by Jay | Aug 10, 2014 | ACT, Beech Ridge, Maine, Touring Series News
Nick Sweet Snags ACT Victory at Beech Ridge
Scarborough, ME – Barre’s Nick Sweet became the 7th different American Canadian Tour winner in the 7th event of the 2014 season when the tour visited Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME on Saturday, August 9. Sweet led for the majority of the event, but not without fierce contention and multiple lead changes with runner-up finisher Ben Ashline.
Ashline slipped out of the lead after starting on the pole with a plus five in ACT’s unique plus/minus handicap system. Outside pole sitter Stephane Descoste of Oka, Quebec led through the early stages of the event until Sweet took over on the 24th circuit. Sweet made the charge from his 8th place starting position and built a comfortable lead once he reached the point.
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by Jay | Aug 8, 2014 | NEMST, Touring Series News
History was made multiple times in central New Hampshire
Sunday for the Texas Roadhouse North East Mini Stock Tour presented by Twisted Tea. The largest starting field ever for the young series assembled in the infield of New Hampshire Motor Speedway over the course of the weekend. As cars arrived they went through a vigorous safety inspection to make sure the cars were prepared for the up to 130 MPH speeds they were going to run.
Sunday morning the cars rolled from pit road and began to pace around the one mile NASCAR oval housed within the NHMS facility. After 3-4 pace laps the cars were allowed to turn up the speed and start laying down fast laps. During the 30 minute practice session multiple cars pit to make adjustments and go back out to try again. The cars were running an average speed of 110 MPH around the 12* banked track.
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by Jay | Aug 5, 2014 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Touring Series News
photo by RPM
By Dick Casey
In the same car nearly destroyed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway in May, Eddie MacDonald powered the Grimm Construction/Multiple Sclerosis Chevy to a hard earned sixth place finish in the Autolite Iridium XP 150 in the second combination race pitting the East vs. the West on the Newton, Iowa track.
“We brought the car home today without a scratch on it,” laughed Eddie Mac after his ninth race this year in the K&N Pro Series. “The first time here with the new car in May ended in disaster when a tire blew out on lap 57 and destroyed the front clip. After fixing the car, we raced it to a second place finish at New Hampshire a few weeks ago and had hopes of running in the top three and compete for the win here but we struggled in practice and qualifying with it being too tight. We weren’t that great in practice (22nd and 27th) or qualifying (19th) but we thought we would be good for the race. Unfortunately, we just had to wait until after the break for that to happen.”
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by Jay | Aug 1, 2014 | PASS
It’s All About Parity As PASS South Prepares For South Boston Return
CHARLOTTE, NC (July 30) – Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model teams are currently enjoying a much needed summer break, but they are also busily preparing for the final third of the 2014 season. And one word more than any other can be used to describe the action seen so far this year…parity.
As the PASS South Super Late Models look towards their upcoming event on August 16 at South Boston Speedway in Virginia, fans and racers alike are excited to see what will happen next. Only Daniel Hemric has been able to win more than one PASS South Super Late Model race this year, and of those wins, Hemric took the lead with 12 or fewer laps to go in each of them. As a matter of fact, with the exception of Preston Peltier’s recent win at Southern National Motorsports Park and Hemric’s win in the season opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, there has been at least one lead change in the final five laps of every race so far this year.
Championship contenders Tyler Church and Cole Timm each have one win in 2014, with Church just 28 points ahead of Timm in the battle for the title. And, South Boston could play well into Timm’s championship hopes since he edged out Peltier there for his first career win back in June. Other winners this year include PASS North Super Late Model front runner DJ Shaw’s exciting win over Church in the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway and Concord, NC’s Roger Lee Newton taking the checkered flag at Orange County Speedway back in April.
But, when looking even harder at the numbers, you will realize that the parity in PASS South this year goes even deeper. Of the 75 drivers who have raced in at least one PASS South event in 2014, 14 have led laps. In three of those races, Garrett Campbell at Greenville-Pickens, Gus Dean at Dillon Motor Speedway, and Brandon Ward at Southern National, each led the most laps in their respective events, but failed to take home the victory.
Add to that, several other drivers have been knocking on the door to victory, but just have not quite gotten there. Championship contenders Jared Irvan, Tyler Dippel and Trevor Noles have all led laps this year and raced in the top five. Brandon Setzer has been one of the hottest drivers in the series as of late finishing in the top 5 in four of the last five events, while fellow rookie Harrison Burton has also shown strength during the summer, leading the most laps at South Boston in June and recording a career best second place finish at Greenville-Pickens in July. Add to the mix, third generation racer Tate Fogleman who has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three races, including a strong third place finish at Southern National.
When you put all of these factors together, it is very likely that we will see even more different winners this year and, possibly, several first time winners. And, you can’t ask for much more than that when you go to see a great short track race.
Action gets under way on Friday, August 15th at South Boston Speedway with rotating practice for all divisions. On Saturday, August 16th, practice goes from 2 to 4 PM, followed by qualifying at 4:45 PM. The PASS South Super Late Models will race for 150 laps, along with Twin 75’s for the NASCAR Late Model Stocks slated to start at 7 PM.
by Jay | Aug 1, 2014 | NEMST, Touring Series News
NEMST
Sunday August 3rd will set records for the young North East Mini Stock Tour. The highly publicized event will highlight a blockbuster year for the ever growing series on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway 1 mile NASCAR oval. This event will produce the highest car count to date for the series in its 6th season and also be held on the largest oval track in New England.
“Being offered the opportunity to race on the oval at NHMS is legendary. It shows that hard work does pay off and fulfills the dreams of many NEMST competitors. I owe a ton of thanks to everyone from the staff at NHMS to all of the drivers, teams, and fans.” Said NEMST Founder and Promoter Bob Guptill.
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by Jay | Jul 30, 2014 | ACT, Beech Ridge, Maine, Touring Series News
photo by Alan Ward
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will next appear at the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME on Saturday, August 9. The Hudson, New Hampshire native, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. (Pole) has to be considered a favorite to win the race. In the 2014 ACT Championship standings Pole has a comfortable 56 point lead over second place racer Jimmy Hebert, from Williamstown, VT. He is also winless so far during the 2014 campaign.
Pole has compiled an impressive record during the first half of the 2014 season. In the ACT races to date, the 97NH team has three second place finishes, two third place finishes and two fourth place finishes. He also led the Pro All Star Super Late Model event at Beech Ridge and contended for wins in the Star and White Mountain events he entered this year, and also recently won the Lee USA Granite State Pro Stock race. Pole won the 150 lap Beech Ridge ACT event in 2010; he was runner up to Eddie MacDonald from Rowley, MA in 2013.
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