Gluchacki and Shaw Pick Up 2023 Where They Left 2022 at Hickory Motor Speedway

By admin March 20, 2023 ACT, ACT LM Tour, Hickory

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

  1. 03MADerek Gluchacki          North Dartmouth, MA
  2. 04VTD.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH
  3. 00NHJimmy Renfrew Jr.      Candia, NH
  4. 45NHKasey Beattie              St. Johnsbury, VT
  5. 18QCJean-Philippe Bergeron          Terrebonne, QC
  6. 0NHQuinten Welch            Groveton, NH
  7. 31CT#Andrew Molleur       Woodbridge, CT
  8. 5MATom Carey III               New Salem, MA
  9. 66VTJason Corliss               Barre, VT
  10. 6MANicholas Johnson         Rehoboth, MA
  11. 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr.              E. Kingston, NH
  12. 42QCEric St-Gelais               St-Amie-des-Lac, QC
  13. 28NHRicky Bly                      Sunapee, NH
  14. 10MEChristian LaFlamme    Whitefield, NH
  15. 37CTJordan Hadley             Quaker Hill, CT
  16. 55VTKeegan Lamson           Berlin, VT
  17. 15MEMike Hopkins              Herman, ME
  18. 91QCPatrick Laperle            St-Denis, QC
  19. 30RIJacob Burns                 E. Greenwich, RI
  20. 1MAAustin Erickson           Ashland, MA
  21. 91CTJake Johnson               Rehoboth, MA
  22. 86VTMarcel Gravel             Wolcott, VT
  23. 19QCDany Trepanier           St-Edouard,QC
  24. 5ME#Dominic Curit            Saco, ME
  25. 73MACole Littlewood           Orange, MA
  26. 4NHJamie Swallow Jr.        Stark, NH

DNS     82MA  Mark Hudson               Norton, MA

PASS National St. Patrick’s Day 150

  1. 53Cole Butcher               Hantsport, NS
  2. 39Max Cookson               Pittsfield, ME
  3. 72Ryan Kuhn                   E. Bridgewater, MA
  4. 88Brandon Barker          Westbrook, ME
  5. 60D.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH
  6. 7DJoey Doiron                 Berwick, ME
  7. 94Garrett Hall                 Scarborough, ME
  8. 18Michael Scorzelli         Feura Bush, NY
  9. 50Andy Shaw                  Center Conway, NH
  10. 25Shawn Knight              S. Paris, ME
  11. 15MAJake Johnson               Rehoboth, MA
  12. 42Kyle Reid                     Antigonish, NS
  13. 24JJ.P. Josiasse                 Ennismore, ON
  14. 15Mike Hopkins              Herman, ME
  15. 5Ben Rowe                    Turner, ME
  16. 74Ryan Moore                Scarborough, ME
  17. 21Joshua King                 Vernon, VT
  18. 12Dennis Spencer, Jr.     Oxford, ME
  19. 44Trevor Sanborn           E. Parsonsfield, ME
  20. 32Nick Jenkins                 Brownville, ME
  21. 09Jeremy Davis               Tamworth, NH
  22. 96Wyatt Alexander         Ellsworth, ME

ACT Mighty Mini Series St. Patrick’s Day 50

  1. 16Michael Tucker
  2. 24AJ Sanders
  3. 18NCChuck Wall
  4. 1Shane Canipe
  5. 10NCTim Canipe
  6. 85Mike Viens
  7. 12Christopher Sontag
  8. 33Erin Aiken
  9. 18NHJake Rheaume
  10. 7MIMatt LeBlanc
  11. 13Cameron Sontag
  12. 88NHEmerson Cayer
  13. 7SCKevin Willey
  14. 7NHCody LeBlanc
  15. 26Aiden Gauthier
  16. 41Robert Williams
  17. 09NCRandy Canipe
  18. 17Nick Miller
  19. 12Christopher Sontag

America-Canadian Tour Easter Bunny 125

  1. 04VTD.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH
  2. 66VTJason Corliss               Barre, VT
  3. 4NHJamie Swallow Jr.        Stark, NH
  4. 86VTMarcel J. Gravel          Wolcott, VT
  5. 00NHJimmy Renfrew Jr.      Candia, NH
  6. 91CTJake Johnson               Rehoboth, MA
  7. 91QCPatrick Laperle            St-Denis, QC
  8. 03MADerek Gluchacki          North Dartmouth, MA
  9. 0NHQuinten Welch            Groveton, NH
  10. 45NHKasey Beattie              St. Johnsbury, VT
  11. 18QCJean-Philippe Bergeron          Terrebonne, QC
  12. 6MANick Johnson               Rehoboth, MA
  13. 31CT#Andrew Molleur       Woodbridge, CT
  14. 30RIJacob Burns                 E. Greenwich, RI
  15. 1MAAustin Erickson           Ashland, MA
  16. 37CTJordan Hadley             Quaker Hill, CT
  17. 55VTKeegan Lamson           Berlin, VT
  18. 10MEChristian LaFlamme    Whitefield, NH
  19. 5ME#Dominic Curit            Saco, ME
  20. 42QCEric St-Gelais               St-Aime-des-Lac, QC
  21. 73MACole Littlewood           Orange, MA
  22. 15MEMike Hopkins              Herman, ME
  23. 5MATom Carey III               New Salem, MA
  24. 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

  1. 53Cole Butcher               Hantsport, NS
  2. 39Max Cookson               Pittsfield, ME
  3. 15Mike Hopkins              Herman, ME
  4. 88Brandon Barker          Westbrook, ME
  5. 94Garrett Hall                 Scarborough, ME
  6. 72Ryan Kuhn                   E. Bridgewater, MA
  7. 42Kyle Reid                     Antigonish, NS
  8. 15MAJake Johnson               Rehoboth, MA
  9. 44Trevor Sanborn           E. Parsonsfield, ME
  10. 50Andy Shaw                  Center Conway, NH
  11. 7DJoey Doiron                 Berwick, ME
  12. 60D.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH
  13. 96Wyatt Alexander         Ellsworth, ME
  14. 18Michael Scorzelli         Feura Bush, NY
  15. 24JJ.P. Josiasse                 Ennismore, ON
  16. 25Shawn Knight              S. Paris, ME
  17. 09Jeremy Davis               Tamworth, NH
  18. 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

  1. 10NCTim Canipe
  2. 24AJ Sanders
  3. 18NCChuck Wall
  4. 88NHEmerson Cayer
  5. 1Shane Canipe
  6. 12Christopher Sontag
  7. 09NCRandy Canpie
  8. 13Cameron Sontag
  9. 16Michael Tucker
  10. 7MIMatt LeBlanc
  11. 85Mike Viens
  12. 12NCJesse York
  13. 41Robert Williams
  14. 7SCKevin Willey
  15. 17Nick Miller
  16. 18NHJake Rheaume
  17. 33Erin Aiken
  18. 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)