Claude Leclerc Prepares for Record 500th Start
Waterbury, VT – Claude Leclerc of Lanoraie, Quebec will make his 500th career start with the American Canadian Tour organization when the Série ACT visits Autodrome St-Eustache this Saturday, July 5. When Leclerc takes the green flag in the 100-lap event this Saturday, he will reach an untouchable milestone which started 35 years ago.
The 72 year old veteran from just outside of Montreal began competing on the old NASCAR North series during its inaugural season back in 1979. He continued to compete on the series when it became the American Canadian Tour in 1986 until the end of the Pro Stock era following the 1995 season. During those combined 17 seasons, Leclerc became the all-time leader in career starts with 397. He also earned six feature wins and pocketed nearly half a million dollars in earnings.
Over the following years, Leclerc competed in several series in the province of Quebec. He returned to ACT competition with starts on the U.S. series in 2006 before joining the first season of the Série ACT Quebec full-time in 2007. Since the inaugural Série ACT event in 2007, Leclerc has missed just two of the 78 events to date and sits atop the career starts list with 76. Combined with over 20 starts on the ACT U.S. series and several special ACT events, Leclerc has now started 499 feature events with the ACT organization.
Over his combined 24 full seasons competing under the NASCAR North/ACT banner, Leclerc has finished in the top ten in the standings 19 times. In his 499 starts to date, he has amassed over 100 top five finishes and over 260 top ten finishes. He has competed in events at the Milwaukee Mile, Dover Downs, the Nashville All American 400, as well as nearly every track in New England and Quebec and from Nova Scotia to Lake Huron, Ontario.
Leclerc will make history when the Série ACT visits Autodrome St-Eustache in St-Eustache, QC this Saturday, July 5. The 100-lap event will be the fourth event of the 2014 Série ACT season.
For more information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963 or media@acttour.com or visit www.acttour.com.
Sources: ACT PR