Home track stock car favorite Ricky Rolfe of Albany Twp., ME held off a fast-closing Jean-Paul Cyr to win the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday. Cyr’s late charge was enough to bring him alongside Rolfe’s Race Basics/Swasey Excavation #51 Ford with less than ten laps remaining, but the former track champion won by about two car lengths.
“We lapped a lot of cars early, but when the field started to catch up, I had to try some new lines around the track,” said Rolfe. “We found that the upper groove was the place to be, and it worked.”
[Photo Gallery] by Leif Tillotson
(more…)
Champion stock car driver Travis Adams will lead his home-track contingent to the American-Canadian Tour’s New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday, April 26. Adams, of Canton, ME won the last ACT Late Model Tour event held at the fast 3/8-mile oval in October, and has captured three of the last five Late Model Track Championships there.
Long touted as a potential winner in ACT competition, Adams downplayed the situation until he finally broke through in 2007. “It’s like you’re just one of the competitive ones – ‘Oh, he’s a threat to win,'” he told writer Travis Barrett at a press conference on Tuesday, “but if you don’t win, I don’t really consider you a threat.” Adams dropped the self-imposed illusion following his October score, a race in which he battled former Oxford Plains Speedway ACT Late Model Tour event winner Scott Dragon of Milton, VT for nearly 150 laps. He also finished third at the Time Warner Cable 100 at OPS in August, and then became the fourth OPS regular to win an ACT race, joining Ricky Rolfe (2002), Ryan Moore (2001), and two-time winner Shawn Martin (2004 and ’06).
(more…)
Last July, it was only a proverbial “matter of time” before young Joey Polewarczyk won his first American-Canadian Tour Late Model stock car race. Many saw the potential for the rising star, and he delivered at Seekonk Speedway in August. Now he’s up to two ACT wins, having dominated Sunday’s 100-lap New Hampshire Governor’s Cup race. The 18 year-old Hudson, NH driver passed Lee USA Speedway legend Larry Gelinas for the lead on lap 10 and never looked back. At times before the race’s final caution period on lap 66, Polewarczyk more than a full straightaway lead.
On paper, that looks a little boring, but the fact is that the battles for position throughout the remainder of the field were excellent. Gelinas, John Donahue, Randy Potter, Cris Michaud, Scott Payea, and Eddie MacDonald put on a great show as they swapped positions, darting around lapped traffic. However, one lapped car, the driven by Donald Theetge, set up an outside-lane mistake by Donahue, costing him a chance at a podium finish. As Donahue and Payea ran door-to-door for third place on the previously mentioned lap 66, they split Theetge’s slowing car (the former Série ACT Castrol Champion had handling issues throughout the main event) – Payea filling the open hole on the inside lane, Donahue bravely daring to go three-wide up high. The result was Donahue looping the National Guard #26 Ford in Turn 4, bringing out the yellow flag.
(more…)
Eighteen year-old stock car racing sensation Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr. blistered the American-Canadian Tour field at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, taking his second career victory at the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 100. The Hudson, NH ace took the lead from polesitter Larry Gelinas after starting third, and dominated the balance of the event to take the win in just over 46 minutes. Polewarczyk said that for 2008, his team is “all business.”
“We’re focused on winning the ACT Late Model Tour title,” he said. “We had a checkered flag design on the car last year, and we decided to leave it off this year, just black, nothing else. We’re all business.”
(more…)
Ontario chassis builder posts bonuses for winning drivers
$10,000 has been posted for American-Canadian Tour stock car drivers competing in McColl Racing Enterprises-built Late Models in 2008. The London, Ontario-based chassis manufacturer has entered into a contingency agreement to reward winning McColl drivers on the ACT Late Model Tour and the Série ACT Castrol.
Any McColl chassis driver that wins two main events on the ACT Tour or two main events on the Castrol series will be given a product certificate worth $1,000. If a McColl driver wins three events on one series, the prize will be elevated to $2,500. Four wins is worth a whopping $5,000 in McColl Racing Enterprises chassis equipment, safety gear, and engine components.
(more…)
Lee USA Speedway Late Model stock car champion J.R. Baril will defend his home turf against the invading stars of the American-Canadian Tour as he attempts to break into the ACT win column at Sunday’s New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200. The Haverhill, MA driver has won the last two Track Championships at the 3/8-mile seacoast oval, and is among the leading candidates to snap the five-year undefeated victory streak by ACT racers at the facility.
“I plan on giving those ACT guys all I’ve got,” said Baril. “We’re going to try to have some fun, but we’re also hoping for the win.”
(more…)
The 2008 American-Canadian Tour Championship season opens this Sunday at Lee USA Speedway with the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200 – the first of two doubleheader events for the ACT Late Model Tour and the open-wheel True Value Modified Racing Series this year. Thirty-six official entries have been received at the ACT office to date, and as many as 50 total Late Model teams are expected to try their hand.
The early favorites include a trio of Milton, VT hotshoes – seven-time ACT Champion Jean-Paul Cyr, perennial contender Brent Dragon, and rising star Scott Payea – New Hampshire’s own Randy Potter and young Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr., Canadian champions Patrick Laperle and Donald Theetge, and home-track icons J.R. Baril, Eddie MacDonald, Jeff Labrecque, Jr., Jeremy Harclerode, and former-track-champion-turned-ACT-rookie Ricky Wolf, Jr.
(more…)
Seven-time and defending American-Canadian Tour Late Model stock car champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, VT will trade in his fenders at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 20. Cyr will run both halves of the “New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 200,” racing the 100-lap features for both the ACT Late Model Tour and the open-wheel True Value Modified Racing Series.
Although he is more widely recognized for his success in full-fendered Late Model racing, Cyr is a veteran of the ground-pounding modifieds. He raced with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 1998-99, capturing a pole position at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway and a top-five finish at the Richmond Int’l Raceway in Virginia. Cyr will race for True Value Modified veteran driver/owner Gary Casella of Saugus, MA.
(more…)
Five Star RaceCar Bodies of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin will again support the American-Canadian Tour stock car racing organization in 2008, providing award certificates to drivers at each of the 12 ACT Late Model Tour events in the U.S. and Canada, as well as at all nine races on the Série ACT Castrol schedule in Québec and Ontario.
Five Star will reward the 1st-place and 12th-place finishers at each event with a product certificate toward the purchase of parts and equipment from its extensive line of industry-leading components. In addition, Five Star will also continue with its season-end awards for both series, as well as for Late Model and NAPA Tiger Sportsman competitors in weekly events at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, VT.
(more…)
We dug through some archives here at American-Canadian Tour headquarters, and it appears as though one year ago this week, this very ACTion News column space was reserved for a few pre-season predictions. (Like that little disclaimer in all the insurance ads, note that these are merely the cabin-fever-induced musings of a writer that happens to get some print every now and then. Please don’t take these predictions as Gospel, because, frankly, it’s just a shot in the dark.)
Last year’s first prediction: Phil Scott would either win the Thunder Road Track Championship of fail to finish inside the Top 5. Wrong on both accounts – The Sailing Senator ended the season strong in fifth place overall, with an exciting win on VT ACE Hardware Dealers Night in August.
(more…)
Driver to attempt ACT/NASCAR double duty weekend
Stock car driver “Outlaw” Eddie MacDonald has lofty goals. The Rowley, MA driver plans to run the American-Canadian Tour Late Model Championship season opener – the prestigious New Hampshire Governor’s Cup – at his home track, Lee USA Speedway, on Sunday, April 20. Ordinarily for MacDonald, that would mean a simple 40-mile drive north across the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border.
This time, it’s going to be a bit different. About 2,000 miles different.
(more…)
At the risk of sounding like we know what we’re talking about, we’ll predict a warm spring, parking lots that aren’t soggy, and the images of eight-foot-high snow banks becoming merely a memory. This, of course, will lead to fantastic openings at race tracks across the northeast, pit areas jam-packed with race cars, grandstands overflowing with screaming fans, and action on the asphalt like you’ve never seen before.
Those snow banks are still sitting outside the window here at American-Canadian Tour headquarters in Waterbury, VT, and the mercury in the thermometer is still barely visible. But the joke’s on them – spring IS coming, and so is the racing season.
(more…)
Fourteen of the northeast’s top stock car drivers have pledged their support for the Autism Puzzle Foundation’s 3rd Annual Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday, April 12 at 5:00pm. Racers from the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Barre, VT’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl will serve as dealers at the Autism Puzzle Foundation’s “Casino Night” fundraiser at the Barre Auditorium. The event will benefit both the Autism Speaks and the Autism Puzzle Foundation charities, as proceeds will go directly to national scientific research and local education and assistance.“We are getting busy preparing for our event, and we’re excited about having ACT join us the year,” said Randy Lamberti of the Autism Puzzle Foundation. “The drivers will be dealing at each of the games during the evening. We have ten blackjack tables as well as craps, roulette, and a wheel of fortune.”
(more…)
Leading auto maker Toyota will begin its entry into grassroots short track stock car racing through its Courtesy Toyota dealership in Berlin, VT with the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model Championship series and at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, VT in 2008. Toyota is now the Official Vehicle of ACT and Thunder Road.
The new ACT Toyota Tundra and Toyota Tacoma Official Safety Trucks and the new ACT Toyota Camry Official Pace Car will be unveiled at the season’s first event at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire on Sun., April 20. The Tundra, Tacoma, and Camry vehicles will also be on display at Courtesy Toyota’s home opener on Merchants Bank 150 weekend in downtown Barre City, VT and at Thunder Road. The new vehicles will be on display in the annual Merchants Bank Car Show in Barre City on Sat., May 3, and in action at the Merchants Bank 150 on Sun., May 4. Toyota and Pepsi will also sponsor the Thunder Road scoreboard throughout the 2008 season.
(more…)
Bassett Racing Wheel will rejoin the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) stock car racing organization in 2008, continuing a long and successful partnership with the sanctioning body in the northeastern United States and Canada. Bassett is the leading manufacturer of auto racing wheels in the U.S., and has a style of wheel for virtually every type of stock car. Bassett is also an industry leader in research and development, safety, and innovation.ACT drivers will be rewarded by Bassett throughout the year; the second-place finisher in each of 12 ACT Late Model Tour events throughout the U.S. and Canada will receive certificates, as will the second-place finisher in each event of the nine-race Série ACT Castrol in Québec and Ontario. Bassett will also give awards at the conclusion of each series’ season, with the top three championship drivers receiving a certificate toward the purchase of Bassett Racing Wheels. There will also be a random draw at each series’ Banquet of Champions, rewarding a lucky driver with four free, powder-coated wheels.
(more…)
A recent poll of stock car racing media members and veteran observers was conducted by Speed51.com, a national short track racing news website, asking panelists to predict the future and pick the Top 10 point drivers across ten of the top touring divisions in the United States. The American-Canadian Tour’s Late Model Championship series was part of that poll, and it should probably come as no surprise that perennial ACT King Jean-Paul Cyr was ranked number one.In fact, according a blurb opening the feature, Cyr was the only driver in the entire poll to be ranked first or second by every panelist that took part in the survey. It should be noted that the ten series included four nationally-traveled tours (the NASCAR Camping World Series, USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, CRA Super Series and ASA Late Model Challenge Series), as well as the regional ASA Midwest Tour, New England-based NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and its southern sister series, and the northern and southern tours of the Pro All Stars Series (PASS). This was heavy stuff, concerning legendary drivers like Bobby Gill, Gary St. Amant, Mike and Ben Rowe, Steve Carlson, Mike Stefanik, and Ted Christopher, and region-specific-but-nationally-respected stars like Eddie Hoffman, Nathan Haseleu, Matt Kobyluck, and Junior Miller.
(more…)
It looks like the American-Canadian Tour will have a pair of talented rookie hopefuls making a full-time go of it in 2008. Nick Sweet of Barre, VT and Tyler Cahoon of Danville, VT will each tackle the Tour, giving further developmental credential power to the NAPA Tiger Sportsman and Allen Lumber Street Stock division at Thunder Road. In case you missed it, Sweet put together a three-win season to take the Sportsman title at Thunder Road last year, while Cahoon, the 2000 Thunder Road Street Stock Champion, is a multi-time winner at White Mountain Motorsports Park.
In our recent Top 25 poll, Dave Moody said this of Sweet: “(In 2007) he dominated a division that is just about immune to domination… You can’t usually look at a kid this young and say, ‘He’s going to be great,’ but with Sweet, it’s a no-brainer.” A winner at five tracks in four states already, it’s likely that Sweet will (at least by the Central Vermont fans that have come to depend on his back-to-front charges in Sportsman and Street Stock events) be expected to rival the remarkably veteran-looking rookie seasons of Scott Payea in 2005 or Jamie Fisher in 1999.
(more…)
Thunder Road Sportsman Champion will compete as a Tour rookie in 2008
|
|
|
Nick Sweet
|
Champion stock car driver Nick Sweet has filed an entry for the 2008 American-Canadian Tour (ACT) season. Sweet, 23, won the NAPA Tiger Sportsman championship at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in his hometown of Barre, VT in 2007, and has purchased a potent Late Model car built by Richard Moody Racing of Maine and formerly driven by Ben Rowe. Sweet will contest the full 12-race ACT Late Model Tour schedule as a rookie, with support from Saint J Auto Group in St. Johnsbury, VT.
“As a rookie, I can’t ask for a better situation that the one I’m in right now,” he said. “My father, Shayne, and my crew are taking a big chance on me this year, and Saint J Auto is taking a big chance, too. We’ll learn a lot and we’ll definitely give our best effort.”
(more…)
Torco Racing Fuels was recently named the Official Fuel Supplier of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT), in a partnership with Rob Tower of RT Raceparts in Hudson, NH. Torco will be used in all Late Model cars competing on the ACT Late Model Tour, the Série ACT Castrol, and at Thunder Road in Barre, VT, and will provide championship and point fund bonuses to racers at the end of the season.
ACT, RT Raceparts, and Torco will also begin testing an unleaded fuel in race cars on both sides of the border in 2008, with the anticipation of a full-time switch to unleaded fuel in 2009. It is expected that, not unlike current ACT rules including Goodyear tires, Koni shocks, and the ACT “spec” engine, Torco will become the fuel of choice by several tracks in the area.
(more…)
The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) stock car racing organization has reached an agreement with RT Raceparts of Hudson, NH and Torco Racing Fuels to be the Official Fuel Supplier for all ACT Late Model racing in the United States and Canada, including Barre, VT’s Thunder Road, the ACT Late Model Tour, and the Série ACT Castrol, effective immediately. It is anticipated that other ACT-affiliated tracks in the region will become part of this program.Rob Tower of RT Raceparts and Torco Racing Fuels has designed an aggressive marketing program that includes championship awards, point fund awards, car care products through Torco’s Skull Shine line, and more.
“RT Raceparts is very excited to partner with a stock car racing brand as strong as ACT,” said Tower. “We are thrilled to be able to announce this multi-faceted partnership, and are looking forward to supporting ACT and its competitors.”
(more…)
It may be the dead of a snowy, cold winter, but a handful of American-Canadian Tour racers are headed to the track. With Florida’s, ahem, slightly warmer climate than the frigid northeast, no less than five drivers with ties to ACT are headed to the south the get their off-season fix.
Beginning this weekend at USA International Speedway in Lakeland, FL, the 4th annual “Speedfest” will see northern representation from Maine racers Mike and Ben Rowe. Ben, who scored Top 5 finishes in ACT Late Model Tour competition at Thunder Road’s Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 and Chittenden Milk Bowl last season, is a heavy favorite to take back a win that slipped away at Speedfest in 2007. Father Mike, himself a Top 5 runner at the Milk Bowl and the 1994 ACT Champion, will do his best to see that his boy waits another year. Among the drivers pre-registered are former Speedfest winners Eddie Hoffman and Charlie Menard, NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Kyle Busch and David Stremme, and former White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, NH. Racing at USA Int’l Speedway is January 24-26.
(more…)
|
|
|
Brent Dragon
|
American-Canadian Tour (ACT) stock car racer Brent Dragon of Milton, VT has filed the first full-season entry for the 2008 ACT Late Model Tour schedule. Dragon will pilot the #55 Beverage Mart/Furniture World of Vermont Chevrolet, in a new partnership with Kenyon Racing Products of Ontario and Port City Race Cars.
“I’m more excited this year than I’ve been in a long time,” reported Dragon, citing his teaming up with new crew chief Mike Kenyon. “Mike and I talk a lot, even several times a week, and his advice and help has been what I needed. This will be my first year having someone at the track at every race to help set up the chassis, where I was doing most of the work by myself before.”
(more…)
Stock car drivers Jean-Paul Cyr and Jamie Fisher were feted at the 2007 American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Banquet of Champions at the Sheraton-Burlington Hotel & Conference Center in South Burlington, VT on Saturday night. Cyr collected the seventh ACT Late Model Tour Championship of his career – his fifth in a row, an ACT record – while Fisher was given the prestigious Don MacTavish Award, ACT’s highest honor.
Cyr, of Milton, VT, strung together a remarkable record of consistency to capture the 2007 ACT Late Model Tour crown. He drove the #32 Ehler’s RV/Sticks & Stuff Chevrolet to five consecutive podium finishes to begin the 13-race season, and never finished a race in lower than 12th position. Cyr led a season-high six events in four U.S. states and Québec for a total of more than 230 laps. His car owner, Rick Paya, received a Champion’s check worth $10,000 for the efforts of his team. Cyr edged two other Milton, VT natives, Scott Payea and Brent Dragon, for the title. New Hampshire drivers Randy Potter and Roger Brown rounded out the top five. Completing the top ten drivers, in order, were Brian Hoar, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Donald Theetge, Ron Henry, and Jamie Fisher.
(more…)
|
|
|
Jean-Paul Cyr
|
A total point fund exceeding $50,000 will be awarded to top stock car drivers at the 2007 American-Canadian Tour/Thunder Road Banquet of Champions on Saturday night at the Sheraton-Burlington Hotel & Conference Center in South Burlington, VT. Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, VT will be feted for winning his seventh ACT Late Model Tour Championship, while his car owner, Rick Paya, will collect a check for nearly $10,000 in point fund monies.
The Top 10 drivers from the ACT Late Model Tour, as well as the Top 10 drivers in each of the four racing divisions at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, a ¼-mile high-banked oval track in Barre, VT, will be recognized. Thunder Road Late Model “King of the Road” Track Champion Dave Pembroke of Montpelier, VT will receive a check for $5,000 for his winning efforts. Thunder Road’s NAPA Tiger Sportsman Champion, Nick Sweet of Barre, VT, will receive a check for $1,000, while Allen Lumber Street Stock Champion Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg, VT earns a $500 bonus. Bunker Hodgdon of Hardwick, VT was the Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior Champion at Thunder Road in 2007.
(more…)
The votes are all in, and it’s now time to close out the “Top 25 ACT Drivers of 2007” by honoring the top five, as named by members of the regional media. Before we look back at drivers 25 through 6, we’d like to thank the following folks for their expertise and participation in this poll: Alan Ward, photographer and columnist for the Racin’ Paper; Dave Moody, Thunder Road announcer and MRN Radio personality; Gene Gagne, photographer and operator of OutsideGroove.com; Lee Kittell, host of WDEV Radio’s “Score!” sports talk show; Marc Patrick Roy, Série ACT Castrol reporter for Speed51.com; Mark Thomas, Racin’ Paper Editor; Mike McGill, WCAX Channel 3 Sports; Pete Hartt, Sports Editor at the Barre-Montpelier (VT) Times Argus; Travis Barrett of the Kennebec Journal and Central Maine Morning Sentinel; and die-hard race fans Andy Boright and Bethany Bell.
(more…)
|
|
|
Chip Grenier
|
A select group of stock car drivers has been nominated for the “Sportsmanship” and “Most Improved” awards in four racing divisions for the American-Canadian Tour and Barre’s Thunder Road. Competitors and race officials and have selected nominees for the special awards, with the winners to be announced at the annual ACT/Thunder Road Banquet of Champions on Saturday, Jan. 12 at the Sheraton-Burlington Hotel & Conference Center in South Burlington, VT.
Thunder Road Rookie of the Year Chip Grenier of Northfield heads the list for the ACT Late Model division, receiving votes in both categories. Joining him on the list of top nominees for Sportsmanship are Vermonters Brent Dragon, Jamie Fisher, and Shawn Fleury, and ACT Late Model Tour regular Donald Theetge of Boischatel, QC. Grenier is joined on the Most Improved ballot by Rusty Berger, Mike Bailey, Marcel Gravel, and Tour racer Ron Henry of New Gloucester, ME. A.J. Begin was the 2006 Sportsmanship Award winner, while Joey Polewarczyk was the Most Improved Driver.
(more…)
…And a Happy New Year! Okay, it’s time to get serious – we’ve reached the first half of the top ten entries in the “Top 25 ACT Drivers of 2007” poll. Recapping the honorees so far, we’ve seen 11 American-Canadian Tour Late Model division competitors, including drivers from the ACT Late Model Tour, Série ACT Castrol, and Thunder Road weekly wars. We’ve also seen three NAPA Tiger Sportsman racers and an Allen Lumber Street Stocker.
(more…)
Here’s hoping your Christmas holiday was a great one, and wishing you a Happy New Year! Before we get to the “Top 25 ACT Drivers of 2007,” let’s touch on the recently released nine-race Série ACT Castrol schedule for next season.
Autodrome St-Eustache, just minutes from the city of Montréal, will open the Série ACT Castrol 2008 season with a 100-lap contest on May 18, then close the curtain with the 14th Annual St-Eustache 300 on September 21. The 4/10-mile oval will also hold a 200-lap show on July 26, with an extra bonus purse attached for American race teams that compete.
(more…)
Happy Holidays! With the first five honorees of the “Top 25 ACT Drivers of 2007” in the books, we continue our countdown this week with a look at drivers 20 through 16. Here’s a look back at drivers 25-21 from last week:25. Matt White, NAPA Tiger Sportsman – Two-time Thunder Road winner, made successful Late Model debut at Chittenden Milk Bowl in September
24. John Donahue, American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model – Won the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200, scored emotional Challenge Series win at Oxford
23. Mike Martin, Allen Lumber Street Stock – Fast, smooth, consistent, took an exciting Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day victory
(more…)
A fifteen-person panel – including media members from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Québec, officials from the American-Canadian Tour and Thunder Road, and a pair of die-hard race fans – have compiled their efforts to decide the “Top 25 ACT Drivers of 2007.” The criteria for each panelist were simple: 1. Using your personal opinion, create a list of the ten ACT/Thunder Road drivers that you felt stood head and shoulders above the rest in 2007; and 2. Rank them in order.
From there, the 25 drivers receiving the most votes and/or praise would be ranked against the others, with an additional ten on the list of racers that missed it by “this much.” The intent was, in theory, to pit ACT Late Model Tour Champion Jean-Paul Cyr against, say, Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior Champion Bunker Hodgdon, at least on paper. Also included were the Série ACT Castrol and Thunder Road’s weekly Late Model, NAPA Tiger Sportsman, and Allen Lumber Street Stock divisions.
(more…)