Gluchacki and Shaw Pick Up 2023 Where They Left 2022 at Hickory Motor Speedway
Hickory, NC — Although rain dampened the Easter Bunny Weekend of Speed on Friday, Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials created a new plan for an epic Saturday doubleheader that saw both the St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Bunny programs go off without a hitch for the American-Canadian Tour. Teams saw both highs and lows in one of the busiest days on record, several drivers earning much-needed redemption to cap off the busy Saturday schedule and started their 2023 season on solid ground.
The St. Patrick’s Day 125 was led to the point by 2022 rivals D.J. Shaw and Derek Gluchacki. New Hampshire’s Shaw and Massachusetts’ Gluchacki battled hard, often side-by-side, over two caution periods and across 80 laps before the big one struck on lap 81. Quebec’s Dany Trepanier, Vermont’s Marcel Gravel, among others collided in turn two to bring out a large cleanup and slowed the field. The battle between the two black-and-blue Ford Mustangs of Shaw and Gluchacki would resume until the red flag flew on lap 111 out of respect for a funeral at the cemetery adjacent to the speedway, a common occurrence at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Following the 30-minute red flag period, battles returned to fiery levels with two previous ACT Tour winners edging each other at the line each lap until Gluchacki gained the upper hand. The recently announced Kulwicki Driver Development semi-finalist, Derek Gluchacki earned his first Hickory Motor Speedway win followed by D.J. Shaw and Jimmy Renfrew Jr. who hard-charged from a 19th-place starting position to come home third.
The Easter Bunny 125 for the American-Canadian Tour was just as thrilling with teams taking the gloves off in hopes of finding victory lane. Brought to green by the Port City Racecar power of Mike Hopkins and Patrick Laperle, the iconic orange 91QC led the opening laps over Hopkins as a repaired Marcel Gravel kept in step for third. Behind the leaders in the top-10 Jimmy Renfrew Jr. and Tom Carey III ran out of racing room and tangled on the backstretch. Renfrew’s left front Hoosier Racing Tire went down as Carey’s right front blew, shooting Carey up into the turn three wall and ending another strong Hickory run for the Brookside Equipment team.
D.J. Shaw moved into third place to begin mixing it up with Gravel and Laperle before taking over the lead on lap 47. With Shaw checking out at the front of the field, Gravel and Laperle began taking heat from New Hampshire’s Jamie Swallow Jr. The 4NH team was plagued with overheating issues that forced an end to his strong run in the St. Patrick’s Day event, but Swallow was showing no signs of quitting the Easter Bunny showdown. Swallow and Laperle would battle ferociously side-by-side over forty laps while Shaw continued to gain ground until he flew under the checkered flag. Defending ACT champion D.J. Shaw would take the Easter Bunny 125 to redeem his day at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jason Corliss and Jamie Swallow Jr. also tasted redemption after poor showing and rough luck in the first event.
The ACT Mighty Mini Stock Series debut at Hickory was also a success with a mix of southern turf defenders and northern invaders making the trek to battle it out for the North/South King of the Mini Stocks challenge. During the first 50-lap event, local racer Michael Tucker stomped the field to take the St. Patrick’s Day win while mechanical failure ended a strong run for New Hampshire’s Cody LeBlanc during a top-5 run. Round two would see another local, Tim Canipe in his beautifully prepared 10 machine, put on another stomping to lead from flag to flag. AJ Sanders took two second-place finishes to combine for the low 4-point total score and was crowned King of the Mini Stocks, taking home the prize courtesy of Kids Only Daycare and Cody LeBlanc Racing.
Spirited battles also filled the Pro All Stars Series twin-150 lap events on Saturday. Several drivers took off and put on excellent side-by-side racing, but they could not hold back Cole Butcher. The Nova Scotia-native and defending Oxford 250 champion swept both PASS Super Late Model events on Saturday while defending Oxford Plains Speedway champion Max Cookson swept both second-place podiums. Ryan Kuhn took bronze in the St. Patrick’s Day 150 while Hopkins powered up to take third in the Easter Bunny 150.
The American-Canadian Tour starts the 2023 point-counting season in earnest on Saturday, April 15th with the 3rd annual Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Both the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models and ACT Tour are heading for twin 50-lap events, both worth $5,500 to the winner while the Open Tour-type Modifieds shoot for the $7,000 grand prize in their 50-lap main event at the Magic Mile. The Mighty Mini Stocks and the R&R Raceparts NH Open Street Stocks are also on tap.
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, Twitter, and Instagram at @ACTTour.
Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory, NC
St. Patrick’s Day/Easter Bunny Doubleheader Saturday!
Saturday, March 18, 2023
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
ACT St. Patrick’s Day 125
- 03MADerek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
- 04VTD.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 00NHJimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
- 45NHKasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
- 18QCJean-Philippe Bergeron Terrebonne, QC
- 0NHQuinten Welch Groveton, NH
- 31CT#Andrew Molleur Woodbridge, CT
- 5MATom Carey III New Salem, MA
- 66VTJason Corliss Barre, VT
- 6MANicholas Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
- 42QCEric St-Gelais St-Amie-des-Lac, QC
- 28NHRicky Bly Sunapee, NH
- 10MEChristian LaFlamme Whitefield, NH
- 37CTJordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT
- 55VTKeegan Lamson Berlin, VT
- 15MEMike Hopkins Herman, ME
- 91QCPatrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
- 30RIJacob Burns E. Greenwich, RI
- 1MAAustin Erickson Ashland, MA
- 91CTJake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 86VTMarcel Gravel Wolcott, VT
- 19QCDany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC
- 5ME#Dominic Curit Saco, ME
- 73MACole Littlewood Orange, MA
- 4NHJamie Swallow Jr. Stark, NH
DNS 82MA Mark Hudson Norton, MA
PASS National St. Patrick’s Day 150
- 53Cole Butcher Hantsport, NS
- 39Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME
- 72Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA
- 88Brandon Barker Westbrook, ME
- 60D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 7DJoey Doiron Berwick, ME
- 94Garrett Hall Scarborough, ME
- 18Michael Scorzelli Feura Bush, NY
- 50Andy Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 25Shawn Knight S. Paris, ME
- 15MAJake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 42Kyle Reid Antigonish, NS
- 24JJ.P. Josiasse Ennismore, ON
- 15Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
- 5Ben Rowe Turner, ME
- 74Ryan Moore Scarborough, ME
- 21Joshua King Vernon, VT
- 12Dennis Spencer, Jr. Oxford, ME
- 44Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME
- 32Nick Jenkins Brownville, ME
- 09Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH
- 96Wyatt Alexander Ellsworth, ME
ACT Mighty Mini Series St. Patrick’s Day 50
- 16Michael Tucker
- 24AJ Sanders
- 18NCChuck Wall
- 1Shane Canipe
- 10NCTim Canipe
- 85Mike Viens
- 12Christopher Sontag
- 33Erin Aiken
- 18NHJake Rheaume
- 7MIMatt LeBlanc
- 13Cameron Sontag
- 88NHEmerson Cayer
- 7SCKevin Willey
- 7NHCody LeBlanc
- 26Aiden Gauthier
- 41Robert Williams
- 09NCRandy Canipe
- 17Nick Miller
- 12Christopher Sontag
America-Canadian Tour Easter Bunny 125
- 04VTD.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 66VTJason Corliss Barre, VT
- 4NHJamie Swallow Jr. Stark, NH
- 86VTMarcel J. Gravel Wolcott, VT
- 00NHJimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
- 91CTJake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 91QCPatrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
- 03MADerek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
- 0NHQuinten Welch Groveton, NH
- 45NHKasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
- 18QCJean-Philippe Bergeron Terrebonne, QC
- 6MANick Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 31CT#Andrew Molleur Woodbridge, CT
- 30RIJacob Burns E. Greenwich, RI
- 1MAAustin Erickson Ashland, MA
- 37CTJordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT
- 55VTKeegan Lamson Berlin, VT
- 10MEChristian LaFlamme Whitefield, NH
- 5ME#Dominic Curit Saco, ME
- 42QCEric St-Gelais St-Aime-des-Lac, QC
- 73MACole Littlewood Orange, MA
- 15MEMike Hopkins Herman, ME
- 5MATom Carey III New Salem, MA
- 28NHRicky Bly Sunapee, NH
DNS 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC
DNS 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
DNS 82MA Mark Hudson Norton, MA
PASS Easter Bunny 150
- 53Cole Butcher Hantsport, NS
- 39Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME
- 15Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
- 88Brandon Barker Westbrook, ME
- 94Garrett Hall Scarborough, ME
- 72Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA
- 42Kyle Reid Antigonish, NS
- 15MAJake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
- 44Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME
- 50Andy Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 7DJoey Doiron Berwick, ME
- 60D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
- 96Wyatt Alexander Ellsworth, ME
- 18Michael Scorzelli Feura Bush, NY
- 24JJ.P. Josiasse Ennismore, ON
- 25Shawn Knight S. Paris, ME
- 09Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH
- 5Ben Rowe Turner, ME
DNS 12 Dennis Spencer, Jr. Oxford, ME
DNS 74 Ryan Moore Scarborough, ME
DNS 21 Joshua King Vernon, VT
DNS 32 Nick Jenkins Brownville, ME
ACT Mighty Mini Series Easter Bunny 50
- 10NCTim Canipe
- 24AJ Sanders
- 18NCChuck Wall
- 88NHEmerson Cayer
- 1Shane Canipe
- 12Christopher Sontag
- 09NCRandy Canpie
- 13Cameron Sontag
- 16Michael Tucker
- 7MIMatt LeBlanc
- 85Mike Viens
- 12NCJesse York
- 41Robert Williams
- 7SCKevin Willey
- 17Nick Miller
- 18NHJake Rheaume
- 33Erin Aiken
- 26Aiden Gauthier
Sources: Cale King/American-Canadian Tour PR
(_DSC6304.jpg): ACT Podium for the St. Patrick’s Day 125 (L-R) 3rd Jimmy Renfrew Jr., 1st Derek Gluchacki, and 2nd D.J. Shaw.
(_DSC7409.jpg): ACT Podium for the Easter Bunny 125 (L-R) 3rd Jamie Swallow Jr., winner D.J. Shaw, and 2nd Jason Corliss. (Erik Tavares photos)