by Jay | Jul 25, 2010 | ACT, Beech Ridge, Maine, New England
Austin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Report
Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, finished a career-best second in the ACT Late Model Tour 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, July 24. It capped a whirlwind week for the 16-year-old ACT Rookie of the Year candidate, after he failed to qualify for the TD Bank Oxford 250, was invited to a test session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in August and then recorded his first ACT podium finish. Theriault was the highest-finishing rookie in the race, and he also advanced the most spots of any driver in the field — charging up the outside lane from his 22nd starting spot.
WHO: Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
TEAM: No. 57 Varney Insurance/Hogan Tire/Daigle & Houghton Ford Fusion
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour ACT 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
STARTED: 22nd
FINISHED: 2nd
LED: 0 times for 0 laps
NEXT: Friday, July 30, ACT 100, Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
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by Jay | Jul 25, 2010 | ACT, Beech Ridge, Maine, New England
Joey Polewarczyk Gives Ford Racing 1st ACT Victory
SCARBOROUGH, Maine — It feels like the first time.
Joey Polewarczyk Jr. handed Ford Racing its first ACT Late Model Tour victory on Saturday night, winning the ACT 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. The victory was Polewarczyks first of the season and the fifth of his ACT career.
“It feels awesome to give Ford its first win,” said Polewarczyk, who led the final 53 laps of the event. “They’ve stuck with us from the beginning. Whenever we had problems, they were right there to support us. I’m so happy to do this for them.”
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by Jay | Jul 24, 2010 | ACT, New England, NHMS
Brent Dragon Heading Back To
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
MILTON, Vt. — ACT Late Model Tour veteran Brent Dragon was one of 40 Late Model drivers invited by the American-Canadian Tour to test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next month, the sanctioning body announced today. Each driver will participate in one full day of testing during the session on Aug. 17-18 in advance of the second annual ACT Invitational at the track on Sept. 18.
The test session also serves as an approval process for being invited to join the 43-car starting field in the 60-lap event. Dragon finished 19th in the inaugural ACT Invitational last September.
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by Jay | Jul 24, 2010 | Connecticut, NASCAR, New England, Stafford
ERIC BERNDT SEEKS FIRST CAREER WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR VICTORY IN TOWN FAIR TIRE 150 AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY
(Stafford Springs, CT)—With the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returning to
Stafford Motor Speedway on August 6 for the 20th Annual Town Fair Tire 150,
the race presents another opportunity for Eric Berndt and the #54 North End
Auto Parts team to collect their first Whelen Modified Tour victory.
Berndt nearly won the Whelen Modified Tour’s previous visit to Stafford, the
TSI Harley-Davidson 125 in May. Berndt started the race in fourth and he
took the lead from Bobby Santos on lap-11. Berndt had built up a large lead
over the rest of the field, but a caution with 22 laps to go erased Berndt’s
large lead and he lost the lead to Santos one lap after the restart and
faded back to 6th place at the checkered flag. Berndt led 101 of the race’s
137 laps and he is looking forward to returning to Stafford and taking
another shot at capturing his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory.
“We were real happy with how we ran the last time out at Stafford, but
disappointed at how we finished the race,” said Berndt. “I think I beat the
car up a little too much early on and I didn’t have anything left. We weren
’t happy to see that caution flag for sure. I feel like we’re right on the
doorstep to that first win and hopefully we can knock that door down when we
come back to Stafford.”
While racing in selected Whelen Modified Tour events since the 2004 season,
Stafford would seem to be the best bet for Berndt to record his first
victory on Tour. In 38 career Whelen Modified Tour starts, two of Berndt’s
4 career top-10 finishes have come at Stafford and Berndt recorded his first
career Coors Light Pole Position in last year’s Town Fair Tire 150 at
Stafford. Berndt comes to Stafford fresh off of his first career Whelen
Modified Tour top-5 finish, giving him and his team a big shot of momentum.
“Our program has gotten better every year and we’re coming off a fourth
place finish at Monadnock, which gives us some big momentum going forward to
Stafford,” said Berndt. “Last week was the first time I had ever raced at
Monadnock and we qualified well and we ran in the top-5 all race long, so we
’re looking forward to coming back to race at Stafford. With my crew chief
Ricky Rotundo and Bob Horn, who helps me with the SK car as well as the Tour
car, we have a lot of knowledge for Stafford. It would mean a lot to be
able to get our first win at Stafford with running there weekly and to join
the list of winners at Stafford.”
Berndt also says that the race strategy for the Town Fair Tire 150 will be
different from the Whelen Modified Tour’s previous visit to the Connecticut
half-mile.
“I think we’ll probably have to pit, where we didn’t pit the last race at
Stafford,” said Berndt. “The pit stop can be a big factor for us in the
race. Teddy and Santos are going to be good, you can never count out Mike
Stefanik at Stafford, Ryan Preece has been fast at Stafford for three years,
and Szegedy is good at Stafford. You just never know who is going to hit it
just right, there’s probably about 8 cars that you have to look at as
potential winners.”
With a crew familiar with Stafford on his side, and his great run the last
time out at Stafford, you can count Eric Berndt as a contender for the Town
Fair Tire 150 checkered flag.
Tickets for the 20th Annual Town Fair Tire 150 are on sale now at the
Speedway Box Office and are price at $30.00 for adult general admission
tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are
admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is
priced at $32.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers
free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, or to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com .
by Jay | Jul 24, 2010 | New England, Thunder Road, Vermont
Lowrey Earns Casella Night Feature Win at Thunder Road
Barre, VT – Charlotte’s Rich Lowrey earned his first feature win of the season and 8th career Late Model feature win at Thunder Road on Thursday, July 22. Lowrey came from the sixth starting spot to take the lead from rookie Cody Blake at the halfway mark. He then held off eventual runner-up finisher Nick Sweet on the final restart of the event on lap 29.
Lowrey and Sweet were followed to the line by Matt White, Phil Scott and Blake completing the top five. Point leader Dave Pembroke finished with a solid 6th with Reno Gervais, Cris Michaud, John Donahue and Joey Becker rounding out the top ten.
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by Jay | Jul 23, 2010 | Connecticut, New England, PASS, Thompson
Ben Rowe: PASS North Series
Thompson International Speedway Race Report
Ben Rowe of Turner, Maine, won the PASS North Series PASS 75 at Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on Thursday, July 22. Rowe passed Preston Peltier with five laps remaining to take his third career PASS victory at Thompson, the largest track on the series’ schedule. The win marked the second win in the last four races for Rowe, a four-time series champion. A combination PASS North/PASS National Championship event, Rowe gained ground on both Peltier and Jay Fogleman in the PASS National standings as he tries to defend his 2009 championship in the PASS National ranks.
WHO: Ben Rowe, Turner, Maine
TEAM: No. 48 Community Pharmacies Chevrolet
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 75
WHERE: Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn. (.625-mile oval)
STARTED: 11th
FINISHED: 1st
LED: 1 time for 5 laps
NEXT RACE: Saturday, July 31st, Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H.
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