Helliwell Takes Advantage of Late Tangle to Win Midsummer 250

By admin August 4, 2019 ACT, ACT LM Tour, Oxford Plains, White Mountain Motorsports Park

Waterbury, VT – Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell Jr. was in the right place at the right time to score the victory and the $10,000 top prize in the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Midsummer 250 at N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park (WMMP) on Saturday, August 3. Helliwell took the lead with four laps remaining after Jimmy Hebert and Scott Payea tangled on a restart, then held off a last-lap bid by Graniteville, VT’s Stephen Donahue for the win.

Helliwell’s sudden rise to the top spot was just the latest twist in a race that was full of them. The three-time ACT champion had been running in the top-five through the late stages, but Hebert seemed to have the race in hand as the laps wound down – a feat made even more impressive by going the whole way on the same four tires.

But Trent Goodrow spun in turn two to bring out the event’s 11th caution on lap 246. The yellow allowed Payea – who had already led 40 laps after starting 23rd – to draw to Hebert’s outside. The first two attempts at the restart were waved off, and on the third try, the lead duo got together entering turn two. Payea spun and both drivers were sent to the rear. That put Donahue and Helliwell on the front row for the restart, and when the green flag waved again, Helliwell made the outside groove work to grab his 12th career ACT Late Model Tour win.

Donahue was the dominant driver early, taking the lead from polesitter Scott Dragon on lap four and staying out front for more than 70 laps. A competition caution for a fuel stop on lap 75 closed the field back up, and after the caution came back out three laps later for Jonathan Bouvrette’s spin, Groveton, NH’s Quinny Welch drove past him to take the top spot. During the caution, ACT point leader Rich Dubeau was one of a handful of drivers to change tires as strategy began to play itself out.

Donahue and Welch swapped the lead twice more after another pair of quick cautions before the field settled into a long green flag run. Welch, the WMMP Late Model point leader, proceed to lead 87 straight laps before Mark Jension hit the turn-two wall on lap 170 to bring out the sixth caution. During that yellow, all lead-lap cars except for Hebert, Dubeau, and Adam Gray came to the pits for tires. At that point, Williamstown’s Hebert was the only driver in the field still on the same tires he started with, and he assumed command for the restart.

Hebert led the next nine laps until another yellow flew for Gray’s turn-two crash. The outside had been the place to be on restarts all night, and this time, it was Payea’s turn to ride the rim, completing his drive to first after needing to qualify through the B-Feature. Payea led the next 40 laps, but on the race’s next restart at lap 219 for Jesse Switser’s spin, Payea succumbed to the inside curse as Donahue took the lead back.

During this time, Hebert had hung with the leaders even on his old tires. As Donahue and Payea diced for the point, Hebert saw a chance and made a daring three-wide move into turn three with 22 laps to go. Just seconds after Hebert crossed the line in first, Corey Mason spun in turn two to bring out the ninth caution, locking the pass into the record books. Mason was subsequently disqualified from the event for intentionally hitting another car under the caution.

All the while, Helliwell was lurking. The veteran started 15th and spent the first two-thirds of the event hanging around the back half of the top-10. Once the mass tire stop occurred on lap-170, he started creeping closer and closer to the front. Helliwell broke into the top-three for the first time on lap 206 and bounced between the third and fourth spot for the next 40 laps, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

That opportunity finally arrived with four laps to go. Hebert had managed to make the inside work on a lap-236 restart from a debris caution, but Goodrow’s spin put Hebert and Payea side-by-side one more time with Donahue and Helliwell right behind. The contact between the leaders opened the door for Helliwell, and while Donahue tried to sneak back through in the final corners, “The Punisher” brought home the win. It was Helliwell’s second straight victory at WMMP after taking the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup the week before.

Donahue earned an ACT career-best second-place finish. Barre, VT’s Jason Corliss was quiet most of the night but also took advantage of the late tangle to come home third. Milton, VT’s Scott Dragon took fourth with Plainfield, NH’s Dubeau rounded out the top-five. Welch, Ryan Kuhn, Payea, Joel Hodgdon, and Hebert finished sixth through 10th.

Jonathan Bouvrette, Dylan Payea, and Dubeau won the qualifying heats. Helliwell and Christopher Pelkey were victorious in the consolation rounds while Cody LeBlanc captured the last-chance B-Feature.

The ACT Late Model Tour next travels to Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on. Saturday, August 24. The Oxford Plains 150 is part of the “Night Before the 250” that also includes events for the Tri-Track Open Modified Series, North East Classic Lites, NELCAR Legends, Oxford Street Stocks, and Wicked Good Vintage Racers. Post time is 4:30 pm.

For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com.

ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
MIDSUMMER 250
WHITE MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS PARK
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps

  1. ( 15 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. ( 27NH), Dover, NH, 250 Laps
  2. ( 3 ) #Stephen Donahue ( 2VT), Graniteville, VT, 250 Laps
  3. ( 10 ) Jason Corliss ( 66VT), Barre, VT, 250 Laps
  4. ( 1 ) Scott Dragon ( 16VT), Milton, VT, 250 Laps
  5. ( 13 ) Rich Dubeau ( 30NH), Plainfield, NH, 250 Laps
  6. ( 9 ) Quinten Welch ( 78NH), Groveton, NH, 250 Laps
  7. ( 4 ) #Ryan Kuhn ( 72MA), E. Bridgewater, MA, 250 Laps
  8. ( 23 ) Scott Payea ( 37VT), Colchester, VT, 250 Laps
  9. ( 16 ) Joel Hodgdon ( 36VT), Craftsbury Common, VT, 250 Laps
  10. ( 11 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT), Williamstown, VT, 250 Laps
  11. ( 6 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH), Milton, VT, 250 Laps
  12. ( 5 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT), Graniteville, VT, 248 Laps
  13. ( 14 ) #Trent Goodrow ( 31MA), Carver, MA, 248 Laps
  14. ( 22 ) Adam Gray ( 97MA), Granby, MA, 248 Laps
  15. ( 26 ) Mathieu Kingsbury ( 9QC), Blainville, QC, 247 Laps
  16. ( 20 ) Matt Anderson ( 49NH), Franklin, NH, 244 Laps
  17. ( 25 ) Scott Coburn ( 72VT), Barre, VT, 240 Laps
  18. ( 21 ) Cody LeBlanc ( 55NH), Berlin, NH, 226 Laps
  19. ( 17 ) Jesse Switser ( 25NH), West Burke, VT, 217 Laps
  20. ( 7 ) Jonathan Bouvrette ( 41QC), Blainville, QC, 175 Laps
  21. ( 8 ) Mark Jenison ( 22RI), Warwick, RI, 169 Laps
  22. ( 12 ) Bryan Kruczek ( 19NH), Newmarket, NH, 124 Laps
  23. ( 2 ) Shawn Swallow ( 04NH), Lancaster, NH, 81 Laps
  24. ( 18 ) Cody Blake ( 7VT), Barre, VT, 73 Laps
  25. ( 24 ) John Donahue ( 26VT), Graniteville, VT, 7 Laps

DSQ ( 19 ) Corey Mason ( 1NH), Groveton, NH

Lap Leaders: Scott Dragon, 1-3; Stephen Donahue, 4-78; Quinten Welch, 79-82; Donahue, 83; Welch, 84-170; Jimmy Hebert, 171-179; Scott Payea, 180-219; Donahue, 220-227; Hebert, 228-246; Wayne Helliwell Jr., 247-250. (9 lead changes among 6 drivers)

Time of Race: 1:59:06   Margin of Victory: 0.151 seconds

Cautions: 12 (laps 37, 75 [competition]), 78, 82, 83, 170, 179, 219, 228, 236, 246, 246)

Heat Winners: Jonathan Bouvrette, Dylan Payea, Rich Dubeau

Consi Winners: Wayne Helliwell Jr., Christopher Pelkey

B-Feature Winner: Cody LeBlanc

Sources: Michael R. Stridsberg/American-Canadian Tour PR

(IMG_67573996.JPG): Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell captured the $10,000 top prize in the Midsummer 250 after the leaders tangled with four laps to go. (Mark Alan Sumner photo)