Currently viewing the category: "American Canadian Tour"

Oxford Teams Ready For ACT Armed Forces 150

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ACT American Canadian TourDrivers Hit Track At Oxford Plains Speedway
Teams Ready Themselves For ACT Armed Forces Day 150

The ACT Late Model Tour championship wars are settled among established race teams with the resources to lock horns against the northeast’s best for six grueling months each year. But the battles on the road to that championship are fought by the Saturday night short-trackers defending their home turf whenever the Tour rolls into their town.

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Subway….On a Roll – Helliwell Wins $5,000 at Canaan Fair Speedway

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A streak by definition can be defined as a brief run or stretch of good or bad luck; and/or an unbroken series of wins or losses. Heading into Saturday’s Subway Fresh Fit 150 at Canaan Fair Speedway Wayne Helliwell Jr. was a on a streak of three consecutive top 2 finishes in just as many starts in the familiar bright orange Bruce Bernhardt Ford Fusion [not counting a third place finish Friday night with the 350 Supermodified]. What’s more impressive about the two second place finishes and a victory in last weekend’s Spring Green 112 is they were not your normal Saturday night 35 lap features. These were full on 150 lap American Canadian Tour events. Saturday’s $5,000 to win unsanctioned event at Canaan fair Speedway would only add to the streak of an already impressive start to the 2012 race season.
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Thunder Road Prepares for 50th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Classic

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Pembroke.jpg – Dave Pembroke celebrates his third Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic win in 2010. (Photo by Eric LaFleche)

Barre, VT – As the month of May winds down, the race teams of Barre’s Thunder Road prepare for the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, the first race of the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series. After a three-week break, the event is the second point-counting race for the Bond Auto Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks, but for the Late Model Sportsmen it serves as their first. It represents the beginning of a grueling summer-long battle for track championships, but in 2012 the Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic has a special number attached.
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Brackett Trio Prepares for Oxford Opener

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Waterbury, VT – Tim, TJ, and Vanna Brackett have sent entries for the American Canadian Tour Armed Forces 150 this coming Sunday May 20. This will be the first time a father and daughter have raced together in an ACT race.

2010 Oxford Plains Speedway Late Model Champion Tim Brackett and son TJ Brackett have raced several times on the ACT Tour together. TJ has been hot at Oxford, finishing in the top ten in his last four starts with the Tour. This year the Oxford 150 is even more of a family affair.
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Oxford Stars Return to Defend Home Track

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ACT American Canadian TourThree former Oxford Plains Speedway ACT winners Randy Potter (02NH), Shawn Martin (94ME) and Ricky Rolfe (51ME) race for position during the 2012 season opener at Lee USA Speedway.

Waterbury, VT— The American Canadian Tour heads to Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, ME for the Oxford 150 next Sunday, May 20. For most teams, it serves as the fourth point counting event on the American Canadian Tour series and the last long distance event before the legendary Oxford 250. For a few, it is a return home.

Turner, ME’s Shawn Martin will be making the trip to Oxford in an effort to claim his third ACT victory. His resume at Oxford Plains Speedway stands out with two ACT victories, 11 weekly feature wins, and a 2004 Track Championship. Ricky Rolfe of Albany Township, ME is a multi-time champion of Oxford Plains Speedway and also owns two ACT victories at the track, most recently in 2008.
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Hoar’s Epic ACT Reign Hits Speed Bump

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Eight-time ACT Champion Brian Hoar (37VT) celebrates his first of back-to-back wins to open the 2012 season.

Waterbury, VT – On Sunday, May 6 Brian Hoar of Williston, VT relinquished the American Canadian Tour point lead to Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell, Jr. Helliwell dominated the second half of the Spring 112 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on his way to his first ever ACT victory, while Hoar struggled early and came home 11th. The finish seemed uncharacteristic of Hoar, known for his eight American Canadian Tour Championships and “ice cold” driving style, but uncharacteristic hardly describes the historic run that was shattered on Sunday.
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Theriault, Sweet Join Polewarczyk in Speed 51 Short Track Draft

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Waterbury, VT – Speed 51.com, a racing news publication, has chosen Fort Kent, ME’s Austin Theriault and Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet as two of the top 51 short track drivers in the country in their “Speed 51 Short Track Draft.”

Theriault, coming off a third place finish at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on the American Canadian Tour, was chosen as the 41st best driver in the country. Speed 51 touted the young star saying, “Talented and consistent in different forms of Late Model racing,” and, “Theriault has been turning heads all across New England for a few years”. Theriault beamed with pride at the news.
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Polewarczyk Picked Top 25 in Speed 51 Short Track Draft

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Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. fights for the lead with Wayne Helliwell, Jr. during the late stages of the ACT Spring Green 112 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, May 6. (Photo by Leif Tillotson)

Waterbury, VT – Speed51.com, a national racing news site, has named American Canadian Tour star Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH one of the top 25 short track drivers in the country according to their 2012 Short Track Draft. This marks the third year in a row that Polewarczyk has made the prestigious list.
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Thunder Road Rookie Class of 2012

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New Drivers Look to Shake Things Up

Barre, VT – In 2012 many Thunder Road drivers are making moves to different divisions. Some with little experience, others bearing championships. The drivers below are ones to keep a close eye on in the upcoming season for Rookie of the Year honors.

Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman
Waterbury Center’s Jason Woodard will pilot the familiar #68 Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman championship car of Derrick O’Donnell from 2011. Woodard, who was the final champion of the Junkyard Warriors with nine wins in 2011, will face a steep learning curve having opted to race in the Tigers as opposed to the Allen Lumber Street Stocks. With championship experience and a great car underneath him, he could be a wildcard in 2012.
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Austin Theriault Finishes 3rd In ACT Spring Green 112 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway

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ACT American Canadian TourAustin Theriault: ACT Late Model Tour
Devil’s Bowl Speedway Race Report

WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, Maine, led a Ford Motor Company sweep of the podium Sunday afternoon, posting his eighth Top-5 in his last nine races by finishing third in the ACT Late Model Tour Spring Green 112 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt. Theriault recovered from a poor draw in qualifying, starting 20th in the main event before driving all the way into the Top-10 by Lap 50. Six laps later, the No. 57 Pelletier Ford Ford Fusion was in sixth place with his sights set on the battle between leaders Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. With worn-out tires, Theriault had to settle for third with a car that had advanced more positions than any other driver in the field at the checkered flag.

Race Story – Wayne Helliwell Claims First ACT Win, Unofficially Takes Over Point Lead

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Third Time’s a Charm

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Article Credit: Jason Lubin

After two consecutive runner-up finishes on American Canadian Tour Wayne Helliwell Jr. was not the bridesmaid in round three of the 2012 season. Dominating the second half of the FOX 101.5 Spring Green 112 to pick up his first ever series victory at Devils Bowl Speedway in West Haven Vermont.

The Bruce Bernhardt owned team rolled into the half mile Vermont Speedbowl hoping for a better result than their 2011 mud exploration off the backstretch; which involved ankle deep mud and a tractor to remove the car. They would not be disappointed. Using the +/- passing system Helliwell would finish fourth in his heat netting +4 to start the 112 lap event from the third starting position. “We had a really balanced car right off the trailer, said Wayne. We made minimal changes throughout the day.”
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Helliwell Claims First ACT Win, Unofficially Takes Over Point Lead

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West Haven, VT – Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dover, NH dominated the second half of The Fox 101.5 Spring Green 112 on the way to his first ever American Canadian Tour victory on Sunday May 6, 2012 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Helliwell took over the lead on lap 58 and had to fend off a late race attack from Hudson, NH’s Joey Polwarczyk Jr. to take the checkers. Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, ME stormed from the 20th starting position to take over third, Ray Parent and Randy Potter completed the top five.

The race began with weekly competitor Craig Bushey leading the first lap after a +5 in the ACT plus minus system earned him the second starting position. Multi-time Oxford Plains Speedway Champion Ricky Rolfe took over for the next 26 laps before the lead was briefly wrestled away by former Thunder Road Champion Nick Sweet. Sweet only held on to the lead for two laps before Groveton’s Randy Potter took over the point.
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Surprise Thunder Road Weekly Competitors Flex Muscle at ACT Opener

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Jamie Aube (41VT) and Austin Theriault (57ME) run side-by-side during the 14th Annual Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road on Sunday, April 29, 2012. (Photo by Eric LaFleche)

Barre, VT – Victory lane at the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road on Sunday, April 29 was all Brian Hoar, but for weekly contenders there was more to the race than just victory lane. For weekly racers at “The Nation’s Site of Excitement” this was not a point-counting race, but a proving ground to set the stage for a summer-long battle to become the next “King of the Road.”
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Brian Hoar Clings to Slim Point Lead Heading to Devil’s Bowl

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Brian Hoar (37VT) and Wayne Helliwell, Jr. (27NH) fight for the win in the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road on Sunday, April 29.

Waterbury, VT – Eight-time ACT Champion Brian Hoar of Williston, VT has sent a strong message for his title defense, notching wins in the first two ACT events of the season. But perhaps the stronger message has been sent not by Hoar, but by Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dover, NH who rides second overall in the series.

Helliwell, the four-time Lee USA Champ, has finished second in each of the opening two events. In the season opener at Lee USA Speedway, he looked to have the car to beat and launched an assault on the back bumper of Hoar for the last ten laps at the track he calls home. More impressively, the Bruce Bernhardt-owned team came to Thunder Road, a track where they had typically struggled, and had the crowd on their feet with yet another late race assault of the eight-time Champion. The cheers paused momentarily with two laps to go after contact from Helliwell, hungry for his first ACT Tour win, had Hoar sideways out of turn four. A classy lift allowed Hoar to gather it back up and head to his first ever Merchants Bank 150 win.
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Lt. Governor Phil Scott to Run Vermont State Championship

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Excitement Builds for Inaugural VT State Championship

Phil Scott celebrates a Thunder Road feature win during the 2011 season. (Photo by Leif Tillotson)

Barre, VT – The first entry for the recently announced Vermont State Late Model Championship series has been received from Phil Scott, the Lt. Governor of Vermont from Berlin. The all-time win list leader at Barre’s Thunder Road and multi-time Champion is an early favorite to win the Vermont State Championship Series.
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