Lee USA Speedway Champion Baril to Take on ACT Invaders
Lee USA Speedway Late Model stock car champion J.R. Baril will defend his home turf against the invading stars of the American-Canadian Tour as he attempts to break into the ACT win column at Sunday’s New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200. The Haverhill, MA driver has won the last two Track Championships at the 3/8-mile seacoast oval, and is among the leading candidates to snap the five-year undefeated victory streak by ACT racers at the facility.
“I plan on giving those ACT guys all I’ve got,” said Baril. “We’re going to try to have some fun, but we’re also hoping for the win.”
Baril will drive a new car in 2008, racing for the New Hampshire-based Dave Reynolds team. In their debut together last fall, Baril and Reynolds won the prestigious Oktoberfest event at Lee USA.
“I don’t know a lot about the ACT drivers, since I’ve only raced against them once or twice, but I know guys like Jean-Paul Cyr and Patrick Laperle will be tough,” said Baril. “I’m hoping that they think of me as a legitimate threat as much as I think they are. I feel very good at Lee, and obviously the car is good. I’m pretty confident that we can get a top-five finish or a win.”
Baril also noted that Lee USA regulars like Jeff Labrecque, Jr. will be in the hunt. Twenty year-old Labrecque, of Rochester, NH, was the championship runner-up to Baril last season, and has filed an official entry for the NH Governor’s Cup.
Milton, VT’s Cyr and Montréal native Laperle, the 2007 ACT Late Model Tour and Série ACT Castrol Champions, respectively, are each former winners at Lee USA Speedway. They will be joined by title contenders Scott Payea, Brent Dragon, Randy Potter, Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, and as many as 40 others from New England and Canada.
The New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200 is a season-opening twin 100-lap event for the ACT Late Model Tour and the open-wheel True Value Modified Racing Series on Sunday, April 20 at 1:00pm. General admission is just $20 for adults, $10 for children 11-15, and free for children 10 and under. For more information, call ACT at (802) 244-6963 or visit www.acttour.com, or call Lee USA Speedway at (978) 462-4252 or visit www.leeusaspeedway.com.
Sources: Justin St. Louis/ACT LM Tour PR