by Jay | Jul 16, 2009 | PASS
LEE NH (7/14/2009) Johnny Clark grabbed the race lead from Joey Pole on lap 123 of the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Bastille 200 and held off a green-white-checker challenge from Louis Mechalides to earn his third PASS North super late model win of 2009 at Lee USA Speedway Tuesday night. Mechalides settled for runner-up and Cassius Clark scored his first podium appearance since April, finishing third. Matt Frahm earned a career best fourth, and Eddie MacDonald completed the top five.
Clark’s key to victory came when the front runners came down pit road for fuel and a two-tire change on lap 117. Mechalides won his heat race and started from the pole, and the infrequent PASS competitor was the class of the field In the Cat Scales 1C. Clark had worked his way to second from eleventh on the grid and his team got him out front of the pack that pitted, while Mechalides came out seventh. The quick stop resulted in Clark lining up fifth on the restart and Mechalides back in the pack, fifteenth.
Mechalides made a second stop during a quick caution and on the restart Clark quickly worked past Joey Pole to take over the top spot. Meanwhile Mechalides was weaving his way through the field, cracking the top five on lap 147 as the race stayed under green. It was Clark, Pole, Cassius Clark, Derek Ramstrom and Mechalides with fifty to go, and at lap 172 Mechalides took over second. Clark had built up a considerable lead but a skirmish that collected Travis Benjamin, Michael Pope and DJ Shaw on lap 198 gave Mechalides one last shot at the leader. Clark kept his cool and got a great restart, leaving Mechalides to settle for second.
While Clark was victorious, most of the PASS point title contenders didn’t fare as well. Ben Rowe was in contention until he knocked the right front corner off his race car after contact with a spinning Harry Olson. Rowe retired at lap 117 and finished 20th. Adam Bates pounded the wall Saturday at Thompson International Speedway but the PASS racing community came through for the team in a big way. With a borrowed race car from Distance Racing and one of Kelly Moore’s power plants under the hood, Bates kept his title hopes alive with a thirteenth place finish. Derek Ramstrom backed up his Thompson win with a ninth place run which will move him up the points ladder.
Andy Shaw continued his PASS Mod dominance at Lee, coming from twelfth on the grid to lead on lap 19 of their feature to capture his second straight Lee win and third Mod win of 2009. Sumner Sessions earned his best PASS Mod finish to date with a second and Gary Norris took the checkers in third.
PASS North teams take a week off before getting back on track at Groveton New Hampshire’s Riverside Speedway on Saturday July 25. Both the super late models and mods are on the card, part of the speedways’ annual Summerfest that includes plenty of racing and monster trucks too. Post time is 5:00 PM. PASS South is off to the Volunteer State on Saturday July 18th for the Daniel Boone Classic at Newport (TN) Speedway.
All the latest PASS news is online now at www.racewithpass.com and www.proallstarsseries.com .
Unofficial Results – Pro All Stars Series super late model Bastille 200 – Lee USA Speedway – Lee NH 7/14/2009 –with finishing position, (starting position), driver, home town, (laps completed)
1 (11) 54 Johnny Clark Hallowell ME (200) 2 (1)1C Louis Mechalides, Montville MA (200) 3 (5) 8 Cassius Clark, Farmington ME (200) 4 (10) 14M Matt Frahm, N Salem NH (200) 5 (19) 71 Eddie MacDonald, Rowley MA (200) 6 (9) 97 Joey Pole, East Providence RI (200) 7 (21) 7 Donnie Whitten, Biddeford ME (200) 8 (15) 33 Richie Dearborn, Hollis ME (200) 9 (12) 35 Derek Ramstrom, Worcester MA (200) 10 (6) 85 Nick Ribbe Kingston MA (200) 11 (3) 77 Scott Chubbuck Dresden ME (199) 12 (2) 60 DJ Shaw Center Conway NH (199) 13 (14) Adam Bates Warner NH (198) 14 (4) 01 Wayne Helliwell Jr., Pelham NH (197) 15 (8) 17 Travis Benjamin Morrill ME (197) 16 (23) 51 Michael Pope, Concord NC (197) 17 (16) 17A Scott Alexander Orrington ME (197) 18 (24) 6 Steve Desmarais, Westport MA (191) 19 (28) 12 John Dabrowski West Bridgewater MA (188) 20 (13) 4 Ben Rowe Turner ME (117) 21 (27) 22 Harry Olson, Salisbury MA (111) 22 (25) 11 Steve Johnson Rochester NH (108) 23 (18) 20 Steve Legendre, St. Johnsbury VT (79) 24 (26) 23 Dave Farrington Jr. Jay ME (78) 25 (20) 10 Steve Knowlton, Ipswich MA (29) 26 (17) 14 Aric Almirola Tampa FL (22) 27 (7) 47 Kelly Moore, Scarborough ME (22) 28 (22) 73 Joey Doiron, Berwick ME 8
Unofficial Results – PASS Mod feature (Thirty Laps) Lee USA Speedway
1) 66 Andy Shaw, Center Conway NH 2) 50 Sumner Sessions, Norway ME 3) 03 Gary Norris Jr., West Gardiner ME 4) 56 Dan Somes, Belgrade ME 5) 85 Glen Bradbury, Hollis Center ME 6) 12 Steve Bennett Jr., Buckfield ME 7) 27 Scott Grant, Waterboro ME 8) 29 Greg Ellis, Hermon ME 9) 33 Bill Dixon, North Waterboro ME 10) 4 Wayne Whitten Jr., Arundel ME 11) 14 Scott McDaniel, Livermore ME 12) 31 Glen Boss , Danielson CT 13) 26 Bobby Studley Jr., Sidney ME 14) Sulo Burbank , Gorham ME
by Jay | Jul 14, 2009 | ACT, Beech Ridge, Maine
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will return to the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway (BRMS) on Saturday, July 25, 2009. The “Ridge” was a mainstay for ACT back in the days of veteran racers Rowe, McCabe, Dragon, Crouch, Dion, Cabana and a host of other Pro Stock competitors.
A new crop of Late Model competitors will return to the Beech Ridge event from throughout New England and Canada. They are a diverse group comprising both veteran and new teams. The ACT 150 lap championship event will see a whole new generation of stars, along with some of those familiar names from 16 years ago. Second generation drivers Brent and Scott Dragon, rising stars Joey Polewarczyk from Hudson, NH and current point leader Scott Payea from Milton, VT will be joined by Maine ACT Late Model standouts Glen Luce of Turner and Ricky Rolfe from Albany Township. The Oxford Plains Speedway will also send a large contingent of their weekly stars to the inaugural ACT Late Model event. Oxford champions Travis Adams, Tim Brackett and Shawn Martin are expected to take on the Tour regulars.
“Returning to Beech Ridge has been one of the goals of the American Canadian Tour since we started touring with these Late Model teams about ten years ago”, said ACT President Tom Curley. “There is real excitement for the competitors to be able to compete at one of the premiere short tracks in America. I think BRMS is perfectly suited to our kind of racing. The fans should be in for a great treat, as there should be plenty of cars to make the qualifying intense, and traditionally our 150 lap races have fans on the edge of their seats”, continued Curley.
The American Canadian Tour was designed to give local racers an opportunity to compete on a level playing field with the outside touring teams. The basic concept was to have a series where it was more about driving the cars and setting them up than just buying raw horsepower. The popularity of the American Canadian Tour among teams and fans has proven this to be a good formula for the current times.
The added incentive of winning at Beech Ridge is that the winner will be given an invitation to participate in the New Hampshire Motor Speedway ACT Invitational on Saturday, September 19. This triple-header of racing will feature the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the ACT Invitational. ACT teams have been qualifying throughout the 2009 race season. Each touring event in both the US and its Canadian counterpart, the Série ACT Castrol, has brought record fields of cars to this year’s events. The winners all get invited to NHMS for the opening weekend of the Cup Chase. The winner of the Beech Ridge event will earn an invitation, along with 35 other competitors from throughout New England and the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
Post time for the Saturday, July 25th event is 6:00.
Forum link – http://www.maineracer.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=118161#118161
by Jay | Jul 12, 2009 | ACT, NASCAR
Peterborough, ON – Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, NH captured his second ACT Tour victory of the 2009 season in the Summer Sizzler 200 at Kawartha Speedway in Peterborough, ON. Leighton started on the outside pole with a plus four handicap in ACT’s plus/minus system and led until Patrick Laperle took control on lap 27.
Laperle wouldn’t hold the lead for long as Randy Potter got by him on lap 56. Potter and Laperle then battled until a caution flag on lap 92 when Potter along with several other cars pitted for fresh tires and gas. Laperle would not be contested again until Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr. caught him on lap 113.
Laperle and Pole rubbed fenders until lap 139 when Laperle lost the lead for good. It then appeared that Pole was going to run away from the field until a caution on lap 181 grouped the field back together and brought Potter within striking distance. Pole and Potter then swapped the lead through three more late restarts until it appeared Potter had issues on the lap 189 restart.
Leighton took advantage of Potter’s mishap and got by Pole for the final lead change on lap 191. Pole would hang on to finish second followed by ACT Tour point leader Scott Payea in third. Karl Allard and Jonathan Urlin finished fourth and fifth. Brian Hoar, Patrick Laperle, Dave Morgan, Brandon Watson and Chip Grenier filled out the sixth through tenth positions.
Leighton scored his first victory of the season at the ACT Tour opener at Lee USA Speedway in April, where he received the first invite to the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19th. Therefore the total number of qualifiers remains at eleven.
The ACT Tour has next weekend off but many of them will make the trip to Oxford Plains Speedway for the Oxford 250 on Sunday, July 19th. The next ACT Tour event will be at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME on Saturday, July 25th.
Unofficial ACT Tour Summer Sizzler 200 Results – 1.Brad Leighton (55NH) Center Harbor, NH, 2. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. (97NH) Hudson, NH, 3. Scott Payea (89) Milton, VT, 4. Karl Allard (48QC) St-Felicien, QC, 5. Jonathan Urlin (4) London, ON, 6. Brian Hoar (37) Williston, VT, 7. Patrick Laperle (91) St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, QC, 8. Dave Morgan (70) Buckhorn, ON, 9. Brandon Watson (19) Stayner, ON, 10. Chip Grenier (9VT) Graniteville, VT, 11. Ricky Rolfe (51ME) Albany TWP, ME, 12. Donald Theetge (80) Boischatel, QC, 13. Derek Lynch (15) Warkworth, ON, 14. Dan McHattie (71) Cavan, ON, 15. Pete Vanderwyst (72) St. Thomas, ON, 16. Cole Powell (25) Mount Bridges, ON, 17. John Donahue (26VT) Graniteville, VT, 18. Justin Holtom (17ON) Ottawa, ON, 19. Glen Luce (7ME) Turner, ME, 20. Sylvain Lacombe (3) Terrebonne, QC, 21. Claude Leclerc (11PQ) Lanoraie, QC, 22. Daniel Descoste (2) St-Joseph du Lac, QC, 23. Randy Potter (02NH) Groveton, NH, 24. Pete Potvin (41) Graniteville, VT, 25. Stéphane Descoste (10QC) OKA, QC, 26. Tyler Cahoon (38VT) St.Johnsbury, VT, 27. Mike Sinopoli (8) Courtice, ON, 28. Nick Sinopoli (1) Oshawa, ON, 29. Bryan Mercer (81) Port Hope, ON, 30. Spencer MacPherson (31) Carleton Place, ON, 31. Ryan Kimball (16) Norwood, ON, 32. Tim Kirby (07) Carleton Place, ON, 33. Darragh Moroney (5) Peterborough, ON, 34. Tim Fernandes (77) Peterborough, ON, 35. Eric Chase (40VT) Milton, VT, 36. Brent Dragon (55VT) Milton, VT, 37. Yvon Bédard (67) St.Nicolas, QC.
Unofficial ACT Summer Sizzler 200
Pos Car # Driver
1 55NH Brad Leighton
2 97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
3 89 Scott Payea
4 48QC Karl Allard
5 4 Jonathan Urlin
6 37 Brian Hoar
7 91 Patrick Laperle
8 70 Dave Morgan
9 19 Brandon Watson
10 9VT Chip Grenier
11 51ME Ricky Rolfe
12 80 Donald Theetge
13 15 Derek Lynch
14 71 Dan McHattie
15 72 Pete Vanderwyst
16 25 Cole Powell
17 26VT John Donahue
18 17ON Justin Holtom
19 7ME Glen Luce
20 3 Sylvain Lacombe
21 11PQ Claude Leclerc
22 2 Daniel Descoste
23 02NH Randy Potter
24 41 Pete Potvin, III
25 10QC Stéphane Descoste
26 38VT Tyler Cahoon
27 8 Mike Sinopoli
28 1 Nick Sinopoli
29 81 Bryan Mercer
30 31 Spencer MacPherson
31 16 Ryan Kimball
32 07 Tim Kirby
33 5 Darragh Moroney
34 77 Tim Fernandes
35 40VT Eric Chase
36 55VT Brent Dragon
37 67 Yvon Bédard
Brad Leighton Wins Summer Sizzler 200 at Kawartha Speedway
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ACT-071209
Peterborough, ON – Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, NH captured his second ACT Tour victory of the 2009 season in the Summer Sizzler 200 at Kawartha Speedway in Peterborough, ON. Leighton started on the outside pole with a plus four handicap in ACT’s plus/minus system and led until Patrick Laperle took control on lap 27.
Laperle wouldn’t hold the lead for long as Randy Potter got by him on lap 56. Potter and Laperle then battled until a caution flag on lap 92 when Potter along with several other cars pitted for fresh tires and gas. Laperle would not be contested again until Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr. caught him on lap 113.
Laperle and Pole rubbed fenders until lap 139 when Laperle lost the lead for good. It then appeared that Pole was going to run away from the field until a caution on lap 181 grouped the field back together and brought Potter within striking distance. Pole and Potter then swapped the lead through three more late restarts until it appeared Potter had issues on the lap 189 restart.
Leighton took advantage of Potter’s mishap and got by Pole for the final lead change on lap 191. Pole would hang on to finish second followed by ACT Tour point leader Scott Payea in third. Karl Allard and Jonathan Urlin finished fourth and fifth. Brian Hoar, Patrick Laperle, Dave Morgan, Brandon Watson and Chip Grenier filled out the sixth through tenth positions.
Leighton scored his first victory of the season at the ACT Tour opener at Lee USA Speedway in April, where he received the first invite to the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19th. Therefore the total number of qualifiers remains at eleven.
The ACT Tour has next weekend off but many of them will make the trip to Oxford Plains Speedway for the Oxford 250 on Sunday, July 19th. The next ACT Tour event will be at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME on Saturday, July 25th.
Unofficial ACT Tour Summer Sizzler 200 Results – 1.Brad Leighton (55NH) Center Harbor, NH, 2. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. (97NH) Hudson, NH, 3. Scott Payea (89) Milton, VT, 4. Karl Allard (48QC) St-Felicien, QC, 5. Jonathan Urlin (4) London, ON, 6. Brian Hoar (37) Williston, VT, 7. Patrick Laperle (91) St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, QC, 8. Dave Morgan (70) Buckhorn, ON, 9. Brandon Watson (19) Stayner, ON, 10. Chip Grenier (9VT) Graniteville, VT, 11. Ricky Rolfe (51ME) Albany TWP, ME, 12. Donald Theetge (80) Boischatel, QC, 13. Derek Lynch (15) Warkworth, ON, 14. Dan McHattie (71) Cavan, ON, 15. Pete Vanderwyst (72) St. Thomas, ON, 16. Cole Powell (25) Mount Bridges, ON, 17. John Donahue (26VT) Graniteville, VT, 18. Justin Holtom (17ON) Ottawa, ON, 19. Glen Luce (7ME) Turner, ME, 20. Sylvain Lacombe (3) Terrebonne, QC, 21. Claude Leclerc (11PQ) Lanoraie, QC, 22. Daniel Descoste (2) St-Joseph du Lac, QC, 23. Randy Potter (02NH) Groveton, NH, 24. Pete Potvin (41) Graniteville, VT, 25. Stéphane Descoste (10QC) OKA, QC, 26. Tyler Cahoon (38VT) St.Johnsbury, VT, 27. Mike Sinopoli (8) Courtice, ON, 28. Nick Sinopoli (1) Oshawa, ON, 29. Bryan Mercer (81) Port Hope, ON, 30. Spencer MacPherson (31) Carleton Place, ON, 31. Ryan Kimball (16) Norwood, ON, 32. Tim Kirby (07) Carleton Place, ON, 33. Darragh Moroney (5) Peterborough, ON, 34. Tim Fernandes (77) Peterborough, ON, 35. Eric Chase (40VT) Milton, VT, 36. Brent Dragon (55VT) Milton, VT, 37. Yvon Bédard (67) St.Nicolas, QC.
Unofficial ACT Summer Sizzler 200
Pos Car # Driver
1 55NH Brad Leighton
2 97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
3 89 Scott Payea
4 48QC Karl Allard
5 4 Jonathan Urlin
6 37 Brian Hoar
7 91 Patrick Laperle
8 70 Dave Morgan
9 19 Brandon Watson
10 9VT Chip Grenier
11 51ME Ricky Rolfe
12 80 Donald Theetge
13 15 Derek Lynch
14 71 Dan McHattie
15 72 Pete Vanderwyst
16 25 Cole Powell
17 26VT John Donahue
18 17ON Justin Holtom
19 7ME Glen Luce
20 3 Sylvain Lacombe
21 11PQ Claude Leclerc
22 2 Daniel Descoste
23 02NH Randy Potter
24 41 Pete Potvin, III
25 10QC Stéphane Descoste
26 38VT Tyler Cahoon
27 8 Mike Sinopoli
28 1 Nick Sinopoli
29 81 Bryan Mercer
30 31 Spencer MacPherson
31 16 Ryan Kimball
32 07 Tim Kirby
33 5 Darragh Moroney
34 77 Tim Fernandes
35 40VT Eric Chase
36 55VT Brent Dragon
37 67 Yvon Bédard
by Jay | Jun 9, 2009 | ACT, New
Speedbowl’s Late Model Competitors Ready to Host ACT Tour
Waterford, CT (June 8, 2009) – Late Model teams at Waterford Speedbowl will have Saturday June 13th off from NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. The ACT Late Model Tour visits the historic shoreline oval for a 100-lap event however, which some ‘Bowl competitors are hoping to provide some home cooking in.
The Speedbowl Late Model division is comprised of ACT-legal cars, giving the “home team” of drivers a leg up on the ACT Tour competition when it comes to experience and number of laps around the tricky three eighths mile Speedbowl. Waterford regulars Bruce Thomas Jr. and Tim Jordan will lead the charge for the locals. Others expected to defend their turf versus the Tour include Dennis Stampfl, Allen Coates, and Joe Curioso. Another driver looking to qualify is Howard Payne. Payne is just getting started in the division, but the multiple-time winner in the Truck Series has proven to be a quick learner in his racing career. Payne will be racing for a cause, donating any winnings from his effort to Racing Against Cancer.
“We’ve hoped our Late Model division would evolve towards this and our guys are ready” offered Speedbowl owner and promoter Terry Eames. “This should be a good one”.
A year ago, Bruce Thomas Jr. was impressive in the 100-lap event leading much of the race before succumbing to eventual winner Scott Payea during a restart in the middle stages of the race. Thomas finished the event second. Seven Speedbowl competitors in total qualified for the 30-car field last year. Many ran well and Ron Yuhas Jr. joined Thomas in the top-five finishers.
During NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model action this year, none have been quicker than Thomas or Jordan. The pair have captured the past three division championships and have routinely been clocked in the mid 15 second lap bracket during competition this year. Thomas, who hails from nearby Groton, turned in a blistering 15.202 second time-trial lap during qualifying for an event earlier in May. He’s found success claiming four of seven wins in the division this year and is the current points leader and two-time defending champion of the division.
Jordan on the other hand is looking to turn around a season mired with misfortune, with three hard wrecks sidelining the Plainfield, CT native. A strong showing in the ACT 100-lap event could be a turning point for the season. His outlook remains positive.
“Last year’s race proved that the local guys can be fast and put up a fight” stated Jordan, a feature winner this season himself. “We will try to give the Tour guys a run for their money.”
A big key to the potential success may lie with the ACT plus/minus qualifying system, where drivers earn points for number of cars passed in their qualifying race. “It’s all about the qualifying draw” according to Jordan. “It can make for an easy night or a tough one. The heats will dictate the outcome of the event. I don’t think anyone can come from the back and have tires left at the end. Last year, the contenders came from within the top-ten starting spots.”
The ACT heat races as well as consolation events are another treat for Speedbowl fans. Qualifying begins at 5:00pm Saturday for both the Speedbowl divisions and the ACT Tour, giving local fans the chance to root on their hometown heroes who try and make the show.
Leading the list of contenders for the ACT Tour is last year’s event winner Scott Payea. Payea leads the 2009 Tour points after five events, and has already reached Victory Lane. Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk Jr. has claimed a win and is tied for second in points with Brian Hoar. Brent Dragon, winner of an ACT race in 2003 at the ‘Bowl and Brad Leighton, winner at Lee USA Speedway earlier this year are other contenders and names Speedbowl fans should be familiar with.
Joining the ACT Tour will be NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action for the SK Modifieds with another 35-lap feature event, while the Street Stocks and Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks will compete in 20-lap features. The Legends Cars also join the action with a 20-lapper of their own. Main events will follow qualifying and are set to begin at approximately 7:00pm. Admission is priced $25 for adult grandstands and $5 for youth ages 6 to 14, and free for children 5 and under. The Speedbowl offers acres of free parking. For more information about the 2009 Speedbowl season and calendar of events, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
