Waterbury, VT – Milton, VT’s Scott Payea took the lead for the second time of then afternoon on lap 117 and never looked back winning the NH Governor’s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway.
Payea drove a smart and patient race from his third starting spot, running upfront all day, the leading laps 49-54 and saving his tires for the late run sprint to the finish. Defending race winner and 2015 ACT Champion Wayne Helliwell Jr., raced to a second place finish coming from the 9th starting spot with Rhode Island’s Ray Parent ending a strong weekend in third. St-Albert, Quebec’s Alex Labbe finished fourth with Quinny Welch of Lancaster, NH rounding out the top 5. Nineteen year-old Emily Packard raced to a sixth place finish with last weeks Oxford 100 winner Bobby Therrien finishing seventh. The “outlaw” Eddie MacDonald was eighth with Kyle Welch and Brad Babb rounding out the top ten. (more…)
Pennink & Bennett Score Napa Auto Parts Spring Sizzler Sunday Feature Victories At Stafford
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Motor Speedway’s 45th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler Weekend continued on Sunday, April 24 with feature events for the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions. It was déjà vu all over again on Sizzler® Sunday as Rowan Pennink scored the win in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature and Michael Bennett took the checkered flag in the 30-lap Late Model feature event. Both drivers repeated their Sizzler victories from 2015.
In the 45-lap SK Modified® feature, the field took the green flag with Cam McDermott and Brian Sullivan side by side for the lead. They ran three laps side by side before McDermott got clear to the lead. Once McDermott got clear of Sullivan, Jeremy Sorel moved into second and he then took the lead from McDermott on lap-4. Todd Owen was now up to third behind Sorel and McDermott with Eric Berndt and Sullivan in fourth and fifth, just in front of Woody Pitkat. (more…)
4-Time Whelen Southern Modified Tour Champion George Brunnhoelzl, III Coming to Stafford for 45th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Harkening back to the days of modified yesteryear, 4-time Southern Whelen Modified Tour champion George Brunnhoelzl, III has filed an entry for the 45th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Brunnhoelzl has made one prior start in “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” back in 2010 where he retired early due to a handling issue and finished 29th. He will be looking to improve upon that finish behind the wheel of the #28 Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair/Composite Technologies Chevrolet.
“Our plan is to come up to the Sizzler® and see what we can do,” said Brunnhoelzl. “I’m definitely going to feel like the outsider with not having the experience at Stafford that most of the Tour guys do. I have a great pit crew so we have high hopes for fast and quick pit stops and I really think we can do well with this Troyer TA2 chassis we have. Ryan Preece and Woody Pitkat both ran this type of chassis last year at Stafford and they showed some speed. I really think that we can improve a little bit off of their notes and we’re hoping that we can get a good strong top-5 finish. I really have to thank Doug Dunleavy and Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair. Doug is my biggest supporter and he’s the reason why we’re able to make this trip for the Sizzler®. I also have great support from Oval Speed, Robert Yates Race Engines, and Composite Technologies.” (more…)
Todd Szegedy To Pilot the 15-40 Connection Modified at Stafford Motor Speedway
SHREWSBURY, Mass. (April 21, 2016) – Rob Fuller Motorsports (RFM) will be making their first start of the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) at Stafford Motor Speedway with Todd Szegedy behind the wheel. The team will have a Research and Development focus at the track this year while continuing to promote the message of its charity partner 15-40 Connection.
“This is actually the debut for Rob Fuller Motorsports at Stafford,” said Rob Fuller, team owner. “I’ve been to a lot of races there but never actually fielded a car there. We have been incredibly busy this winter and really hadn’t touched our car since Thompson last year which made the Icebreaker tough to attend. If we cannot be 100% we simply won’t go, which was the case at Thompson.” (more…)
Lyn St. James to be honored as Guest Speaker at 3rd Annual Vintage Motorsports Festival at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
(THOMPSON, CT) – The 3rd Annual Vintage Motorsports Festival will bring vintage sports car and formula racing back to the quiet corner of Connecticut on June 23-25, 2016. Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is proud to announce former IndyCar driver and Daytona 24 Hour winner, Lyn St. James, as this year’s Honored Guest. As part of her visit to the historic track, St. James will present as the guest speaker at the Drivers’ Dinner on Friday evening, and will also be holding a book signing. (more…)
Oxford American Racer Three Stars Announced. (Heather Aube Photo)
Waterbury, VT – The American Racer Three Star program will continue in 2016. The program is designed to recognize three teams in no particular order of performance that had outstanding races at ACT US tour events. There are no specific criteria for deciding who might receive the award of a free American Racer Tire (value $125.00), but a special effort by a team, exceptional race, just plain old hard luck, or other accepted reason to give the award is used to decide the recipients.
The three stars are chosen by officials and they will receive certificates for use of a free American Racer tire at a future Tour race of their choosing during 2016.
The awarding of the stars does not allow for anybody in the top three to receive the recognition. That being said, both eventual winner Bobby Therrien, and second place competitor Roland Robinson, JR certainly deserve credit for their outstanding and sometimes dominant runs at OPS. There efforts at Oxford certainly made for some speculation from the “rail-birds” at what kind of exciting season the 2016 year will be. Big congratulations to both teams for what was first class efforts.
Therrien Leads Charge into Lee USA Speedway. (Heather Aube photo)
Waterbury, VT – After a convincing victory at Oxford Plains Speedway last Sunday, Bobby Therrien is looking to continue his hot start as American-Canadian Tour (ACT) takes the green flag this Sunday, April 24 at Lee USA Speedway with the annual New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150. The NH Governor’s Cup, which was postponed due to weather in early April to start 2016 racing season, has been the traditional ACT opener since 2008, and with 12 different winners in the previous 13 ACT Late Model Tour events at the 1/3-mile speedway, the stage is set for another unpredictable and exciting event.
Four of the last six NH Governor’s Cup winners – Miles Chipman (2010), Jimmy Hebert (2013), Eddie MacDonald (2014), and Wayne Helliwell, Jr. (2015) – have entered the event. Each hopes to become just the second repeat ACT Late Model winner at Lee.
The four will have plenty of challengers trying to add their names to the Lee USA record books. Colchester, VT’s Scott Payea now pilots the RPM Motorsports car that Brian Hoar drove to back-to-back NH Governor’s Cup wins in 2011 and 2012. Windham, ME’s Brad Babb was the runner-up in the 2015 Governor’s Cup and hopes to do one spot better in 2016. Kyle Welch and Rich Dubeau also turned in impressive performances at Lee in 2015 and could challenge for the win.
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Emily Packard piloted her 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car across the finish line in the thirteenth position in the thrilling 2016 American Canadian Tour season opener at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday. “I was in seventh place when the last caution came out,” said the 19 year old, “but we were the eighteenth car in line when we took that final restart. Unfortunately, the ACT rules don’t have the lap cars drop back, and there were just a lot of lap cars between me and the leaders. There was really nowhere for me to go, I was stuck in the middle, and we ended up thirteenth. We had a much better car than our finish reflects, and I am confident with how good the car will be for the remaining races.” (more…)
Back to Back Top Tens for Eddie MacDonald at Bristol and Oxford
Eddie MacDonald spent the weekend racing, literally, after posting an impressive eighth place finish in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Pittlite 125 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night then flying into Boston on Sunday morning then race to Oxford Plains Speedway to score a third place finish in the ACT Tour’s Oxford 100 later that afternoon.
Nothing was easy for the Grimm Racing team beginning Wednesday evening when the lift gate on the hauler malfunctioned and unable to close with the car loaded in the top. With the gate stuck eight feet in the air, two ramp trucks and a construction forklift were called into service to free the car. One ramp truck was place on top of the other and supported by the forklift, the Grimm Construction/Multiple Sclerosis Chevy was rolled from the hauler on to the ramp truck and eventually lowered to the ground. The car and the equipment were loaded into two car trailers the following morning for the trek to Bristol. (more…)
Payea Captures First Win of the 2016 ACT Season
Pennink & Bennett Score Napa Auto Parts Spring Sizzler Sunday Feature Victories At Stafford
Lyn St. James to be honored as Guest Speaker at 3rd Annual Vintage Motorsports Festival at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
