The American Canadian Tour (ACT) and Thunder Road offices announced today final changes to their 2009 schedules. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway has confirmed Saturday, September 19, 2009 for the…
Read moreAmerican Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model driver Patrick Laperle from Montreal was honored as a first time winner of the United States ACT Championship at the annual Banquet of Champions…
Read moreSeven-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.
Vermont’s Jarvis brothers will try to win for the “home” crowd
Barre, VT — The True Value Modified Racing Series will make its first appearance at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Sunday, May 25, at the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic.
It has been forty-three years since a fire-breathing, open-wheeled modified stock car last roared around the high banks at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement.” Forty-three years ago, those same cars created quite a bit of controversy.
May 30, 1965: The annual 30-lap Memorial Day Classic has come to Thunder Road. For the first time in the track’s six-year history, powerful overhead V8 Modifieds are allowed to race weekly against the older flathead-powered coupes of Thunder Road. Outsiders Ernie Reid and André Manny have captured the first two events of the year, dominating over Thunder Road favorites Harold “Hard Luck” Hanaford, Chester T. Woods, Tony Colicchio, Ronnie Marvin, and the famous Ingerson brothers of North Haverhill, NH.
Ground-pounding, open-wheel Modified stock cars will return to Vermont in 2008, as the True Value Modified Racing Series makes its debut at Barre’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl during the 46th Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, Sunday, May 25. TVMRS founder and competitor Jack Bateman of Canaan, NH tested his car at the high-banked ¼-mile oval recently, and made the agreement with Thunder Road Promoter Tom Curley to bring the touring series to “The Nation’s Site of Excitement” next season for a 100-lap event as part of a doubleheader with the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Thunder Road Late Models.
“I think it’s going to be a great race,” said Bateman. “I’ve raced Thunder Road a lot in my career, but always in full-fendered cars like a Late Model or a Pro Stock. I wanted to test my Modified at the track before we made the decision to have a race there, and it went extremely well, better than I expected.”
Champion stock car racer Tracie Bellerose of
“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to race with Kendell and John, and I love
It seems as though Patrick Laperle’s name has taken up a lot of space in this column of late. Truth is, the Frenchman has been on rails since overcoming a severe illness this spring, and just keeps making headlines. In 17 combined starts between the Série ACT Castrol and the ACT Late Model Tour this year, Laperle has taken four victories, four runner-up finishes, three additional top-fives, and has just a single result outside the top-ten: Just days removed from his hospital stay, Laperle took one lap at Autodrome Montmagny in the Série ACT Castrol opener, finishing 23rd.
American-Canadian Tour (ACT) stock car driver Patrick Laperle of Montreal earned a convincing victory in the 44th Annual Chittenden Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, VT on Sunday. The recently crowned Champion of the Serie ACT Castrol in his native Canada took the win with a dominating nine-point spread over runner-up Ben Rowe of Turner, ME in the three-segment, cumulatively scored race.
“Man, the car was unbelievable all day long. It was fast anywhere I tried to drive it,” said the popular Frenchman. “I love Thunder Road, and I love the Milk Bowl.” The victory was Laperle’s second in the race in three years.
Teenage American-Canadian Tour (ACT) stock car racing sensation Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH lived up to his nickname at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Saturday afternoon, setting fast time in Booth Bros./H.P. Hood time trial qualifying for the 44th Chittenden Milk Bowl. With a best lap of 12.967 seconds around the high-banked ¼-mile oval, Polewarczyk earned $1,000 and the pole starting position for Sunday’s three-segment, cumulatively scored race for the second straight year.
Polewarczyk will be joined on the front row of Chittenden Milk Bowl Segment I by former ACT Late Model Tour Champion Dave Whitcomb of Essex Jct., VT, who was locked into the starting lineup based on his best lap 13.092 seconds. White Mountain Motorsports Park Track Champion Quinny Welch of Lancaster, NH was locked into the third starting position with a lap time of 13.124 seconds.