ACT Set to Crown Champion at Oxford This Weekend
Flying Tigers Join Card for Maine ACT Showdown
Waterbury, VT — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is slated to descend on Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway this Saturday, October 17 at 1:00pm for the final event of the 2020 racing season. The Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 for the ACT Late Model Tour and Oxford Open for the ACT Flying Tigers send off the 35th season of ACT competition with a bang.
Despite a season with unique challenges never before seen in ACT’s long history, the finale is still brimming with excitement and intrigue. Late Model stars like Jimmy Hebert, D.J. Shaw, Ben Rowe, Dylan Payea, and Derek Gluchacki are ready for 150 more laps to decide who will end the campaign on a high note. They’ll be joined by Flying Tiger standouts Jason Woodard, Cameron Ouellette, Colin Cornell, and more in an encore trip to the famous 3/8-mile oval.
Saturday’s event is the third ACT trip of the year to Oxford. It is the first time since 2008 that ACT has three events in a season at the track. All the contenders have plenty of laps under their belts, giving them a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. That means everyone is likely to have their best machine possible, setting up a shootout among ACT’s best.
The racer with the most to gain this weekend is Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert. Now in his ninth year of regular ACT Late Model Tour competition, the veteran can practically taste the championship. After multiple second- and third-place point finishes in his career, and with a growing family taking up more of his time, Hebert knows this his best chance yet to finally bring home a crown.
Hebert enters Saturday with a 38-point lead over Center Conway, NH’s D.J. Shaw. If Shaw earns maximum points at Oxford, Hebert needs to finish 10th or better to claim the title. Hebert’s two victories this year also give him the tiebreaker since Shaw has yet to win in ACT competition.
Should Shaw pull off the comeback, he would make history along the way. The three-time Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model champion would become the first driver to also own an ACT title. As the current PASS point leader and most recent series winner, Shaw has a puncher’s chance to win two of the Northeast’s most prestigious touring titles in the same year.
Both Shaw and Turner, ME’s Ben Rowe have triple-duty planned for the weekend. The many-time champions are running a pair of PASS North Series event on Saturday and Sunday. In between, they will tackle the ACT Late Model Tour main event. Rowe finished second to Hebert in the last visit to Oxford and aims to do one spot better.
Behind Hebert and Shaw, plenty is left to decide. East Bridgewater, MA’s Ryan Kuhn sits third in the standings. However, he is scrambling to get a car together after destroying his ride in a rollover at the Vermont Milk Bowl.
That could open the door for youngsters like Milton, VT’s Dylan Payea and North Dartmouth, MA’s Derek Gluchacki. Payea had the race of his Late Model life in ACT’s second Oxford visit, finishing fourth after a race-long battle. Gluchacki is in the driver’s seat for the ACT Rookie of the Year title and has been a consistent top-10 runner all year.
Graniteville, VT’s Christopher Pelkey is also one to watch as he tries to keep his Rodney Rood–owned Chevrolet in the top-five in owner points. Joining the young guns is the 77-year-old veteran Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier, VT behind the wheel of the car Scott Payea drove to two series championships.
The ACT Flying Tigers are part of Saturday’s card as well for the second Oxford Open 75. The race last year was a hit with teams and fans, and another solid showing is expected.
Waterbury Center, VT’s Jason Woodard, the inaugural Oxford Open winner and reigning Thunder Road champion, is bringing a whole fleet of cars this time around. Woodard’s children, third-year Tiger racer Kelsea Woodard and Thunder Road Street Stock runner-up Tanner Woodard, are both racing this weekend. The team also maintains a car for rookie Bryan Wall Jr. of East Kingston, NH, who won twice at Thunder Road this year.
Hardwick’s Jaden Perry is trying to equal Woodard’s accomplishment from 2019 in more ways than one. He has already posted victories at Thunder Road and White Mountain Motorsports Park this year. An Oxford win would give him first-place trophies from three different tracks.
Other notable names who have filed Flying Tiger entries include number-three Thunder Road point finisher Cameron Ouellette, multi-time White Mountain winner Michael Clark, and rising star Colin Cornell. Maynard brothers Adam and Aaron will battle for bragging rights while Kevin Streeter makes a rare 2020 appearance. Williston, VT’s Justin Prescott, a multi-time Road Warrior winner, is making his Flying Tiger debut in a car purchased from Cooper Bouchard.
The American-Canadian Tour puts a wrap on the 2020 racing season at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway this Saturday, October 17. The ACT Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 and Flying Tiger Oxford Open are part of a five-division card. The PASS Super Late Models also go 150 laps while the PASS Modifieds and Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series have a pair of 50-lap features. Qualifying begins at 1:00pm.
Admission is $25 per person with limited fan attendance. A live pay-per-view broadcast will also be available on Speed51.TV with more information to be announced.
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com or www.oxfordplains.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
Sources: ACT PR
Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert (#58VT) will try to seal his first ACT championship in the season finale at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway. (Daniel Holben photo)
The ACT Flying Tigers are heading to Oxford Plains Speedway for the second time with a 75-lap feature event. (Norm Marx photo)