ACT Releases 2010 Castrol Series Schedule

WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour announced a 12-race schedule for the Série ACT-Castrol, the Québec/Ontario-based sister series to the ACT Late Model Tour, on Tuesday. Included on the schedule is the "Can-Am Confrontation by the Seaway" at Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Qué., a 200-lap combination championship event for the Série ACT-Castrol and ACT Late Model Tour on August 14. The last point-counting combination event for the two series was at Autodrome St-Eustache in 2007.

The 2010 Castrol schedule opens and closes at St-Eustache near Montréal, with a 100-lapper on May 22 and the annual St-Eustache 300 on September 26. The series will travel twice each to Autodrome Montmagny and Autodrome Chaudière, has a total of three each events at Riverside at St-Eustache, and will make single stops at Captial City Speedway in Ottawa, Ont. and the quirky Autodrome St-Félicien in the Lac St-Jean region of northern Québec. Dates have also been reserved for the TD Bank 250 at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway on July 18 and the third-annual "Showdown at Chaudière" all-star race on August 28. A return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway is also expected for 2010, which would include several Série ACT-Castrol drivers.

Donald Theetge of Boischatel, Qué. beat Patrick Laperle by one point to win the Série ACT-Castrol championship in 2009. Trampas Demers of South Burlington competed in seven events in 2009 and finished 15th in points, while Milton's Brent Dragon became the first American-born driver to win a Castrol race when he took an event at Riverside in June. The 12-race slate for 2010 is the longest schedule for the series in three years, after a nine-event campaign this year and just eight races in 2008.

SÉRIE ACT-CASTROL 2010 SCHEDULE

#-Day-Date-Track-Location-Laps

1. Sat., May 22 -- Autodrome St. Eustache, St-Eustache (Montréal), Qué. -- 100
2. Sat., May 29 -- Autodrome Montmagny, Montmagny, Qué. -- 100
3. Sat., June 5 -- Autodrome Chaudière, Vallée-Jonction, Qué. -- 150
4. Sat., June 12 -- Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont. -- 100
5. Sat., June 19 -- Riverside Speedway, Ste-Croix (Québec City), Que. -- 100
6. Sat., July 3 -- Autodrome Montmagny, Montmagny, Qué. -- 250
7. Sat., July 10 -- Autodrome St-Félicien, St-Félicien, Qué. -- 135
-- Sun., July 18 -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me. -- 250 (non-points)
8. Mon., July 26 -- Riverside Speedway, Ste-Croix (Québec City), Que. -- 100
9. Sat., July 31 -- Autodrome St. Eustache, St-Eustache (Montréal), Qué. -- 100
10. Sat., Aug. 7 -- Autodrome Chaudière, Vallée-Jonction, Qué. -- 150
11. Sat., Aug. 14 -- Riverside Speedway, Ste-Croix (Québec City), Que. -- 200 (Castrol/Tour combo)
-- Sat., Aug. 28 -- Autodrome Chaudière, Vallée-Jonction, Qué. -- 200 (non-points)
12. Sun., Sept. 26 -- Autodrome St. Eustache, St-Eustache (Montréal), Qué. -- 300

Kennedy Wins Castrol Event at Capital City

Becomes first 'local' to qualify for ACT Invitational

OTTAWA, Ont. -- Sean Kennedy scored one for the 'little guy' on Saturday night at Ottawa's Capital City Speedway.


Kennedy, of Dunrobin, Ont., became the first non-touring driver to qualify for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by winning the Série ACT-Castrol's Toromont CAT 100 at his home track. Kennedy is a perennial Late Model championship contender at Capital City and has made occasional appearances at Castrol and ACT Late Model Tour events since 2007; he is the ninth driver in nine qualifying events to earn a starting spot at NHMS, and is the first Ontarian in the field.

The Toromont CAT 100 was two different races in one, with seven caution periods in the first 44 laps and none in the final 56 circuits. Patrick Laperle of St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Qué. finished second, with former ACT regular Jonathan Urlin of London, Ont. third. Matt Moffitt, another Capital City regular, finished in fourth place, with ACT veteran Yvon Bédard fifth. Donald Theetge, Daniel Descoste, Pierre-Luc Ouellette, Brandon Watson, and Ken Baird completed the unoffical top ten in order.

The ACT Late Model Tour was also in action on Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl in Connecticut; Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H. was leading the Nutmeg State 100 there when rain moved in on lap 28. The final 72 laps will be completed next Saturday.


(Sean Kennedy photo courtesy capitalcityspeedway.ca website)

Demers Headed to Castrol Series

SOUTH BURLINGTON -- Trampas Demers is thinking outside the box this year. "I need more seat time out front, so I'll be more comfortable in situations like this," Demers said on Sunday, referencing his pole position for the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road in Barre.

Demers has been a solid competitior in Thunder Road's weekly Late Model division for nearly a decade, but has loftier goals. Among them, of course, is earning a trip to Loudon, N.H. for the inaugural ACT Invitational at the 1-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. Race winners from the primarily U.S.-based ACT Late Model Tour and its sister series, the Série ACT-Castrol in Québec and Ontario, will be guaranteed a starting spot in the Invitational.

The South Burlington racer has done the touring thing before, including a frustrating 18th-place season last year on the U.S. tour, but wants to improve his program and become a top contender wherever he goes. So he's headed north of the border, to race with the Castrol regulars and take a different approach to his racing operation.

The Série ACT-Castrol has some tough competition -- outgoing ACT Late Model Tour champion Patrick Laperle, defending Castrol champion Alexandre Gingras, and top drivers like Karl Allard, Donald Theetge, and Lacombe brothers Sylvain and Martin among the marquee names -- but the car counts are significantly lower than the U.S. series; last year's Tour averaged over 40 cars per event, while the Castrol series averaged about 24 cars, which, in turn, took some pressure off of teams at Castrol events.

"With the Tour last year, at best we were usually the first car to finish one lap down," Demers said. "I don't like struggling to qualify, and I don't like struggling to keep up. You look at guys like Scott Payea and Jean-Paul Cyr that can easily get into races, and they have a big advantage over everyone else. They let the 15 teams that are struggling beat themselves. If you're not playing defense you can play offense and try stuff more often. I want to be there, and I think we can get there running the Castrol races."

Demers said he is scheduled to race the first four Castrol events at St-Eustache near Montréal, Montmagny and Chaudière near Québec City, and Capital City in Ottawa. "After the first four, we'll decide what we do from there. If things are going good, we'll probably keep going. The Thunder Road weekly schedule begins right around that time, and we'll figure out whether or not the Castrol series is still an option for us then. It's less of a risk [than running the Tour], and we're hoping to steal a win and get into Loudon."

Demers will be at the ACT Late Model Tour's Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. this weekend, then makes his Série ACT-Castrol debut at Autodrome St-Eustache on Saturday, May 16.

(Photo: Trampas Demers (85) paces the field at Thunder Road prior to the start of Merchants Bank 150 last Sunday. He will head to Canada's Série ACT-Castrol in 2009. Justin St. Louis/VMM photo)