ACT Invitational Practice Set for NHMS
The American Canadian Tour (ACT) and the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) have announced that a two-day test and tune session has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 17 and Wednesday, August 18, 2010 in preparation for the second ACT Invitational to be held as part of the classic triple header at NHMS on Saturday, September 18, 2010.
The practice sessions, which give invited teams nearly eight hours of practice each day at the famous ‘Magic Mile’, were a racing highlight for many teams last season in preparation for the inaugural running of the ACT Invitational in 2009. Because of the time constraints with the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Whelen Modified Tour, and NASCAR Truck Series participating at NHMS over the weekend of September 18th, this becomes the only time for the ACT teams to get quality seat time at the region’s only super speedway.
“We expect a totally different practice session this season having now experienced one Invitational”, said Tom Curley, President of ACT. “There was a lot of anxiety going into NHMS last season, but this year teams know what to prepare for and what to expect. Certainly for the many new teams we are inviting for the practice sessions, this will be a race experience many have dreamed about, but the goal is to get teams comfortable for the September event, which was a highlight of the ACT race season and for short track fans throughout the region in 2009.”
Over 70 teams will be invited to the two test and tune sessions, broken up into two days. For some of the teams, they are already locked into the ACT Invitational, which will be expanded to 43 teams and increased to 60 miles this September 18th. For others a good test session might get them the ‘invite ticket’.
Discount coupons for short track fans are now available at all ACT touring events in both the US and Canada. The ‘triple header’ featuring the NASCAR Modifieds and Trucks, along with the ACT Invitational, is the biggest single day triple header racing event of the year.
Representation from two provinces of Canada and all six New England states, as well as New York State, will attend the second ACT Invitational.
The first round of invitees for the practice sessions includes those that have won NHMS qualifier events in 2010, along with current point leaders at ACT affiliate tracks. There are also “at large” invitations to attend one of the practice sessions in preparation for the September event. The final list of invited teams will be sent following the ACT Twin State Speedway event to be held on July 31st, 2010 in Claremont, New Hampshire.
The following is the first list of invited teams to practice on August 17th or 18th:
#88VT Nick Sweet, Barre, VT #47CT Tim Jordan, Plainfield, CT
#17MA Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, MA #15CT Jeff Smith, Old Lyme, CT
#52NH Miles Chipman, Epping, NH # 8NH Guy Caron, Lempster, NH
#37VT Brian Hoar, Williston, VT #27NH Chris Bergeron, Claremont, NH
#91QC Patrick Laperle, Montreal, QC #14ON Sean Kennedy, Ottawa, ON
#48QC Karl Allard, Ste Felicien, QC #71ON Dan McHattie, Cavan, ON
#44VT Dave Pembroke, Montpelier, VT #84ON Larry Jackson, Oakville, ON
#14VT Phil Scott, Middlesex, VT #97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Hudson, NH
#55VT Brent Dragon, Milton, VT #02NH Randy Potter, Groveton, NH
#26VT John Donahue, Graniteville, VT #89VT Scott Payea, Georgia, VT
# 6VT Cris Michaud, Northfield, VT #16NY Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, NY
#27MA Wayne Helliwell, Dracut, MA #15VT Joey Laquerre, Barre, VT
# 2MA JR Baril, Haverhill, MA #03ME Travis Adams, Canton, ME
#26ME Corey Morgan, Lewiston, ME # 4ME Bradley Babb, Windham, ME
#85ME Travis Stearns, Auburn, ME #15ON Derek Lynch, Warkworth, ON
#94ME Shawn Martin, Turner, ME #57ME Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, ME
#60ME Tim Brackett, Buckfield, ME #78NH Quinny Welch, Littleton, NH
# 6ME Tommy Ricker, Poland, ME #80QC Donald Theetge, Quebec City, QC
# 7MA Kyle Casper, Somerset, MA #18VT Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, VT
#11RI Ryan Vanasse, Warwick, RI # 7ON Pete Vanderwyst, St Thomas, ON
Sources: ACT PR