{"id":321,"date":"2009-06-09T21:11:03","date_gmt":"2009-06-10T01:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-09-08T21:10:55","modified_gmt":"2011-09-09T01:10:55","slug":"speedbowl%e2%80%99s-late-model-competitors-ready-to-host-act-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/speedbowl%e2%80%99s-late-model-competitors-ready-to-host-act-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Speedbowl\u2019s Late Model Competitors Ready to Host ACT Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speedbowl\u2019s Late Model Competitors Ready to Host ACT Tour<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong>Waterford, CT (June 8, 2009) \u2013 Late Model teams at Waterford Speedbowl will have Saturday June 13th<\/sup> off from NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action.\u00a0 The ACT Late Model Tour visits the historic shoreline oval for a 100-lap event however, which some \u2018Bowl competitors are hoping to provide some home cooking in.<\/p>\n

The Speedbowl Late Model division is comprised of ACT-legal cars, giving the \u201chome team\u201d 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.\u00a0 Waterford regulars Bruce Thomas Jr. and Tim Jordan will lead the charge for the locals.\u00a0 Others expected to defend their turf versus the Tour include Dennis Stampfl, Allen Coates, and Joe Curioso.\u00a0\u00a0 Another driver looking to qualify is Howard Payne.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Payne will be racing for a cause, donating any winnings from his effort to Racing Against Cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve hoped our Late Model division would evolve towards this and our guys are ready\u201d offered Speedbowl owner and promoter Terry Eames.\u00a0 \u201cThis should be a good one\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Thomas finished the event second.\u00a0 Seven Speedbowl competitors in total qualified for the 30-car field last year.\u00a0 Many ran well and Ron Yuhas Jr. joined Thomas in the top-five finishers.<\/p>\n

During NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model action this year, none have been quicker than Thomas or Jordan.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Thomas, who hails from nearby Groton, turned in a blistering 15.202 second time-trial lap during qualifying for an event earlier in May.\u00a0 He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Jordan on the other hand is looking to turn around a season mired with misfortune, with three hard wrecks sidelining the Plainfield, CT native.\u00a0 A strong showing in the ACT 100-lap event could be a turning point for the season.\u00a0 His outlook remains positive.<\/p>\n

“Last year’s race\u00a0proved that the local guys can be fast and put up a fight\u201d stated Jordan, a feature winner this season himself.\u00a0 \u201cWe will try to\u00a0give the Tour guys a run for their money.”<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s all about the qualifying draw\u201d according to Jordan.\u00a0 \u201cIt can make for an easy night or a tough one.\u00a0 The heats will dictate the outcome of the event.\u00a0 I don’t think anyone can come from the back and have tires left at the end.\u00a0 Last year, the contenders came from within the top-ten starting spots.”<\/p>\n

The ACT heat races as well as consolation events are another treat for Speedbowl fans.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Leading the list of contenders for the ACT Tour is last year\u2019s event winner Scott Payea.\u00a0 Payea leads the 2009 Tour points after five events, and has already reached Victory Lane.\u00a0 Joey \u201cPole\u201d Polewarczyk Jr. has claimed a win and is tied for second in points with Brian Hoar.\u00a0 Brent Dragon, winner of an ACT race in 2003 at the \u2018Bowl and Brad Leighton, winner at Lee USA Speedway earlier this year are other contenders and names Speedbowl fans should be familiar with.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 The Legends Cars also join the action with a 20-lapper of their own.\u00a0 Main events will follow qualifying and are set to begin at approximately 7:00pm.\u00a0 Admission is priced $25 for adult grandstands and $5 for youth ages 6 to 14, and free for children 5 and under.\u00a0 The Speedbowl offers acres of free parking.\u00a0 For more information about the 2009 Speedbowl season and calendar of events, please visit www.speedbowl.com<\/span><\/a> or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speedbowl\u2019s Late Model Competitors Ready to Host ACT Tour Waterford, CT (June 8, 2009) \u2013 Late Model teams at Waterford Speedbowl will have Saturday June 13th off from NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action.\u00a0 The ACT Late Model Tour visits the historic shoreline oval for a 100-lap event however, which some \u2018Bowl competitors are hoping to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-act","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}