ACT Season Gets Back Underway with Annual Spring Green This Saturday
Waterbury, VT — The ACT Late Model Tour heads back to New Hampshire this Saturday, June 12 for Caron Fabrication Spring Green at White Mountain Motorsports Park. The final ACT event of the spring is shaping up as a big showdown featuring the Tour regulars, several weekly White Mountain standouts, and a few of the region’s top Super Late Model stars.
After four weeks off, the ACT field is anxious to get back on track. They’ll do so at the only track hosting three Tour events in 2021. The Caron Fabrication Spring Green has long been one of ACT’s most prestigious events. This Saturday is the 46th edition of the Spring Green and the 33rd ACT Late Model Tour event overall at White Mountain.
In 2021, the Spring Green is also a prelude to the $10,000-to-win Midsummer Classic 250 on July 31 and the $5,000-to-win Fall Foliage 200 on September 26. With three big ACT Tour showdowns and an average of almost 24 Late Models at this year’s weekly shows, White Mountain Motorsports Park is becoming a new mecca for ACT Late Model racing.
“I like it,” Hudson, NH’s Joey Polewarcyzk said. “White Mountain is one of my favorite tracks. It’s smooth, it’s got multiple grooves, and I feel like the racing is actually getting better there. They repaved it a few years ago, and it was a little line-sensitive for a while, but I feel like it’s starting to come back to a two-groove track. It’s just a lot of fun to race on, and it always draws pretty good fields. So I think it’s a perfect spot.”
Polewarcyzk is of the drivers to watch this Saturday. “Joey Pole” has multiple Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model victories at White Mountain, including one on May 23. But despite seven top-5s and two runner-up finishes, the newlywed has yet to carry an ACT checkered flag at the quarter-mile speedplant. A White Mountain win is one of the few items missing on Polewarczyk’s distinguished ACT résumé, and his Pole’s Automotive team is anxious to finally check off that box.
“I’ve been going there my whole career, because ACT usually has a few stops at White Mountain, and I’ve been close numerous times,” Polewarczyk said, “We have a couple of seconds, a couple of thirds, and a lot of good runs. We just haven’t found Victory Lane yet. That’s one of the reasons why we’re coming this weekend. We had a really good weekend with the PASS car a few weeks ago, so now we’ll bring the old Late Model out and see what she can do.”
Polewarczyk is aiming for his second Spring Green victory at two different tracks. The Spring Green is one of the most historic events in ACT annals even with its complex history. It began in 1974 at Catamount Stadium as part of the Northern NASCAR Series. It transferred to the NASCAR North Tour in 1979 and then to the newly-founded ACT Pro Stock Tour in 1986. Since 1995, the Spring Green has largely belonged to the ACT Late Model Tour, apart from two seasons with the former Tiger Tour. Nearly every season, one lap has been added to reflect the year, going from 74 laps in 1974 to 121 laps this time around.
Along with shifting series and lap counts, the Spring Green has also changed tracks six different times. After Catamount Stadium closed following the 1987 season, the Spring Green moved to Quebec’s Sanair Superspeedway for one year and then took 1989 off before settling at New York’s Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway in 1990. It bounced between Airborne and Vermont’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway from 2011 to 2017 before falling off the schedule again in 2018. Saturday will be the third straight year the event is held at White Mountain Motorsports Park.
All the while, the Spring Green has maintained its status as a crown jewel of the early Northeast racing schedule. ACT Tour stars such as point leader Ben Rowe, Lee USA Speedway winner D.J. Shaw, multi-time White Mountain weekly winner Stephen Donahue, and rookie sensation Erick Sands are raring to add the event to their list of accomplishments.
Defending ACT Champion Jimmy Hebert is one of the biggest potential wild cards. Hebert, last year’s Spring Green winner, is still rebuilding from a devastating practice crash at Lee USA Speedway. The veteran said on Wednesday that, although the Hebert Excavation team still has some late shop nights ahead, the plan is still to defend their Spring Green crown.
They’ll be facing off against a smorgasbord of contenders. Eight-time White Mountain Champion Quinny Welch has entered the event in search of his first ACT Tour win. So has Ryan Olsen, who won the track’s season opener. Herman, ME’s Mike Hopkins, the reigning PASS National Champion, has filed an entry after making his ACT debut at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway in April.
The ACT Late Model Tour heads to North Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park this Saturday, June 12 at 6:00pm for the Caron Fabrication Spring Green. The 121-lap celebration of spring is joined by the local Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers, Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Mini’s, and Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Trucks. Admission is $20 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $40 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids).
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
Sources: ACT PR
(IMG_3694.JPG): Hudson, NH’s Joey Polewarczyk (#97NH) won the PASS Super Late Model event at White Mountain Motorsports Park last month but is still searching for his first ACT victory at the track. (Daniel Holben photo)
(IMG_2278.JPG): White Mountain Motorsports Park has become a go-to track for ACT Late Model racing with three big touring shows and huge weekly fields in 2021. (Daniel Holben photo)