva Good! 200’.
ACT teams from throughout the Northeast have spent the past six months battling each other for a coveted spot in what will be the most unique racing opportunity most have had in their careers.
Veteran racer from Barre, VT, Joey Laquerre said, “This has to be the highpoint of my 50-plus years of racing. I had so much fun at the ‘test and tune’ (over 50 ACT teams were invited to a test session at NHMS in August) and I really wanted to get an invitation to this race. I hope this will be good for the future of Late Model racing. I think it is just great for the young kids like Joey ‘Pole’ (Polewarczyk), those two 16- and 17-year olds, (Brandon Watson from Stayner, ON and Joey Doiron from Berwick, ME). They are the future, but I wish I could be starting all over again with them. They are going to have a lot of fun racing in the next ten years or so”. Laquerre was a former Thunder Road Track Champion and has raced at just about every track in New England for over 5 decades, in just about every kind of stock car.
The starting grid for the ACT Invitational will have twenty-four former and present Track Champions and Series Champions. Three of the hottest drivers in ACT racing represent each of the Touring Series which the sanctioning body manages.
Montreal’s Patrick Laperle has the most wins entering the Invitational, with four (4). Laperle is contending to win his second Série ACT Castrol Championship on Sunday, following the NHMS event. He is chasing two-time Castrol Série Champion Donald Theetge from Quebec City, who leads the Series by 33 points going into the 300 lap finale at Autodrome Ste. Eustache outside of Montreal. Laperle will receive a $2,000 bonus for his 4 Invitational wins.
Veteran driver Brent Dragon from Milton, VT enters the Invitational with three qualifier wins and is coming off an impressive third place finish after starting twelfth at the Fall Foliage 300 at the Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh last Sunday afternoon. Dragon battled eventual winner Laperle for over 100 laps in the final half of the event, swapping the official lead a half dozen times. Laperle won the 300-lap event, but only after running out of fuel while pitting during the final caution, on lap 255.
Former NHMS Track Champion, and now full-time ACT competitor, Brian Hoar of Williston, VT took over the ACT Tour point lead following the Fall Foliage 300. Hoar leads Scott Payea, of Milton, VT by 28 points going into the final event of the campaign at Oxford Plains Speedway on October 11th. “I really am not thinking about the ACT title with the Invitational in front of us. When I was racing on the old NASCAR Busch East Series, this was a place I just loved to come to. Being named as the NHMS Track Champion ranks right up there with my five ACT titles. I can’t wait until 5:30 on Saturday, and I think fans are going to have some fun also. During the testing we found out that these cars can draft, carry big speed through the corners, and that the outside lane is the place to be. That should provide a good combination for putting on a great show. MY RPM team is pumped up and ready”, said Hoar.
Nine tracks from throughout the Northeast and Canada will be sending their 2009 champions to the ACT Invitational, along with 6 other past track champions from throughout the region. There are 5 ACT TOUR Champions entered, 3 Serie Castrol Champions and a multi-time PASS Super Late Model Champion.
“The starting field for this event will be the very best 36-car field in the 25-year history of ACT racing. These teams all deserve to be here based on what they have accomplished either in the Qualifiers or in their racing careers, and we are proud to have them represent ACT and Late Model racing. We are grateful to Jerry (Gappens, Vice President and Executive Manager of NHMS), Bob Bahre (founder and former owner of NHMS and lifelong supporter of short track racing) and the entire NHMS staff for their support and confidence in short track racing in our region”, said Tom Curley, President of the American Canadian Tour. “I am especially happy to have such a great mix of veteran teams and new young stars who will get the chance to have this experience. I guess it is now time to ‘start the engines’ and let them get after each other”, concluded Curley.
The ACT Invitational will take place at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway as part of the weekend-long NASCAR ‘Chase for the Sprint Cup’ activities. The Invitational will post at 5:30 on Saturday, September 19, 2009 and will be run over a distance of 50 miles. Information for tickets can be obtained by contacting the ticket office at NHMS or their web site at www.nhms.com
by Jay | Sep 15, 2009 | Maine, Wiscasset Raceway
Hermon, ME- Speedway 95 was the home for the second round of the Linnehans Credit Now late model triple crown series this past Saturday night. 29 of the best late model drivers in New England took the green flag in the 54 lap feature which paid $1,754.00 to win. Right from the start which saw Liberty’s Josh St. Clair over take pole sitter Mike Hopkins there was an abundance of cautions. However restart after restart St. Clair would choose the outside groove to restart the race and eventually take the checkered flag. Mike Hopkins who is a Speedway 95 regular would take home second and Wiscasset Raceway late model champion Chris Thorne in his first ever visit to the 1/3 mile oval would get third. Fourth went to Chris Pangburn and fifth to Ryan Deane. The point leader of the triple crown series going into the race was T.J. Watson who due to prior commitments was not able to contend which handed the point lead over to Josh St. Clair who finished second in the first triple crown race at Wiscasset Raceway back on May 30th. St. Clair still has one more race to go before he can officially be called the champion and that will be at Unity Raceway on Oct. 12th which is Unity’s Long John weekend.
Upcoming Events: September 26th & 27th The Ray Haskell Ford Fall Brawl at Wiscasset Raceway!!!
For more information check out www.wiscassetraceway.info
by Jay | Sep 15, 2009 | ACT, Canada, NASCAR, New England, NHMS
Waterbury, VT – Noted racing columnist ‘Big’ Bigelow from the Caledonia Record, a daily paper from St. Johnsbury, VT, has won the first round of the ACT Invitational Media Contest. Ironically, Bigelow picked Canadian Patrick Laperle in the final bonus race this past weekend, the Fall Foliage 300, to beat out Toronto, Ontario’s Evan Towle from the CanadianRacingOnLine.com. The five bonus points were the margin of victory for the winner. “People pretty much know me as a ‘stats freak’. I guess this time my fun with facts and figures paid off for me. It has been fun to watch each week to see if I could climb the ladder to the top, and now, I guess my next job will be to pick the winner of the Invitational”, said Bigelow.
Bigelow competed against nearly three dozen members of the media who entered the ACT Invitational last April, just prior to the start of the season. Media members had to pick 36 teams from across all of New England and the Quebec and Ontario provinces of Canada. In addition, they were required to pick from 12 ‘bonus’ point events held on the ACT Tour, the Série ACT Castrol, and special events including the Oxford Plains’ TD Bank 250, the Governor’s Cup 150 at Thunder Road, and the Wiscasset Speedway Center of Speed 300. By picking Laperle in the Fall Foliage 300, he broke the tie to sit on top of a crowded score sheet among over two dozen Northeast racing media members.
Bigelow has won a week’s family vacation to the Steele Hill Resort in Sanbornton, NH during the next 12 months. Part two of the Invitational becomes a little more difficult. Pick the Winner of the Invitational and win a fully paid trip for two to the Sprint Cup Chase event at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway being held this October. Bigelow and other media members who finished in the top 12 standings now have to pick this Saturday’s inaugural winner of the ACT Invitational. Bigelow will have an ace up his sleeve as any tie breaker will be broken by ‘first round’ standings.
The final field of twelve has been expanded as there was a tie in the standings from 12th through 16th. Entry forms will be sent to eligible media members on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. The winner of the Grand Prize trip to Charlotte, NC will be announced immediately following the ACT Invitational Saturday evening at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
ACT INVITATIONAL MEDIA STANDINGS (Round I)
(eligible to ‘Pick the Winner’ for Grand Prize)
1. Big Bigelow Caledonia Record 240
2. Evan Towle CanadianRacingOnLine 235
3. Norm Cote Late Model Digest 230
4. Gene Gagne Outside Groove 230
5. Kevin Provencher NH Union Leader 230
6. Jim Carson Late Model Digest 225
7. Lee Elder Goodyear Public Relations 225
8. Steve Poulin Newport Daily Express 225
9. Mickey Smith Morrisville New & Citizen 225
10. Mark Thomas Racin’ Paper 225
11. Alan Ward News & Citizen/Racin’ Paper 225
12. Melissa, Betty St Albans Messenger 220
13. Grearson, Anna Times Argus 220
14. Kaufman, Josh St Albans Messenger 220
15. Michaels, TJ WORK – FM 220
16. Lou Modestino The Enterprise 220
The ACT Invitational invited roster:
Car# State Name Hometown Track/Series
6 VT Cris Michaud Williamstown, VT ACT/TR
7 ME Glen Luce Turner, ME ACT
8 NH Guy Caron Goshen, NH Twin State
9 ON Brandon Watson Stayner, ON Kawartha Downs
10 NH Ben Rowe Turner, ME ACT
11 VT Jean Paul Cyr Milton, VT Thunder Road
11 RI Ryan Vanasse Warwick, RI Seekonk
14 VT Phil Scott Middlesex, VT Thunder Road
14 ON Sean Kennedy Dunrobin, On Capital City
15 VT Joey Laquerre Barre, VT ACT/TR
17 MA Eddie MacDonald Rowley, MA ACT
18 VT Jamie Fisher Shelburne, VT ACT/TR
21 QC Jean Francois Déry Quebec City, QC ACT Castrol
26 VT John Donahue Graniteville, VT ACT/TR
27 MA Wayne Helliwell, Jr Dracut, MA Lee USA
35 CT Bruce Thomas Groton, CT Waterford
37 VT Brian Hoar Williston, VT ACT
40 VT Eric Chase Milton, VT ACT/TR
44 VT Dave Pembroke Montpelier, VT Thunder Road
47 CT Tim Jordan Plainfield, CT Waterford
48 QC Karl Allard Ste Felicien, QC ACT Castrol
51 ME Ricky Rolfe Albany Twnshp, ME ACT
55 VT Brent Dragon Milton, VT ACT
55 NH Brad Leighton Center Harbor, NH ACT
71 ON Dan McHattie Cavan, On Kawartha Downs
73 ME Joey Doiron Berwick, ME ACT
80 QC Donald Theetge Quebec, City, QC ACT Castrol
88 VT Nick Sweet Barre, VT ACT/TR
89 VT Scott Payea Milton, VT ACT
91 QC Patrick Laperle Montreal, QC ACT Castrol
94 ME Shawn Martin Turner, ME Oxford Plains
97 NH Joey Polewarczyk Hudson, NH ACT
03 ME Travis Adams Canton, ME Oxford Plains
02 NH Randy Potter Groveton, NH ACT
04 ME TJ Watson Cundy’s Harbor, ME Wiscasset
The ACT Invitational will take place at 5:30 on Saturday, September 19, 2009. Tickets for NASCAR ‘Chase’ weekend, including the ACT Invitational, can be obtained by logging on to www.nhms.com. For additional information on the ACT Invitational check the American Canadian Tour website at www.acttour.com
by Jay | Sep 15, 2009 | Canada
(Shediac, N.B.) — Dan Bourque, Victor Vienneau, Bob Prosser and Mike Weagle were crowned as 2009 Points Champions in their respective divisions during intense stock car racing action on Sunday afternoon at the Centre for Speed, Atlantic Canada’s Super Speedway and “Metro Moncton’s Playground of Power”.
For ‘Buzzsaw’ Dan Bourque (#15) of Grande-Digue, who claimed his first career Sportsman championship in 17 seasons of racing, Sunday was the crowning moment of a ‘wreckers to championship’ season. In fact, Bourque had planned on retiring after the 2008 season but a last race wreck, where he completely demolished his racecar, left him with a sour taste in his mouth and a renewed determination to continue racing.
“I owe it all to my terrific pit crew and their drive to come back even
stronger in 2009”, beamed Bourque as he celebrated his first Championship after Sunday’s Eastern Well Drillers 50-lap feature. However, the championship win for Bourque was not without its last-day dramatics. In fact, his racecar developed mechanical problems during the semifinal after a third place finish in the 10-lap heat. His crew battled through the semifinal and the 50-lap feature to keep him in the hunt for the Championship ahead of a hard-charging Marc Gautreau (#99) of Grand Barachois.
Heading into Sunday afternoon’s final points event of the 2009 season, Bourque held a
12-point lead on Gautreau. However, that lead threatened to completely slip through Bourque’s hands as Gautreau reeled off wins in the dash, second heat as well as the hotly-contested 15-lap semifinal to set up the showdown in the 19-car, 50-lap feature.
Veteran Dan Duke (#94) of Lakeville had the car to beat in the 50-lap main event as he took the early lead and held off challenges over the first 38 laps. However, Calvin Rankin (#45) of Quispamsis would prove to be a factor over the later part of the event. Having started the feature in 12th position, after his earlier win in the first Sportsman heat, Rankin worked
the outside line to charge his way through the field. By lap 35, Rankin had made his way into second and was knocking on Duke’s back bumper. Sticking to the outside groove, Rankin was finally able to overtake Duke on lap 41, and held on for the win crossing the finish line ahead of Gautreau and Duke.
Both Gautreau and Bourque, they took advantage of some early race openings to make their way through the field. By lap 19, Bourque had moved into third position with Gautreau in fourth. Gautreau continued his climb to the top as he passed Duke over the final few laps to cross the stripe in second. As for Bourque, his recurring
mechanical problems forced him and out of the pits over the final portion of the race, finally finishing in 12th position. That, however, was just enough for him to claim his first Sportsman championship, finishing a mere three points ahead of Gautreau in the final points standings.
It was a similar scenario in the chase for the 2009 Streetstock championship for Victor Vienneau (#03) of Cocagne, who started the
day first in the standings with a 29-point lead over division rookie Gerald Brun (#33) of Moncton. While the day belonged to Doug MacEwen (#40) of Charlottetown, who celebrated in 42nd birthday by recording a grand slam with wins in the heat, semifinal and 50-lap feature, both Vienneau and Brun were dogged by frustrating mechanical problems which for the most part left them looking on from the pit area.
Despite a blown piston, Vienneau got a little help from other pit crews and was able to complete one lap in the 50-lap feature thereby collecting enough points to hang on for his first career Streetstock championship.
For MacEwen, his three wins, including his third feature win of the season ahead of Jamie Vassello (#38) of Sydney, N.S. and Kelly Bassett (#18) of Saint John, vaulted him into second overall in the final points standings, just a few points ahead of Brun.
In Mini Stock action, Bob Prosser (#5) of Turtle Creek captured the 2009 Mini Stock division Championship thanks to a fifth place showing in the 25-lap feature, a second place finish in the heat and a fourth place finish in the semifinal. Martin Landry (#00) of Grand Barachois made things very interesting with second place finishes in
both the semifinal and feature, ending the day just four points behind Prosser for the championship. Meanwhile, Landry’s cousin, Daniel Gautreau (#20) of Shediac had the car to beat on Sunday in this division, collecting wins in both the heat and feature to go along with a third place showing in the semifinal. Veteran Brad Daley (#33) of Moncton was first across the finish line in the semifinal for his second win of the 2009 season.
In the Four Fun division, despite a damaged rear wheel, Mike Weagle (#60) of Petitcodiac capped off a dominating season with his 12th win of the
season in the semi-final to go along with second place showings in the heat and 25-lap feature, to capture the 2009 Four Fun division championship. While Eldon Campbell (#17) of Moncton had to settle for second overall in the points standings, he did end the season on high note beating Weagle in both the feature and heat as well as a third place showing in the semifinal.
Three BIG weekends of Atlantic Championships motorsports action are scheduled for the Atlantic Canada’s Super Speedway, the Centre for Speed (CFS) in October.
This includes the 10th Annual Atlantic Stock Car Championships on October 9, 10 & 11 with a total purse of over $50,000. This traditional ‘Year End Racing Celebration’, which has attracted the largest field of stockcars from throughout Atlantic Canada, Maine and Québec over the past 9 years, will feature several series and Atlantic track champions for the Pro Stock 150, Sportsman 100, Streetstock 50, as well as Mini Stock, Four Fun, Atlantic Open Wheel (AOW) and Legends events. CFS management is promising that this year’s Atlantic Championships will include a number of new features to further enhance the event for both fans and drivers from throughout our region. Detailed announcements will be made over the coming weeks.
Full schedule details are available at www.centreforspeed.com
About CFS
The CENTRE for Speed, built in 1996, is home to the Atlantic region’s largest and fastest paved 3/8 of a mile stock car oval as its centerpiece. The CENTRE overlooks the Northumberland Strait and is located 5 kilometers east of Shediac’s Parlee Beach on Route #133 in the village of Grand Barachois.
by Jay | Sep 15, 2009 | New England, Thompson
THOMPSON, CT With two weeks remaining in the regular racing season, the pressure is on as race teams try to secure one of the six division championships up for grabs at Thompson International Speedway. Drivers compete for both money and points at each event during the season. As the season draws to a close, the points, in many cases, become the driving force behind the competition.
The points competition in each of Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions is red hot. Two events that award track points remain on the 2009 schedule. Going into those events, not a single driver has clinched one of the coveted titles.
The closest points race is in Thompson’s premier division, the Sunoco Modifieds. Going into this week’s competition, a mere two points separate drivers Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat. Rocco will be determined to maintain his advantage over Pitkat after seeing his chances for a national championship fade when rain washed out his last two opportunities to overtake Ruckersville, VA driver Philip Morris for the national crown. Rocco claimed the 2007 Thompson title by only six points over Pitkat who was the 2006 titlist. However, it’s not just Rocco and Pitkat who could claim the top spot. Both Rowan Pennink and Ted Christopher have a shot at the top spot. Last year’s Sunoco Modified champion, Kerry Malone, is mathematically out of the running to repeat since he is 136 points behind the leader with just two points events remaining.
Thompson’s Super Late Model division is nearly as close with Derek Ramstrom holding a slim eight points advantage over the 2007 champ, Mike O’Sullivan. Norman Wrenn and Les Rose, Jr. are also contenders in this extremely competitive division.
Brian Sullivan has a twenty two points lead over Cam McDermott with Brian Tagg and Glenn Boss within striking distance in the Thompson Modified division. Limited Sportsman driver Larry Barnett is a mere twenty four points in front of Jay Sundeen. That number doubles when measuring the distance between Barnett and third place driver, Joe Arena. However, Arena, Scott Sundeen, the 2008 champ, and Paul Coutu, Jr. are also still very much in the race for that number one position.
The largest points lead going into the final two weeks of competition belongs to Late Model competitor John Materas. In spite of a difficult outing last week, Materas still holds an advantage of some fifty eight points over Mark Oliveira and a ninety points over third place driver Tom O’Sullivan. Not quite as large of an advantage is enjoyed by Mini Stock driver Scott Michalski. A total of forty four points separate Michalski and Brad Caddick. The division’s biggest winner in ’09, Tim Taylor, is eighty points behind and is followed by Steve Michalski and Rookie Randy Churchill. Any of these Mini Stock competitors could end up with a front row table at the Thompson awards banquet in January.
The number of contenders could be reduced drastically after this Thursday night’s competition or things could get even tighter. With fifty track points awarded for a win, almost any combination of changes is possible in the final two weeks. Complete points standings and event schedules are available on the Thompson website. www.thompsonspeedway.com Thompson Thunder series events are family priced at only $15.00 for adults and Jr. tickets are only $5.00.
