MAGIC MAN: MacDonald Wins ACT Invitational

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

LOUDON, N.H. -- He's been known for a while as "The Outlaw" for the way he barnstorms into whichever touring series suits him on any given weekend and winning races. But after the clinic Eddie MacDonald put on at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, maybe he should be known as the "Magic Man".

MacDonald won Friday's Heluva Good! 125 for the NASCAR Camping World Series East at the "Magic Mile" in Loudon, N.H., then won the inaugural American-Canadian Tour Invitational on Saturday evening. The victories back up a pair of Camping World wins at the track in 2008 and a runner-up finish there in the series' race in June of this year.

The Rowley, Mass. driver started 19th in the 36-car field -- comprised almost entirely of drivers that had never raced at the 1.058-mile superspeedway -- and came through the pack with seemingly relative ease. One of those rookie drivers, 16 year-old Brandon Watson from Stayner, Ont., proved to be the biggest challenge for MacDonald. Watson took the lead from Bruce Thomas, Jr. on lap 33, lost it to MacDonald two laps later, then took it back on a lap 41 restart when MacDonald faltered.

MacDonald briefly dropped back to third place behind Watson and Brian Hoar, then clawed his way back to Watson, taking the lead with four laps remaining in the 50-lap race. Nick Sweet of Barre got past Watson one lap later for second place and was catching MacDonald as the checkered flag flew. Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Qué. finished fourth after starting in 18th place, with Graniteville's John Donahue in fifth. Joey Laquerre, Brad Leighton, Hoar, Thomas, and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. completed the top ten finishers.

"The ACT race was just unbelievable, it was great competition. Everyone ran a real clean race and it was tough," said MacDonald. "The competition was really tough. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get by the 9 (Watson), he was really quick, especially when I lost him on the restart. I had a terrible restart there. But all in all, the crew did an awesome job. Rollie LaChance (MacDonald's crew chief) just really knows what we need here to win races, I'm just so lucky to have that."

MacDonald said he was pleasantly surprised by the way the ACT drivers and cars performed in race conditions on the unfamiliar track, at speeds that ACT-type Late Model cars, engines, and equipment had never seen.

"I was wondering if there was going to be a lot of cautions with that many cars and that many rookies to this track, but everyone did an excellent job," he said. "These guys really raced clean and they ran real hard. The cars drove really good and nothing was moving all around on the cars, the bodies were really rugged and everything, so I think a lot of guys did a good job bracing up their bodies. I'm just really impressed with how those cars handle here, and the speeds that you can go with a crate engine you can buy right from Chevrolet or Ford. It's just amazing that those cars can handle this kind of speed and turn really good lap times."

MacDonald says he was never nervous about running with the inexperienced field of drivers. He raced through the pack in close proximity to Brian Hoar, who, like MacDonald, is a former NHMS track champion in the Camping World division, but said it was no different than racing against Watson, Sweet, or anyone else. "I love racing with Brian, he's a great competitor, he always will run you clean, so I had no worries about him. After a few laps of racing with the two other guys, the 9 and the 88 (Sweet), it was great. Nobody rubbed me and pushed me up out of the way. They both ran me real clean. Everyone did, though, the whole field as we were coming up through. All those guys did an excellent job."

Winning the inaugural ACT Invitational at NHMS was a big accomplishment, said MacDonald, especially in front of a grandstand that NHMS officials said had possibly the largest Saturday crowd in the history of the track, estimated at some 40,000 during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event that ran just prior to the ACT race. "It's just awesome to be able to win the first ACT race, I'm sure there'll be more. It looked like the stands were still pretty full after the truck race, it seemed like a lot of people stuck around, so that was great for the American-Canadian Tour. This is a huge race for them to be able to come here in front of all these people. I think they'll be here often, and it's just awesome to be able to win the first one."

MacDonald ranked the ACT victory as "right up there" with his July win in the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in July. "It's too bad the purse [at NHMS] wasn't about the same, but being the first one just makes it that much more special. [They were] the two biggest races that I wanted to win this year in the Late Model and we were able to get them."

(PHOTO: Eddie MacDonald (right) and crew chief Rollie LaChance went to victory lane twice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, including after the ACT Invitational on Saturday. Photo by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

BREAKING NEWS: Pope Out, Dickey In at Beech Ridge

HUDSON, N.H. -- Joe Polewarczyk, Sr. confirmed on Friday afternoon that BDI Racing development driver Michael Pope of Dublin, Ga. will not be in the Joey Pole Racing entry at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me. for Saturday's ACT Late Model Tour event.

Pope, a PASS South Super Late Model driver, ran as a teammate to Polewarczyk's son, Joey Jr., at last weekend's TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway and, according to a BDI Racing press release on Tuesday, was scheduled to drive the same car at Beech Ridge, but will be replaced in the car by Steve Dickey instead.

Pope crashed in a consolation race at Oxford, then failed to qualify for the race in one of the last-chance events.

Dickey, of Londonderry, N.H., is a former Hobby Stock champion at Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway, and is a long-time crew member for the Polewarczyk team. Dickey competed in the Late Model class at Lee USA in 2004, and made one ACT Late Model Tour appearance at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in 2005.

Pope will be racing at the Red Bud 300 at Anderson Speedway in Indiana with the CRA Super Series.

"I think [Pope] learned the hard way that racing up here in the north is nothing like what he's used to down south," Polewarczyk, Sr. said. "He and Bob Dillner (of BDI Racing) decided to focus on their deal in Indiana instead this weekend.

"Steve should be good. He's a good little driver and knows these cars, so we'll have fun with him this weekend. But the focus is still on winning the ACT championship with Joey."

Polewarczyk, Jr. is currently second in ACT Late Model Tour points, 23 points behind leader Scott Payea of Milton.

The Juice: Best '250' Ever?

-by Justin St. Louis

We're not going to speculate about the entire history of the competitiveness of the Oxford 250, because, frankly, we've only been to eight out of the 36 run and are quite unqualified to make such projections. While any guess that we made about how the 2009 edition ranks compared to the rest would be farcical, but of the 250s we've seen, Sunday's race was far and away the best one ever. We've witnessed the race as a NASCAR Busch North Series event (1992), an ACT Pro Stock Tour race (1993), an open Pro Stock show (2001, 2004-06), and an open Late Model event (2008-09), and there is just no question that this year's TD Banknorth 250 was the best in terms of competition and race-long excitement.

Three-wide racing has become sort of a common thing at the previously one-groove Oxford Plains Speedway these last two or three seasons, but three-wide racing for the lead -- a lot of it -- is unheard of pretty much everywhere. And for the biggest race in the country? Get out.

Watching Patrick Laperle, John Donahue, and Brent Dragon go at it for the lead was thrilling. Watching Dragon, Ben Rowe, and Joey Polewarczyk doing it was thrilling. Watching the leaders slice through lapped traffic three- or four-wide was thrilling. Watching Eddie MacDonald slingshot his way up the outside was thrilling. Get the picture? Unbelievable action.

"What a cool track to race on the way they've got it right now," said Brian Hoar, who finished fourth in the race after leading 39 laps just past the halfway point. "It's pretty incredible, actually, it just makes you smile. I was watching heat races just smiling, I mean, watching Eddie MacDonald come three-wide up through there in the heat race. And you can just do that, there's a groove out there."

"It's intense, it's fun," said third-place finisher Donahue. "It was good from the second and third groove. In the beginning I was gonna go chase down Brent, and we got into the top three there, Patrick was in there, running three, four, five-wide when I took the lead, that was fun. Man was that fun."

Hoar said that the give-and-take shown at Oxford lately -- and at the 250 especially -- has been outstanding.

"Now everybody accepts and understands that it's [not] unacceptable to go three-wide," he said. "That mentality has to take place because, you know, somebody gets pissed sometimes when you go to a track and somebody goes three-wide and they go, 'What the hell are you doing?' And then they do something stupid to stop you or cause you not to be able to complete that deal. But [at Oxford], everybody respects that right now and is conscientous of it.

"[They're thinking] 'Gotta run the middle, I gotta stay here, don't move too high, don't move too low.' And the guy on the inside is saying, 'Don't slip up, I've got two guys out here.' And the guy on the outside goes, 'Give me some room, don't get too high.'

"The racing was fun out there."

It was fun from the grandstands, too. Congratulations to every one of the 71 drivers at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday for putting on a show that no one there will soon forget. Congratulations to Tom Curley of the American-Canadian Tour for getting the current northeastern Late Model rules program to the point it's at right now. And congratulations to Oxford promoter Bill Ryan for taking a huge chance back in 2007 and putting this type of car in the Oxford 250. We'll admit that even as a lifelong Late Model fan, the changeover from the Pro Stock division was scary and caused some skepticism. We now know that it was done for a reason, and the payoff was Sunday's event.

Just plain awesome.

***

Speaking of awesome, Saturday's Northeastern Speedway revival was something to behold. The 1/5-mile track in Lower Waterford, just outside St. Johnsbury, was dusted off for the first time since 1966, and brought together some of the greatest collections of memories in New England stock car racing history. We were honored to share moments with great drivers like Glenn Andrews, Johnny Gammell, Harold Hanaford, Paul Martel, Skip Easter, Glen Gadapee, Paul Belknap, and more, and would like to thank owners Paul and Lise Bellefeuille for their efforts in restoring the track to the beautiful condition it is in now.

We visited the place on a whim on Milk Bowl weekend in 2007, before the Bellefeuilles purchased the facility, and saw shadows of what used to be a great little race track hiding in a thick forest of . About eight months later, we received word that Northeastern had been purchased and was to be renovated. Instantly, we circled the date "July 18, 2009" on the calendar, and were glad to take part in its re-christening.

Here's a video (thanks to our Senior Correspondent, Ron St. Louis) of part of the parade laps that included restored and re-created coupe racers that actually raced at Northeastern Speedway from 1959-1966. We've got a photo album posted, too.



***

If you thought Jean-Paul Cyr never had a chance to contend for the Thunder Road championship this season, you thought really, really wrong. Cyr was his classic, winning self last Thursday, and we're only halfway through the year. Watch that #11 car, he's probably not done yet.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Todd Stone of Middlebury finished fourth in the Modified feature on Saturday night, with Aaron Bartemy of Sheldon sixth. Richie Turner of Fairfax was the runner-up in the Tiger Sportsman feature with Milton's Larry Underwood tenth. Mike Terry of Grand Isle won the Renegade feature with Swanton's Dave Rabtoy second, Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax sixth, and Milton's Rob Gordon eighth.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Friday's races were rained out.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Saturday's event saw double features for all regular weekly divisions, including the double-points Mekkelsen RV Mid-Season Championships. In the double-point features, Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H. scored the victory in the Sportsman Modifieds over Thetford Center's Wayne Stearns and Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H., while other winners were Melvin Pierson of Topsham (Sportsman Coupe), T.C. Forward of Lyme, N.H. (Limited Late Model), Andy Johnson of Wilder (Fast Four), Bradford's Tom Placey (Hornet), and Melissa King of Corinth (Hornet Queen). In the regular Clifford Concrete/Robbins Property Maintenance features, Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H. was the Sportsman Modified winner over Corinth's Bryan King and Ryan Avery of Thornton, N.H., while other events were won by Josh Harrington of Topsham (Sportsman Coupe), Strafford's Shane Race (Limited Late Model), Mitch Durkee of Sharon (Fast Four), and Placey again in the Hornet class.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Friday's program was rained out.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Kris Lyman of West Hartford finished third in the Pro Stock feature on Saturday with South Royalton's Kevin Menard eighth. Bradford's Arnie Stygles was third in the Super Street race with Colby Hodgdon of Windsor seventh. Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney was the Pure Stock winner, while Chris Riendeau, also of Ascutney, was third. Josh Sunn of White River Junction won the Outlaw Mini race over Chris McKinstry of Thetford, Chris Lyman of Hartland, Bobby Prior of White River Junction, and Robert Gioia of East Thetford. Quechee's Kyle Small won the Bandit feature over Ascutney's Tyler Lescord, with Bruce Jaycox of Hartland fourth and Mike Parker of Bradford fifth.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): Kenny Tremont, Jr. of West Sand Lake, N.Y. won his fourth 358 Modified feature of the season on Sunday over Ray Hoard of Granville, N.Y. Tim LaDuc of Orwell finished third, one spot better than Brandon's Vince Quenneville, Jr. Todd Stone of Middlebury was fifth, Rob Langevin of Londonderry was seventh, and Brian Whittemore of Florence was tenth. Robert Bublak of Fort Edward, N.Y. won the Budget Sportsman race over Whitehall, N.Y.'s Frank Hoard, Jr. and Frank Hoard, III of Manchester. Cullen and Seth Howe of South Londonderry were fourth and sixth, respectively. Cale Kneer of Troy, N.Y. won the Pro Street Stock feature over Jeff Washburn of Benson and Carl Vladyka of Fair Haven. Chuck Towslee of Manchester seventh with Lori Langevin of Londonderry ninth. Dan Older of Ballston Spa, N.Y. won the Limited feature over Brandon's Mike Clark, and Kayla Bryant of Rutland won the Mini Stock/Duke Stock race.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Putney driver Dana Shepard finished 10th in the Super Stock race on Saturday with Vernon's Heath Renaud 14th. Joe Rogers of Ludlow was 11th in the Mini Stock feature. Dick Houle of West Brattleboro was second in the 4-cylinder Enduro with Vernon's Josh Houle third.

Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, Me.): John Donahue of Graniteville finished third in the TD Banknorth 250 on Sunday night behind Eddie MacDonald and Patrick Laperle. Williston's Brian Hoar was fourth, Brent Dragon of Milton was sixth, and Cris Michaud of Northfield was eighth.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Derek Ming of Island Pond won the Outlaw Sportsman feature on Saturday night with David Ofsuryk, Jr. of Newport Center fourth and Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury sixth, while Dilyn Switser of West Burke won the Super Stock feature with Lyndonville's Ben Bedor seventh. Hardwick's Andy Fecteau won the first of two Street Stock features over Derby Line driver Brendan Hunt and West Burke's Jesse Switser, while Swister and Kyle Pembroke of Montpelier finished second and third, respectively, behind Brandon Lambert in the second feature. Ernie LaPlant of Lyndonville was third in the Dwarf Car feature, while Cabot's Johanna Christman posted finishes of first and second in the two Angel features.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Late Model driver Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton scored his first win of the year in Thursday's Times Argus Mid-Season Championship, over Dave Pembroke of Middlesex, Doug Murphy of Tunbridge, Craig Bushey of Cambridge, and Phil Scott of Montpelier. Kris Grout of Waterbury won the Tiger Sportsman feature, with Plainfield's Matt Potter, Joey Roberts of Georgia, Pete Ainsworth of Middlesex, and North Wolcott's Brendan Moodie in tow. Tunbridge driver Gary Mullen won the Street Stock feature over Graniteville rookie Travis Hull, Mike Martin of Crafstbury Common, Garry Bashaw of Lincoln, and East Haven's Michael Moore, while Waterbury's Josh Erwin inherited the Junkyard Warrior win in the tech line over Barre's Kevin Dodge, Donny Yates of North Montpelier, Lance Donald of Williamstown, and Keith Fortier of Hinesburg.

True Value Modified Racing Series: Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney finished second in the Maine-ly Action Sports 100 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday night, with brother Peter Jarvis, also of Ascutney, in sixth. Point leader Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was the winner.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Ascutney's Chris Riendeau finished sixth in Sunday's Late Model feature with Rutland's Dallas Trombley seventh and Dola Holland of Ludlow ninth. Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis scored his first Modified win with Riendeau fourth, Leo Martin, Jr. of Windsor seventh, Nate Kehoe of Windham eighth, and Peter Jarvis of Ascutney tenth. Russ Davis of Cavendish was second in the Super Street race with fifth Mendon's Chris Wilk third. Tara Tarbell of Springfield won the Strictly Stock feature with Michael Burke of Bellows Falls sixth and Josh Lovely of Barre seventh. Kyle Small of Quechee won the Wildcat race over Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield and Cody Small of Hartland.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury was second in the Late Model feature on Saturday night with McIndoe Falls driver Bernie Lantagne eighth. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville finished third in the Strictly Stocks with Milton's Gordie Stone eighth, while Concord driver Rubin Call was the Strictly Stock Mini runner-up.

***

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre is back in action on Thursday night, while the True Value Modified Racing Series is at Thompson Int'l Speedway in Connecticut. The Jake McDowell Memorial Street Stock 100 is at Riverside Speedway on Friday night while regular events will be held at Albany-Saratoga, Canaan Dirt, and Twin State. The ACT Late Model Tour is at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me. on Saturday, while the PASS North Super Late Models are at Riverside, the SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars are at Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway, and regular events are held at Airborne, Canaan Fair, Monadnock, and White Mountain. Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven will have the Empire Lightning Sprints on Sunday along with a regular program.

PHOTOS: TD Banknorth 250 Weekend

Cris Michaud's #6x car and 42 others are staged on the starting grid during driver introductions at the TD Banknorth 250. The weekend at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway was full of action on the track and in the pits. Click here for an 89-photo gallery. All photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM.

"Backwards Rookie" Hoar Making Progress

OXFORD, Me. -- "I've never been so nervous before a heat race," Brian Hoar said on Sunday afternoon, just after finishing second in the first qualifying heat for the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. And then he grinned. "We made it," he said, and then he looked out the window of his motorcoach to watch the next round of races.

Brian Hoar -- champion five times over and the all-time winner on the American-Canadian Tour, champion at Airborne Speedway, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, two-time Milk Bowl winner, accomplished superspeedway and road course racer -- was as giddy as a school child over a second-place finish in a simple 20-lap heat race.

The Williston veteran, nearing his 20th season behind the wheel, had just qualified for his first Oxford 250.

"I've tried four times to make it into this race now," said Hoar. "We missed it two years ago in our own car, we came here in 2000 running our old Late Model against the Pro Stocks, and my dad had a Pro Stock that I brought over in the '90s. After all these years, we finally made it in. I'm so excited, I'm pumped."

Driving for the Georgia, Vt.-based RPM Motorsports team for owner Rick Paya on the ACT Late Model Tour this season, Hoar says he's "still learning" how to drive the ACT cars. He made a season-long effort in 2007 in his own family-backed team, but was unable to regain the dominance he knew in the 1990s, or from 1997-2000 during a four-year reign as the ACT champion. After sitting idle last year, Hoar is looking stronger in his new ride this season; many expect a win out of him soon.

"I feel like a backwards rookie, maybe that's why we've got a yellow stripe on the front of the car," he joked. "I'm still learning how to drive these Late Models again. Everything is different than when we ran years ago with big motors and tire softener. All those races and titles I won, that was almost ten years ago, it's been so long. It's totally different now, I'm just starting over."

Overall, the born-again freshman is doing well in his studies this year: he's scored a pair of top-fives in ACT competition, including a runner-up finish at Thunder Road in May, and has had just one poor finish, 22nd at White Mountain Motorsport Park in June after a multi-car wreck. He sits third in points after seven events, just 55 markers behind leader Scott Payea.

And Sunday, he led 39 laps in the Oxford 250 before finishing fourth.

Not a bad effort for a rookie.



(PHOTOS: 1. Brian Hoar works under the hood of his #37 ride; 2. Hoar may have a yellow stripe on his car, but he's no rookie. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

TD BANKNORTH 250: Outlaw MacDonald Now Among Elite

OXFORD, Me. -- Eddie MacDonald lived the northeastern short track driver's dream on Sunday night, winning the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. In doing so, he collected the $25,000 winner's purse, another $10,200 in lap leader bonuses, an invitation to compete at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and a place in the annals of national short track racing lore.

The 29 year-old Rowley, Mass. racer, a regular on the NASCAR Camping World Series East and nicknamed "Outlaw" for his penchant to invade the occasional ACT or PASS event, was one of nearly a dozen drivers that played major -- and very entertaining -- roles in the 36th running of the classic event. The battle for the lead was almost exclusively two- or three-wide for the first two-thirds of the race, and the duels between MacDonald, Brent Dragon, John Donahue, Patrick Laperle, Brian Hoar, Ben Rowe, Joey Polewarczyk, Cris Michaud, Brad Leighton, and Nick Sweet -- all of them -- will likely remain etched in the memories of the thousands of race fans that watched them perform brilliantly on the biggest stage in asphalt Late Model racing for years to come.

MacDonald struggled in practice sessions throughout the weekend, but came alive during his qualifying heat race, running three-wide on the top to take the win and earn the third starting position for the Oxford 250. At the beginning of the main event, MacDonald and polesitter Dragon swapped the lead twice in the first 14 laps. MacDonald then raced with Laperle, Donahue, Michaud, and Leighton through lapped traffic inside the top-five before taking the lead from Donahue on lap 119.

He pitted for four tires on lap 129, but his resulting drive to the front was a quick one -- three-wide, of course -- as he retook the lead from Hoar just 38 laps later with what was ultimately the winning pass. Laperle, ot St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Qué., caught MacDonald late in the going, but was only able to run in the low groove over the race's final laps and proved to be no match for MacDonald as his tires went away.

For MacDonald and his team, the appreciation for the victory was felt on several levels: Crew chief Rollie LaChance began working on race cars many years ago at Oxford Plains Speedway. The pair have teamed to win a pair of Camping World events at New Hampshire, and set winning the Oxford 250 as their next major goal. And, after the struggles in practice, the win was a big turnaround. The win adds MacDonald's name to a list of previous winners that reads like a who's who of stock car racing; past champions of the Oxford 250 include Butch Lindley, Geoff Bodine, Junior Hanley, Dave Dion, Mike and Ben Rowe, and last year's winner, former Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick.

"This is just unbelievable. It's huge for our team," MacDonald said. "My crew chief, Rollie LaChance, he's from 15 minutes away from here, and he just does an awesome job, he does everything to 100 percent, and each and every one of the guys on the crew just works so hard.

"I've been coming up here for a while now. I came here probably 15 or 18 years ago with my father to watch the 250 and just watch these guys. I never thought I'd be able to come here and win the thing."

MacDonald said he owed the win to his team. "I was actually pretty discouraged in practice," he said. "We practiced for six hours straight [Saturday and Sunday], and we tried everything we could possibly think of to make the car faster. We weren't the fastest car all weekend long in practice, and Rollie, the crew chief, is just unbelievable to be able to turn the car around and get it to be this fast. I felt so bad for my guys today working in the heat. They were running around, I had them changing tires -- every five laps we'd come in and change something [during practice]. It's just an awesome group of guys and I'm so thankful to win this one."

Laperle had mixed feelings about his runner-up finish -- the best effort by a Canadian driver since Dave Whitlock's 1995 victory.

"The car was tight, I mean, I was not about to go on the outside," said an emotionally drained Laperle, who finished 35th last year and had just one top-ten effort (ninth in 2004) to his credit. "When Eddie saw my line on the bottom, he went on the bottom groove. I mean, he beat me. At first I was a little sad. I think I led, like, one lap, and I finished second, that's 12 grand, so it's 12 grand and 100 dollars. So it's okay. Right now I'm sad, but at the RV, we're going to have a party. I'm happy about the guys, they did a great job, they [made] a good call during the pit stop, so I'm happy for them. I'm glad it's over."

Graniteville driver Donahue, who led for a total 27 laps, including a stretch of 22 laps after a breathtaking three-wide move under Dragon and Laperle on the 91st circuit, seemed to have had the time of his life in finishing third.

"At the beginning I was going to go chase down Brent [for the lead]," said Donahue. "We got into the top three there, Patrick was in there, running three, four, five-wide when I took the lead, that was fun. Man was that fun. We're just happy. We've had a couple of bad races, this will pick up the whole team, we needed this."

Hoar, of Williston, led 39 laps before finishing fourth. Oxford regular Shawn Martin of Turner, Me. finished fifth for his second consecutive top-five run in the Oxford 250. Dragon, Rowe, Michaud, Leighton, and Travis Stearns completed the top ten in order. Donahue's teammate for the day, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steve Wallace, finished 21st, three laps down. Wallace's uncle, fellow Nationwide driver Kenny Wallace, retired in 33rd place with a souring engine.

With the victory, MacDonald now has the chance to return to familiar territory -- victory lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He and LaChance swept the Camping World Series East races at the 1-mile superspeedway in 2008, and now they'll try for the win in the inaugural ACT Invitational at the track in September; as the winner of the Oxford 250, MacDonald automatically qualifies for the race.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "With the New Hampshire wins last year and [the Oxford 250] this year, it's huge. [Winning the NHMS qualifier] is the best part, I wanted to be able to run there with this car and I didn't know how we were going to get an invitation, but finally we were able to get one." The winners of all ACT Late Model Tour, ACT Castrol Series, and a handful of 'open' events around the northeast will earn a starting berth for the ACT Invitational; as MacDonald's full-time commitment to Camping World Series dictates, his schedule did not allow him to run many ACT races in 2009. The Oxford 250 was only his third start in the Late Model car this season.

"I figured there'd be a caution with, you know, 20 laps to go, or ten to go, or even at one to go," MacDonald said. "I was thinking, 'The caution's gotta come out.' I was praying it didn't come and luckily it didn't and everything worked just the way we needed it to."

And with things just the way "Outlaw" Eddie MacDonald needed them, he cemented his place among the elite winners at the top of the short track stock car racing world.

OFFICIAL RESULTS -- TD Banknorth 250
Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Sunday, July 19, 2009

Pos.-(Start)-Car No.-Driver-Hometown-Laps Completed-Money Won
1. (3) 17x Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., 326, $35,300
2. (10) 91 Patrick Laperle, St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Qué., 326, $12,600
3. (6) 26VT John Donahue, Graniteville, 326, $10,200
4. (7) 37x Brian Hoar, Williston, 326, $9,800
5. (29) 94 Shawn Martin, Turner, Me., 326, $5,000
6. (1) 55VT Brent Dragon, Milton, 326, $12,100
7. (32) 10NH Ben Rowe, Turner, Me., 326, $3,500
8. (4) 6x Cris Michaud, Northfield, 326, $3,000
9. (8) 55NH Brad Leighton, Center Harbor, N.H., 326, $2,500
10. (2) 85 Travis Stearns, Auburn, Me., 326, $2,400
11. (5) 03e Travis Adams, Canton, Me., 326, $2,300
12. (11) 25 Shawn Knight, South Paris, Me., 326, $2,200
13. (15) 15VT Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, 326, $2,100
14. (21) 71 Scott Dragon, Milton, 326, $2,050
15. (12) 97 Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H., 325, $2,000
16. (9) 88 Nick Sweet, Barre, 325, $1,850
17. (37) 48q Karl Allard, St-Félicien, Qué., 324, $1,750
18. (31) 7ME Glen Luce, Turner, Me., 324, $1,700
19. (24) 51ME Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me., 324, $1,650
20. (39) 7VT Eric Williams, Hyde Park, 324, $1,600
21. (42) 66 Steve Wallace, Charlotte, N.C., 323, $1,550
22. (30) 02 Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H., 323, $1,520
23. (41) 72 Scott Robbins, Dixfield, Me., 322, $1,500
24. (38) 57 Doug Coombs, Livermore, Me., 318, $1,450
25. (40) 15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, Me., 318, $1,425
26. (26) 26ME Corey Morgan, Lewiston, Me., 318, $1,400
27. (34) 16 Joey Becker, Jeffersonville, 316, $1,375
28. (36) 63 Don Wentworth, Otisfield, Me., 315, $1,350
29. (33) 10ME Jimmy Childs, Leeds, Me., 312, $1,325
30. (23) 41 Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville, 309, $1,300
31. (13) 50 Jeff White, Winthrop, Me., 303, $1,275
32. (19) 48 Kenny Harrison, Pownal, Me., 274, $1,250
33. (43) 51MO Kenny Wallace, St. Louis, Mo., 269, $1,225
34. (35) 18 Carey Martin, Denmark, Me., 245, $1,200
35. (28) 36 Brad Hammond, Turner, Me., 227, $1,150
36. (27) 17ON Pete Sheppard, Brampton, Ont., 211, $1,125
37. (16) 80 Donald Theetge, Boischatel, Qué., 209, $1,125
38. (22) 6 Tommy Ricker, Poland, Me., 187, $1,125
39. (25) 37 Larry Gelinas, Scarborough, Me., 175, $1,125
40. (17) 1c Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, Me., 154, $1,125
41. (20) 1 Al Hammond, Paris, Me., 149, $1,125
42. (18) 78 Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H., 101, $1,125
43. (14) 60 Tim Brackett, Buckfield, Me., 97, $1,125

Green flag lap leaders: B. Dragon 1-4, MacDonald 5-13, B. Dragon 14-90, Donahue 91-112, Laperle 113, Donahue 114-118, MacDonald 119-129, Hoar 130-167, MacDonald 168-250
Cautions: 10 (laps 32, 32, 91, 129, 134, 135, 165, 167, 183, 212)
Time of race: 2 hours, 10 minutes, 48.591 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.969 seconds


(PHOTOS: 1. A jubilant Eddie MacDonald prepares to exit his winning car at the TD Banknorth 250; 2. MacDonald (#17x) runs the high groove around Scott Dragon (#71) and Joey Laquerre (#15VT) on his way to winning Heat 3; 3. MacDonald credited his crew with the win; 4. The spoils of winning at Oxford. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Congratulations to Eddie MacDonald and team!

"Outlaw" Eddie MacDonald captured the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday night, taking $35,200 and a piece of short track racing history home with him in the process. Our congratulations to MacDonald, crew chief Rollie LaChance, and the entire #17x team. VMM will have a recap of the weekend soon.

TD BANKNORTH 250: We'll Be There, Not Here

The MotorMag is headed east this weekend for the biggest show of the year, the TD Banknorth 250 at Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway, with stops at Northeastern Speedway and the New England Forest Rally (and, most likely, the Oxford Plains Fun Park for some go-kart racing) along the way.

As we're not totally up on technology's latest advancements, we're probably not going to be able to do the live-update thing, but rather we'll bring you a full recap of the weekend's events after they're over. That is, of course, unless something unexpected happens where we'll have a computer or web-accessible phone that becomes suddenly, magically available.

In the mean time, we highly recommend hanging out at Green-White-Checker and The Backstretch. Travis Barrett and Shawn Courchesne are not only buddies of ours (actually, VMM is more like the annoying younger cousin that only shows up at family reunions), they're the clear-cut leaders in northeastern short track racing coverage, and are sure to be on top of things as they happen.

But, hey, check in here every now and then, too, we might get lucky.

And by the way, thanks to all of our readers out there in the Green Mountains and beyond. According to our stat counter, these last few days have been some of the most successful that this little blog has ever seen. VMM is not quite six months old, but we're encouraged by the positive feedback we've received so far. And we've been very happy (believe it or not) to get the negative feedback, too -- it'll only make us work harder.

So thanks a lot, racers, we love ya!

TD BANKNORTH 250: Payea Won't Be There

OXFORD, Me. -- American-Canadian Tour point leader Scott Payea's name was on the list of 109 "probable" entries released by Oxford Plains Speedway on Wednesday for the track's $25,000-to-win TD Banknorth 250 this Sunday, but the Milton driver confirmed on Thursday afternoon that he will not be participating in the event.

Payea says he has too much on the line. "We can't afford it this year from a money and risk standpoint," he said via text message. "With only one car this year my focus is on the Tour."

Payea leads Hudson, N.H. driver Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. by 23 points after seven ACT Late Model Tour events. The '250' is not an ACT championship event, although, like all ACT races this season, the winner will become qualified for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

Payea finished third in the TD Banknorth 250 in 2007. (Payea photo by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

***

Driver Webster Killed at OPS on Wednesday

Oxford Plains Speedway Acceleration Series driver Charlie Webster, 38, of Auburn, Me., died after a crash at the track on Wednesday evening. Webster was racing in the Runnin' Rebel division when his car struck a retaining wall off Turn 2; he was pronounced dead at Stephens Memorial Hospital in nearby Norway, Me. shortly after.

Oxford Plains Speedway released the following statement on its website: "The entire Oxford Plains Speedway family expresses our deepest condolences to the family of Charlie Webster. Charlie was a valued member of our community, and we will miss him."

The Juice: A Crazy Weekend, And Some Unsolicited Advice

-by Justin St. Louis

Well, we've finally lost it. Yours truly has drafted a couple of nostalgia-loving parents, a toddler with an increasing affinity for loud race cars, and perhaps most importantly, some daffy friends with reliable transportation, a camper, and a tolerance for me, for one completely bizarre weekend of racing.

Thursday, it's off to Thunder Road in Barre for the annual Times Argus Mid-Season Championships. Friday, we'll live a regular life with responsibilities and work and all that boring stuff. But Saturday, we're headed with the family to the tiny town of Waterford, just between St. Johnsbury, Vt. and Littleton, N.H., for the 50-year reunion and grand re-opening of Northeastern Speedway. After kissing the family goodbye at Northeastern, said friends and I will head to Berlin, N.H. for the second day of the New England Forest Rally, where we'll see the Vermont SportsCar factory-supported Subaru team in action with the likes of Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Dave Mirra driving gravity-defying, Colchester-built WRX STis, plus top racers Antoine L'Estage and Andi Mancin (we'll admit that we didn't even have to research those names -- following Rally America is a guilty pleasure of ours here at VMM HQ).

A few hours later, we'll complete the trip across Route 2 and down Route 26 to Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway for the True Value Modified Racing Series, Strictlies and Minis, and hopefully, some Late Model practice if we get there in time. Practice, of course, is in preparation for the mother of all short track events -- Sunday's TD Banknorth 250.

A list of 109 "probable" entries was released Wednesday at the event's annual Media Day in Westbrook, Me., and half of the drivers in attendance picked 20 year-old Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. to win. Polewarczyk, of Hudson, N.H., has been riding a huge wave of recent momentum that has even shown up on the national racing radar, and will look to improve upon his third-place finish in last year's race. Entries are expected from eight U.S. states plus Québec and Ontario, including NASCAR's Kenny and Steven Wallace, gunning for a purse that guarantees the winner $25,000, plus lap money.

If you haven't yet been to an Oxford 250, do yourself a favor and go. Just go. You have to. It's one of those special events where you'll find yourself mouth agape after a last-lap pass for the final transfer spot in one of the six heat races. You'll thrill to see your favorite driver beat his or her rival on the outside, three- or four-wide in Oxford's top groove. You'll get goosebumps when a local racer comes back from a heat race wreck, beats the touring stars to win one of the 'hooligan' races, then turns down the $1,500 winner's prize in favor of a starting spot in the main event, proudly proclaiming, "I'm racin' the 250!" over the microphone.

We can't wait to see what happens this year, and we've felt that way since the checkered flag fell last year. You should be there, too.

***

Quick things:

1. Apparently, C.V. Elms hasn't lost his touch behind the wheel. The promoter of Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway took his second "Ridge Runner Series" victory of the season at Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven on Sunday.
2. Jeremy Mayfield simply needs to disappear.
3. Congratulations to Danville youngster Steven Legendre on his first career PASS North Super Late Model top-ten finish, a sixth-place effort, at Connecticut's Thompson Int'l Speedway on Saturday.
4. Kenny St. Germaine may be the toughest guy in America right now. The Airborne Speedway racer lost his home, a family member, and most of his belongings in a devastating fire last week, then, with a lot of help from the Airborne community, finished third in the Renegade race on Sunday. That takes some grit, and our hat's off to Kenny, and to the supporters of Airborne for rallying behind one of their own.

***

Here's our take on Thunder Road's Street Stock and Junkyard Warrior merger/split: The drivers that are complaining about it should just shut up and race their cars already. That's it.

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon here, this crying and whining business didn't happen in the old days. We were there on the track and in the pits a decade ago when the Street Stocks at Thunder Road were pulling in 50 to 60 cars a night, when half of the field was going home without qualifying for the feature. There wasn't a Warrior division, there wasn't a 'reserve' feature where we got to race a feature's worth of laps and gain a feature's worth of experience, even if it wasn't the main event. There weren't two winners, two sets of trophies, two purses, two champions. There were four or five drivers that had a great night, and 45 that took their lumps and came back the next week with higher hopes.

I'm telling the 45 drivers right now that aren't taking their lumps like they should, to grow up and get over themselves. If you're racing an entry-level four-cylinder car at a local short track, you need to realize that, no matter what you might want to believe, Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick aren't gonna come calling any time soon. Take a deep breath, race to your potential given the circumstances you've been handed on a particular night, don't take everything personally, and -- gasp! -- JUST HAVE FUN.

Listen, in 2000, I had a pretty great car, one that was much better than its driver, and I failed to qualify seven times out of 16 events. Seven times. In 2001, I missed nine out of 18. Nine! Half! And you know what? I had a blast. We all did.

The disparity was as bad then as it is now with the Streets and Warriors running together. Back then, there were 25 cars that could win, and 25 cars that had no chance at all. The key was that we all got along because we knew our fate and accepted it. More often than not, I was in the "no chance" group during those first two years, but I took advice and learned as much as I could. The veteran drivers offered a helping hand to the young kids like me. Guys like David Allen, Tommy Smith, Joe Fecteau, Lloyd Blakley, and a bunch more. By 2002, I was quite a bit better, winning races, contending for titles, and getting to the point where I could give a bit advice while I still listened to the more experienced drivers. Allen, Tommy Thunder, and Super Joe are still there and still helping, but it seems like some of the younger drivers -- in both divisions -- have stopped listening. If that's the attitude a racer is going to have, that racer shouldn't have a car at all.

If you're stuck in traffic behind some slower cars, either deal with it and try to outsmart your opponents like a sportsman would, or pull it onto the hauler. If you're in position to win, go for it. But for God's sake, don't just wreck a guy because he's slower than you, then complain that the system is flawed and you got screwed. You don't see Jeff Gordon or Mark Martin or Tony Stewart running over Dave Blaney or Joe Nemechek, you see them using patience. It works. Accept your fate, finish 24th, and keep in mind that the handicap system will reward you the next week with a better starting spot.

But taking a very positive thing like the two-division merger -- which provided the excitement it was intended to provide for race fans (which are more important in this business right now than they've ever been), and which began to lay the groundwork for the future survival of both classes -- and ruining it in six weeks is a shame. Tom Curley was beat up all year about it by the whiners, and finally he had to do something or he was going to start losing race teams. But I'll tell you this: Curley should have stuck to his guns and kept the divisions together, and here's hoping he goes back to the way it was two weeks ago. If the whiners want to quit, let 'em quit. Let 'em go somewhere else and run single-file every week and have a great time finishing sixth over and over if that's what they want. When they decide after a couple years of boring "racing" that they really did like Thunder Road, but they come back and the divisions are gone because a solution couldn't be found to appease every last driver, then they'll realize that they made a mistake by taking things for granted and throwing a tantrum.

No one is bigger than the show.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

ACT Late Model Tour: Point leader Scott Payea of Milton finished third at Kawartha Speedway's Summer Sizzler 200 on Sunday behind New Hampshire racers Brad Leighton and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. Williston's Brian Hoar was sixth, and Chip Grenier of Graniteville finished tenth.

ACT Tiger Sportsman Tri-State Series: Shawn Duquette of Morrisonville, N.Y. won the series' opening round at Airborne Speedway on Sunday in a 100-lap race. Jason Bonnett of St. Albans was awarded the runner-up position after Tylor Terry failed inspection. ACT Late Model Tour regular Joey Becker of Jeffersonville was seventh, Joey Roebrts of Georgia was ninth, and Shawn Fleury of Middlesex was tenth. Former Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine finished sixth.

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Aaron Bartemy of Sheldon earned his first career Modified feature win on Sunday night with Don Scarborough of Brandon fifth. Kevin Boutin of Swanton finished fourth in the Renegades with Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax sixth, Milton's Rob Gordon eighth, and Mike Terry of Grand Isle tenth. Curtis Demore of Milton was ninth in the Bomber feature.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Todd Stone of Middlebury continued a strong season by finishing third in the 358 Modified feature on Friday night, while Rob Langevin of Londonderry finished second in the Sportsman event. Frank Hoard, III of Manchester was tenth in the Budget Sportsman race. Londonderry's Lori Langevin was fifth in the Pro Street Stock race with Castleton's Ed Thompson sixth and Fred Little of Salisbury eighth.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Saturday's Mid-Season Championship races were postponed by rains that moved in during qualifying heats.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Gene Pierson of East Corinth finished fourth in the Sportsman Modified event on Friday night, while Dave Lacasse of Thetford Center was fifth. Street Stock top guns Will Hull of East Montpelier and Dan Eastman of Thetford Center stuggled, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Josh Sunn of White River Junction was third in the Mini Stock race with Wilder's Andy Johnson fourth and Ryan Dutton of Bradford fifth.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Chris Wilk of Mendon finished fourth in the Pro Stock feature on Sunday, then won the Super Street race over Bradford's Arnie Stygles. Chris Riendeau of Ascutney was the Pure Stock winner, while Jamie Hodgdon, also of Ascutney, was fifth. Chris McKinstry of Thetford won the Outlaw Mini race with Robert Gioia of East Thetford third and Bobby Prior of White River Junction fourth. Bruce Jaycox of Hartland won the Bandit feature over Quechee's Kyle Small, while Ascutney's Tyler Lescord was fourth.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): In a 50-lap Ridge Runner Series race won by C.V. "Butch" Elms on Sunday, Middlebury's Hunter Bates finished sixth in the Budget Sportsman division, with Cullen Howe of South Londonderry ninth. Lori Langevin of Londonderry was third in the Pro Street Stock feature with Carl Vladyka of Fair Haven fourth, Fred Little of Salisbury fifth, Chuck Towslee of Manchester sixth, and Jeff Washburn of Benson tenth. Mike Clark of Brandon was the Limited winner over Hydeville's Bill Duprey. Kayla Bryant of Rutland won the six-cylinder Mini Stock race, Nathan Woodworth of Essex Junction was the top four-cylinder Mini, and Chris Murray of Poultney was the Duke Stock runner-up.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Vernon's Heath Renaud finished 11th in the Super Stock race on Saturday, one spot better than Putney driver Dana Shepard. Joe Rogers of Ludlow was ninth in the Mini Stock feature. The Modified feature was rained out, as were the four- and eight-cylinder Enduros.

PASS North Super Late Models: Rookie Steven Legendre of Danville finished a career-best sixth on Saturday at Thompson Int'l Speedway in Connecticut, then finished 23rd at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire on Tuesday night. Derek Ramstrom won at Thompson, while Johnny Clark was the Lee winner.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Mike Paquette won Saturday's rain-shortened Late Model feature. Paul Schartner, III of Lyndonville was fourth with St. Johnsbury's Bob Ailes, Sr. fifth. All other features were rained out.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Grant Folsom of Waitsfield earned his first career Late Model win on Thursday over Montpelier's Phil Scott, Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, Mike Bailey of South Barre, and Middlesex's Dave Pembroke. Eric Badore of Milton took his first career Tiger Sportsman victory over Northfield's Jeff French, Barre's Cody Blake, Ray Stearns of East Corinth, and Mark Barnier of Essex Junction. Hyde Park rookie Tucker Williams took his second Street Stock win of the season over Williamstown's Mike MacAskill, Gary Mullen of Tunbridge, Jason Corliss of Danville, and Tommy Smith of Williamstown. Ken Christman of Cabot raced to his first career Junkyard Warrior win over Montpelier's Alex Whitcomb, Waitsfield drivers Troy Kingsbury and Kevin Streeter, and Mark LaFleche of Williamstown.

True Value Modified Racing Series: Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney finished eighth in the Laticrete/Port City 100 at Lee USA Speedway on Saturday night. Veteran driver Jimmy Kuhn, Jr. took his first career TVMRS win.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland was the Late Model runner-up on Friday night, with Ascutney's Chris Riendeau fifth. Zach Jewett of Perkinsville finished fifth in the Modified feature, while Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis beat his father, Peter Jarvis, for sixth. Nate Kehoe of Windham was eighth. Russ Davis of Cavendish was third in the Super Street race with fifth Mendon's Chris Wilk fourth. Tara Tarbell of Springfield was second in the Strictly Stock feature with Michael Burke of Bellows Falls fifth, West Hartford's Jeremy Blood sixth, and Josh Lovely of Barre seventh. The Wildcat finish was a carbon copy of the week before, with Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield winning over Cody Small of Hartland and Cavendish driver Rob Leitch.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Stevie Parker of Lyndonville finished third in the Strictly Stock race on Saturday night with Milton's Gordie Stone seventh. Concord's Rubin Call won the Strictly Stock Mini feature. The Late Model event was rained out.

***

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre is in action on Thursday night with the double-points Mid-Season Championships. Regular events will be held at Albany-Saratoga, Canaan Dirt, and Twin State on Friday. Saturday has the grand re-opening of Northeastern Speedway in Lower Waterford, while the True Value Modified Racing Series at Oxford Plains Speedway, Granite State Mini Sprints and previously rained-out Mid-Season Championships for the weekly divisions are at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Late Model Triple-25s are at White Mountain Motorsports Park, and regular events are held at Airborne, Canaan Fair, and Riverside. Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven will have kids rides on Sunday, while Oxford Plains Speedway hosts the $25,000-to-win TD Banknorth 250.

TD BANKNORTH 250: Wallaces to Drive for Roberts, Brackett

OXFORD, Me. -- NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers Kenny and Steven Wallace will head to Maine's Oxford Plains Speedway this weekend for the TD Banknorth 250 -- regarded as one of the most important short track races in America -- and they'll be driving stout equipment once they get there.

Kenny Wallace will be driving a car owned by Mark Brackett of Jay, Me. as a teammate to multi-time OPS champion and ACT Late Model Tour winner Ricky Rolfe, while his nephew Steven will race a National Guard-sponsored car owned by Kendall Roberts of Barre. Roberts' lead driver, Graniteville veteran John Donahue, took a dominant ACT victory at White Mountain Motorsports Park last month, finished second at Oxford in May, and ranks fifth in points.

Roberts is happy to have Steven Wallace, 21, behind the wheel of his car at the TD Banknorth 250. After 18 events on the Nationwide Series this season, Wallace sits ninth in points with five top-ten finishes, including a season-best sixth-place effort at the Milwaukee Mile and a seventh at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"Steven is a talented kid," said Roberts. "He was a very good short tracker a few years ago, and I think he's excited for [the 250]." Before embarking on a Nationwide career, Wallace was a former winner of the prestigious Snowball Derby 300 at Pensacola, Fla., and won the first-ever UARA Late Model event at the Bristol half-mile.

The Wallaces will be racing at Gateway Int'l Raceway in their hometown of St. Louis, Mo. on Saturday night, and are expected to arrive at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday morning. Another young racer, D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, N.H., will help to shake down Steven Wallace's car during practice sessions on Saturday afternoon, and will serve as co-crew chief with Roberts for the race. His father, legendary driver and chassis builder Dale Shaw, will also be involved with the effort, though mostly focusing on Donahue's car.

"I think Steven should feel pretty comfortable in the car right off the bat," said Roberts. "He and John are about the same size, so he should fit well in the car, and John gets around Oxford pretty good. If we can get Steven to follow John for a few laps on Sunday morning and learn the lines, I'm sure he'll pick the rest up on his own pretty quick.

"The National Guard is excited to have him race for them, I'm excited, and Steven is excited. He's got a guaranteed [starting spot] with the NASCAR provisional that Oxford gives every year, and I am confident enough in John that I guaranteed him he'll be in the race, too. Plus, we've got Dale and D.J. helping, and Steven's regular spotter is coming up to help him so he'll be comfortable. We should be pretty good."

Kenny Wallace, 14th in Nationwide Series points, will be in good hands with the Brackett team; driving cars prepared by Brackett, Rolfe, also a noted chassis builder, won a regular event at Oxford on May 30 and nearly won the ACT event there two weeks earlier. He ranks 11th in points in his first full season with the series.

An avid short track racer and SPEED Channel analyst, Kenny Wallace has three feature victories on dirt tracks this season, and will have raced dirt events in Iowa, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan (tonight), and Illinois, along with the Nationwide event at St. Louis, in the week leading up to Sunday's TD Banknorth 250. He previously raced an ACT/OPS-type Late Model at Barre's Thunder Road in 2007, finishing 12th in a 50-lap event.



(PHOTOS: 1. Steven (left) and Kenny Wallace will be on hand for Sunday's TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford, Me.; 2. John Donahue dominated the ACT event at White Mountain Motorsports Park last month in Kendall Roberts' #26 car; 3. Rolfe's Mark Brackett-owned #51 ACT ride. Photo 1 courtesy National Speed Sport News/HHP/Eric Perel; Photos 2 and 3 by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

The Juice: Clearing The Air

-by Justin St. Louis

The buzz during the last couple of days has surrounded the Champlain Valley Racing Association and promoter Bruce Richards considering a change from dirt to asphalt racing at both Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven and Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., as soon as 2010.

The reason for the switch at Albany-Saratoga is multifaceted, including sprawling urban development in surrounding areas that are now being affected by dust from the track, and the opening of a microchip manufacturing plant in Malta. The dust clouds kicked up during events at the track have reportedly received complaints from residents and town officials in Malta, and would negatively affect the air quality surrounding the microchip plant, owned by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., which is said to need a 'clean' environment. The switch from dirt to asphalt at sister track Devil's Bowl would then be a matter of necessity, as the two speedways rely on many of the same racers and cars, and would need to continue with a common rule book for competitors at both tracks.

On a personal level, Todd Stone of Middlebury doesn't like the idea of a changeover.

"I went from racing dirt to asphalt, and then back to dirt, and I don't think I want to race asphalt again on a regular basis," he said. Stone, the defending 358 Modified track champion at Devil's Bowl, had a very successful stint racing asphalt Late Models at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. and with the American-Canadian Tour earlier in the decade, but says he prefers the dirt surfaces.

"Asphalt's not as much work, and I didn't enjoy it as much as dirt," he said. "On asphalt, you can have a phenomenal car, but if you get stuck in traffic, you just wait until you can pass a car, and sometimes you just can't. With dirt, you can try things like different lines -- you can go way up high, or you can go way down low to pass cars -- and it's more exciting."

But thinking beyond just his own preferences, Stone wonders what a change from dirt to asphalt would do to the budgets of his competitors.

"The big class at Malta and The Bowl is the Modifieds. For the rest of the divisions, it wouldn't be that big of a problem [to convert their cars to asphalt setups] -- the Budget Sportsmen, the four-cylinders, and all those guys -- but it would be a major change for the Modifieds," said Stone. He thinks that drivers like Brett Hearn and Kenny Tremont, who have much larger budgets than most teams -- and therefore, much more money invested in equipment for dirt racing at the two CVRA tracks -- would be reluctant to make the change, and would instead find another track to race at with similar rules. "I don't think a lot of the Modified guys would do it, I think they'd go to Fonda or Accord or somewhere else. You know, are they just going to throw away their dirt stuff? I don't think so."

Stone, who already has a Modified car built specifically for a part-time asphalt racing schedule at Airborne Speedway, says he also doubts that many teams from Airborne would support the CVRA tracks.

"[Airborne promoter] Mike Perrotte is getting great car counts, but he's pulling a lot of cars way out of Canada, and they're already hauling a long way to race. I don't think they would come all the way down here to race at Malta or Devil's Bowl."

Stone said he will likely have to make a major decision about the future of his race team, and soon. In theory, Stone said he could stay racing in Vermont at Bradford's Bear Ridge Speedway, "but we'd have to change all of our motors to the (smaller) Budget motor," which would be a major financial setback. "I really don't know what we would do. Maybe it's time to get out. I'm 41 and I've got three kids. I've been racing for 20 years, maybe if they switch I'll just stop racing."

Rest assured, we'll keep our eyes on this story.

***

Nice article about Barre's Thunder Road on NASCAR.com today. Dave Rodman pretty much nailed it, in our opinion.

***

Um, we don't mean to alarm you, but it's almost time for that glorious weekend road trip to Oxford, Maine. Early guesses: Joey Polewarczyk, Tim Brackett, Brian Hoar, and John Donahue, plus, oh, 20 others that have a chance. What's the Vegas line on Steven Wallace, 40:1?

***

Saturday is the opening round for the ACT Tri-State Series for the Tiger Sportsman class at Airborne Speedway. What's the Vegas line on Geoff Bodine, 85:1?

***

VMM erroneously reported last week that driver Jessica Zemken of Sprakers, N.Y. was in a driver development deal with NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. Our source, who had never steered us wrong before, was misinformed, and therefore, so were we. Shame on us for not doing better homework.

Twenty-three year-old Zemken is a standout driver in open-wheel dirt-track competition and has made a pair of Modified starts on the asphalt at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. this season behind the wheel of a car usually driven by track promoter Mike Perrotte, who is a competitor at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Devil's Bowl Speedway. On June 27, Zemken finished 12th in the car and had Stewart in the pits to lend a helping hand. Our source reported that Stewart was there to oversee Zemken, who was understood to have entered into a driver development contract with Stewart.

As VMM was attending the ACT Late Model Tour event at White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire, we were unable to confirm everything first-hand, and that's where the wires became crossed.

For the record, Zemken is not under a development contract with Tony Stewart, Tony Stewart Racing, or Stewart-Hass Racing. Stewart and Zemken have become friends through racing, and Stewart, in the northeast for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Loudon, N.H., flew to Plattsburgh and Airborne Speedway as no more than a crew member for Zemken's efforts. Again, our source reported bad information, and VMM dropped the ball by not confirming what we were told.

Our repeated efforts to contact Zemken since last week have gone fruitless, but Doug Elkins of dougsdirtdiary.com caught up with her at Utica-Rome Speedway on Sunday and she cleared up the story.

Our sincere apologies to Jessica Zemken, Tony Stewart, Mike Perrotte, Airborne Speedway, their fans and sponsors, and the readers of Vermont Motorsports Magazine. It is our goal to provide accurate, unbiased, and timely news concerning auto racing in and around Vermont. If VMM doesn't have integrity, it has nothing, so here we are, called on the carpet, admitting our mistake. Consider it an embarrassing lesson learned.

***

AROUND THE REGION:

Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Aaron Bartemy of Sheldon finished eighth in the Modified feature on Saturday night with Don Scarborough of Brandon ninth. Larry Underwood of Milton was fourth in the Sportsman feature, with Richie Turner of Fairfax seventh. Mike Terry of Grand Isle won the Renegade feature, with Swanton's Dave Rabtoy fourth, Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax ninth and Kevin Boutin of Swanton tenth.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Todd Stone of Middlebury finished second in the 358 Modified feature on Friday night, and Frank Hoard, III of Manchester was fourth in the Budget Sportsman race. Fred Little of Salisbury was fourth in the Pro Street Stock race with Londonderry's Lori Langevin eighth.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Saturday's races were cancelled due to bad track conditions caused by earlier rains.

Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Gene Pierson of East Corinth finished fifth in the Sportsman Modified event on Friday night, while East Thetford's Jason Gray was eighth and Dave Lacasse of Thetford Center was ninth. Dan Eastman of Thetford Center won the Street Stock race, with Ascutney's Cricket Williams fifth, Tyler Stygles of Bradford eighth, and Will Hull of East Montpelier tenth. Josh Sunn of White River Junction was second in the Mini Stock race with Wilder's Andy Johnson third. Alford Manning of Thetford Center was tenth in the Bandit race.

Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Saturday night's race card was rained out.

Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): In a weekend doubleheader, Cullen Howe of South Londonderry won the Budget Sportsman "Gold" feature on Saturday as part of the Ridge Runner Series, with Thetford Center's Wayne Stearns fourth and Frank Hoard, III of Manchester fifth. Rob Ketcham of Sudbury was the Limited winner on Saturday over Hydeville's Bill Duprey and Mike Clark of Brandon. Kayla Bryant of Rutland won the Mini Stock race. Tim LaDuc of Orwell was the 358 Modified runner-up on Sunday with Frank Hoard, Sr. of Manchester fourth, Jimmy Ryan of Whiting sixth, Brian Whittemore of Florence seventh, Vince Quenneville, Jr. of Brandon eighth, and Middlebury's Todd Stone beating his father, Gardiner Stone, for ninth place. Frank Hoard, III won the Budget Sportsman feature on Sunday, with Middlebury's Hunter Bates eighth. Carl Vladyka of Fair Haven was third in Sunday's Pro Street Stock feature, while Duprey was again the Limited runner-up.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): On Saturday, Dana Shepard of Putney finished 14th in the Super Stock race with Vernon's Heath Renaud 17th, while Whitingham rookie Ricky Bernard took a career-best fifth in the Mini Stock feature and Joe Rogers of Ludlow was 14th. It was a 1-2-3 Houle family sweep in the four-cylinder Enduro, as Vernon's Adam Houle over Dick Houle of West Brattleboro and Josh Houle of Vernon.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Bob Ailes, Sr. of St. Johnsbury finished tenth in Saturday's Late Model feature, and Concord's Denny Degreenia was the Super Stock runner-up with West Burke's Dilyn Switser fourth. Brendan Hunt of Derby Line was the Street Stock winner over Montpelier's Kyle Pembroke, Jesse Switser of West Burke, and Andrew Fecteau of Hardwick. Andy Simpson of Lyndon Center won the Cyclone race.

Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Reno Gervais of Island Pond earned his first career Late Model win on Sunday over Cambridge's Craig Bushey, Jamie Fisher of Shelburne, Matt White of Northfield, and Rich Lowrey of Williston. Washington's Ricky Roberts shrugged off a month of bad luck to win the Tiger Sportsman feature, with Waterbury's Brian Delphia second, Jeff Bousquet of Montpelier third, Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott fourth, and Middlesex's Pete Ainsworth, Jr. fifth. Tim Campbell of West Topsham won the Street Stock feature over North Troy's David Allen, Ron Gabaree of Barre, Danville's Bruce Melendy, and David Greenslit of Waitsfield. Lloyd Blakely of Barre won the Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior 'reserve' feature. Kevin Streeter of Waitsfield took his fourth Warrior win of the year after being his division's top driver -- seventh place -- in the 'reserve' race. Thursday's regular races were rained out.

True Value Modified Racing Series: Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney finished fourth in the Firecracker 100 at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday night, with brother Peter Jarvis, also of Ascutney, in 20th place. Kirk Alexander of West Swanzey, N.H. was the winner.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Chris Riendeau of Ascutney finished tenth in the Late Model feature on Friday as ACT regular Mark Hayward won in his first Twin State start of the season. Joey Jarvis of Ascutney was third in the Modified feature with Robert Hagar of Windsor fifth and Zach Jewett of Perkinsville sixth. Chris Wilk of Mendon won the Super Street race with Russ Davis of Cavendish fifth. Tara Tarbell of Springfield was eighth in the Strictly Stock feature with West Hartford's Jeremy Blood ninth. Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield won the Wildcat race over Cody Small of Hartland and Cavendish driver Rob Leitch.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury finished tenth in the Late Model feature on Saturday night. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville finished fifth in the Strictly Stock race with Milton's Gordie Stone sixth, and Concord's Rubin Call was second in the Strictly Stock Mini feature.

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Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre is in action on Thursday night with Kids Rides from 4:00-5:00pm. On Friday, the True Value Modified Racing Series is at Lee USA Speedway, while regular events will be held at Albany-Saratoga, Canaan Dirt, and Twin State. Saturday has the SCONE 360 Sprint Cars and Mid-Season Championships for the weekly divisions at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, the Full Fendered Frenzy for the PASS North Super Late Models and NASCAR Camping World Series East at Thompson Int'l Speedway in Connecticut, the opening round of the ACT Tiger Sportsman Tri-State Series at Airborne Speedway, and regular events at Canaan Fair, Riverside, and White Mountain. The Ridge Runner Series for Budget Sportsman cars will run on Sunday at Devil's Bowl Speedway, and the ACT Late Model Tour makes the long haul to beautiful Kawartha Speedway in Ontario for the Summer Sizzler 200.

LAST LAP: A few notes that have nowhere else to go

In a whirlwind couple of weeks, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.'s name keeps coming up. It seems the youngster is starting to be in high demand, and so is his equipment.

Bob Dillner of SPEED Channel, Speed51.com, and BDI Racing is in the process of reaching an agreement with Polewarczyk to have his driver, Michael Pope of Dublin, Ga., drive a Joey Pole Racing entry -- the same one NASCAR champion Tony Stewart drove at Thunder Road in the CARQUEST Vermont Governor's Cup 150 -- in next month's TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, and possibly, the ACT Late Model Tour event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway the following week.

In exchange, Dillner will have Polewarczyk, of Hudson, N.H., drive his PASS South Super Late Model at South Boston Speedway in Virginia for the Mason-Dixon Meltdown on October 17.

Also, we're hearing that we should expect Polewarczyk to make an appearance at the annual Oktoberfest at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in Wisconsin one week prior to the Mason-Dixon Meltdown, although the details of that arrangement -- a deal seperate from Dillner's -- are largely unknown at this point, even to Polewarczyk.

It was previously announced that Polewarczyk may also drive in a pair PASS North events at Lee USA Speedway and Seekonk Speedway for Eric DeSouza.

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Speaking of the TD Banknorth 250, Travis Barrett of Green-White-Checker is reporting that NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Steven Wallace will race a Kendall Roberts-owned National Guard entry in the event as a teammate to White Mountain 150 winner John Donahue.

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Cam Clairmont had Christmas come early this year. The Super Street driver at White Mountain Motorsports Park won his division's feature on Saturday night, but only after some lucky breaks. Early leader Jourdan Davis was black-flagged for a water leak, then Tyler Alati flat-out dumped leader Derek O'Hearn on lap 13, with both drivers going to the rear of the field for the subsequent restart. Clairmont, the new leader, then outlasted an outside-lane bid from Tim Churchill to take the win. Tom Keith won the Strictly Stock feature, with Opie Thayer taking Strictly Stock Mini checkers. Lucas Wheeler won the Kids Truck feature.

***

Three members of RPM Motorsports are lucky to be alive after a collision with a moose on Saturday night near Littleton, N.H. Ander Cary, Corey Forest, and Chris Burnett, crew members for the Rick Paya-owned team that fields ACT Late Model Tour entries for Brian Hoar, Mike Olsen, and Jason Bonnett, struck a young bull moose on Interstate 93 on the way back from White Mountain Motorsports Park. The roof of the Dodge Charger they were riding in was peeled back to the back seat of the car, but fortunately no injuries were sustained by any of the three men, other than bumps, bruises, and small cuts from shattered glass.

***

Tony Stewart has been a busy guy this weekend. After his race at Thunder Road on Thursday and all the stuff he does regularly on the NASCAR trail, this weekend at Loudon, N.H., Stewart flew to Plattsburgh, N.Y. and made a surprise visit to Airborne Speedway on Saturday night to help his development driver, Jessica Zemken, with her Modified for the double-points 30-lap feature. In her debut at Airborne, Zemken finished a respectable 12th.

Patrick Dupree earned his first win of the season after leader Leon Gonyo was forced to pit during a caution period with three laps remaining. Martin Roy finished second with Mike Bruno of Castelton third. Robin Wood -- who has a $100 bounty on his head for anyone that can beat him -- won his fourth-straight Sportsman feature. Other winners were Randy LaDue (Renegade), "Slow" Rick Doner (Mini-Modified), and Jayson Blondo (Bomber).