-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor
Bryan Kruczek set the sport of short track racing back 50 years last Friday night.
The Newmarket, N.H., driver is a leading weekly Late Model competitor at Lee USA Speedway, and is a part-time competitor with the American-Canadian Tour, most recently racing at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine last month. Last August Kruczek was invited to test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the inaugural ACT Invitational, and although he did not participate in the race, he was surprisingly fast at the Loudon mile.
On paper, Bryan Kruczek has proven himself a solid competitor for several years, both at and away from Lee USA Speedway. But what he did last week is simply inexcusable.
Four ACT teams that do not compete regularly at Lee USA Speedway took part in the track's Friday night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model program: Joey Polewarczyk, John Donahue, Glen Luce, and rookie Dave Farrington, Jr. Thirteen other teams were racing in the division that night including A.J. Begin, Wayne Helliwell, Jr., J.R. Baril, Jimmy Linardy and Miles Chipman, each one a name familiar to ACT fans.
Coming to the final lap of their qualifying heat race, Polewarczyk sat in third place as Kruczek -- who came from the rear after being penalized by Lee USA officials for a three-wide maneuver that caused a wreck in the opening laps of the race -- drilled Polewarczyk's rear bumper at the start/finish line. As Polewarczyk attempted to correct his car as it slid out of control toward the infield, Kruczek hit him again, this time hard enough to lift Polewarczyk's rear tires off the track.
With his front tires turned to the right while still attempting to make the first save, Polewarczyk's car immediately shot across the track and nearly head-on into the frontstretch wall, destroying the chassis and many bolt-on parts. Polewarczyk was not hurt in the crash, but strained a leg muscle from "standing on the brake pedal" with both feet as his car careened into the wall.
But far worse than the damage done to Polewarczyk's car was the fact that Kruczek intended to cause the crash, justifying his actions with an "us-against-them" attitude reminiscent of racing's earliest, most rambunctious days. When Polewarczyk confronted him in the pit area for an explanation, Kruczek essentially told Polewarczyk he wasn't welcome at Lee USA.
"I love racing at Lee and I've never had a problem with any of the drivers when I've raced there," Polewarczyk said. "But when I asked [Kruczek] why he wrecked me, he pointed at himself and said, 'I'm running for points, you ACT boys stick to your own turf.' I was shocked. I don't want to sound like a whiner, but that wreck was totally unnecessary and I'm lucky I wasn't hurt. We had an in-car camera, and the replays are scary to watch."
Polewarczyk said that his car's chassis was bent from the front clip to the center section, and that it needed to visit a fabricator for repairs before it could return to a raceable condition. Polewarczyk, Donahue, and Luce were at Lee USA to test their Ford crate engines after having them rebuilt at Butler-MacMaster in Maine.
Donahue said he "didn't trust" any of the drivers after Polewarczyk's crash and stayed out of the way for the rest of the evening, and according to another report, Farrington's team was also involved in a shouting match after the feature event later in the evening.
With the ACT rulebook expanding over the last decade to include Late Model divisions at nearly a dozen weekly tracks in the region, ACT Late Model Tour competitors have been encouraged to support weekly events, just as weekly competitors have been invited to race with ACT at other venues. Kruczek's participation in ACT over the past half-dozen years is a prime example of the rulebook working succesfully in both directions.
But his antics need to stop now. It appears that both Lee USA and ACT are doing their part in making sure that the Kruczek-Polewarczyk incident is a one-time-only happening.
"It was an unnecessary wreck," said Lee USA Speedway General Manager Bob Watson. "Bryan races here on a weekly basis, and I like the kid, he's a good little shoe, but sometimes he gets in a little over his head."
Watson said that Kruczek was involved in a racing incident in May 2009 that warranted a probationary period lasting through the season. "It seems like almost on a yearly basis we have to sit down and have a chat with him, and he was beautiful for the rest of the season last year," said Watson. "But we can't overlook this."
Watson said that Lee USA Speedway has suspended Kruczek from competition for two weeks and has again placed him on probation throught he 2010 season.
"We hope this is an isolated incident at Lee," said ACT President Tom Curley. "ACT encourages race teams to compete throughout the season, when the opportunity exists, at all tracks that are part of the ACT rules package." Curley said. "We have enjoyed much success with various teams joining the tour regulars at our events over the years [and] there are also many positive examples of ACT teams racing at other tracks besides the scheduled ACT events. We will continue to encourage that participation for what we perceive as good for fans, race teams, and promoters."
Kruczek's suspension means that he will not compete at Lee USA Speedway when the ACT Late Model Tour arrives on June 11. It's probably a safe bet that he won't be invited to race at NHMS this September, either.
***
AROUND THE REGION:
Time to take a look at the top Vermonters from the past weekend...
Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney was third in the Modified Racing Series 100-lap event on Saturday night. Brandon's Don Scarborough finished fourth in the Modified feature, and Swanton's Kevin Boutin was third in the Renegades.
Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Mike Bruno of Bomoseen was eighth in the Modified feature on Friday night with Brandon's Don Scarborough ninth.
Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Rookie Dan Douville of Concord, N.H., won his first SCoNE 360 Sprint Car feature on Saturday over Robby Bodwell of Sanford, Me., and rookie Chris Donnelly of Orford, N.H. Fairlee's Adam Pierson won the Sportsman Modified race over Brian Whittemore of Florence and Travis Shinn of Groton, N.H., Topsham's Josh Harrington won the Sportsman Coupe feature over East Corinth drivers Gene Pierson and Melvin Pierson. Newbury's Jeremy Hodge took his second Limited Late Model win over Will Hull of East Montpelier and T.C. Forward of Lyme, N.H., and Josh Sunn of White River Junction stayed perfect through three features in the Fast Four division, winning over Kevin Harran of St. Johnsbury and Andy Johnson of Wilder. Bradford's Tom Placey won the Hornet race over Wilder's David West, Jr., and Steve Sheldon of St. Johnsbury Center, while Melissa King of Corinth beat St. Johnsbury's Misty Bell and Dawn Woodward of Corinth in the Hornet Queen race.
Big Daddy's Speedway (Rumney, N.H.): Josh Sunn of White River Junction was the Mini Stock winner on Sunday over St. Johnsbury's Kevin Harran.
Canaan Dirt Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Rookie Dan Eastman of Thetford Center was third in the Sportsman Modifed feature on Friday, and Josh Sunn of White River Junction was third in Mini Stock feature. Mike Stender of South Strafford beat Tunbridge's Baxter Doty to win the Bandit feature.
Canaan Fair Speedway (Canaan, N.H.): Mendon's Chris Wilk won Saturday's Pro Stock feature, with South Royalton's Kevin Menard sixth. Hartland's Bruce Jaycox was third in the Super Street feature, and Jamie Hodgdon of Ascutney was fifth in the Pure Stocks. Thetford's Chris McKinstry won the Northeast Mini Stock Tour feature.
Devil's Bowl Speedway (West Haven): Don Scarborough of Brandon won the Modified Tri-Track Series opener on Sunday over Patrick Dupree of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and Ketih Flach of Ravena, N.Y. Don Miller of Wells won the Sportsman feature over Paul Dunham of Indian Lake, N.Y., and Chris Johnson of Malta, N.Y. Dave Emigh of Ballston Spa, N.Y. beat Milton's Cody Benoit to win the Renegade feature, with Jon Miller of Malta, N.Y., third. Milton's Chad Brown beat Brent Warren of Salisbury and Nathan Woodworth of Essex Junction to win the Bomber Warrior race. Andy Smith of South Glens Falls, N.Y., won the Duke Stock race.
Lee USA Speedway (Lee, N.H.): Graniteville's John Donahue was ninth in the Late Model feature on Friday night.
Modified Racing Series: On Saturday at Airborne Speedway, Ascutney driver Dwight Jarvis finished third, with his rookie nephew Joey Jarvis 23rd. On Sunday at Thunder Road, Joey Jarvis finished seventh with Dwight Jarvis ninth. Les Hinckley of Windsor Locks, Conn., won at Airborne, and Steve Masse of Bellingham, Mass., won at Thunder Road.
Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Putney's Dana Shepard was tenth in the Super Street feature on Saturday, and Joe Rogers of Ludlow finished seventh in the Mini Stocks.
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Shelburne's Kevin Lepage finished 37th at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday.
PASS South Super Late Models: Steven Legendre of Danville finished 14th in Saturday's event at Concord Motorsports Park. Rookie Andy Loden of Stanley, N.C., was the winner.
Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury was the Outlaw Sportsman runner-up on Saturday with Davey Ofsuryk of Newport Center fifth. Rookie Johanna Christman of Cabot was fifth in the Super Stock race. Brett Rowell of Concord was the Street Stock runner-up with Aaron Smith of Orleans third. Howard Switser of West Burke won the Dwarf Car race. Waterford's Lorin Vear won the Cyclone race.
Sprint Cars of New England: Lacey Hanson of Orwell was seventh in Saturday's event at Bear Ridge Speedway. Rookie Dan Douville of Concord, N.H., was the winner.
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl (Barre): Steve Masse of Bellingham, Mass., won the Modified Racing Series event on Sunday over Ron Goodenough of Swanzey, N.H., and Ken Barry of Preston, Conn. Dave Pembroke of Middlesex won the 100-lap Late Model event over John Donahue of Graniteville and Hyde Park's Eric Williams. Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott won the Tiger Sportsman feature over Tom Therrien of Hinesburg and Ricky Roberts of Washington. Travis Hull of Graniteville took his first Street Stock win over Williamstown's Mike MacAskill and Dan Lathrop of Hyde Park. Ken Christman of Cabot won the Junkyard Warrior race over Josh Erwin of Waterbury and Brock Parrott of Williamstown.
Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Rutland's Dallas Trombley was the Late Model runner-up on Friday night. Chris Wilk of Mendon was the Super Street winner. Jacksonville's Kaitlin Stone won the Strictly Stock feature with Pittsford's Kyle Davis third.
White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): Dwayne Lanphear was sixth in the Late Model feature on Saturday. Jason Corliss of Danville was the Super Sportsman runner-up with Tucker Williams of Hyde Park third. Stevie Parker of Lyndonville was seventh in the Strictly Stock feature, and Ernie Snider of Orange won the Strictly Stock Mini race.
***
THIS WEEK:
Friday, June 4
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 6:45pm (Spring Championships)
Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 7:00pm (SCoNE 360 Sprint Cars)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 7:30pm (Regular Event)
Saturday, June 5
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 5:00pm (Regular Event)
Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. -- 5:00 (ACT Tiger Sportsman Series)
Sunday, June 6
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 4:00pm (Granite State Mini Sprints)
Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)
TOURING SERIES:
ACT Tiger Sportsman Series: Sat., June 5 -- White Mountain Motorsports Park, No. Woodstock, N.H. (5:00pm)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Fri., June 4 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas (SPEED/8:30pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., June 5 -- Nashville Superspeedway, Nashville, Tenn. (ESPN/7:30pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., June 6 -- Pocono Speedway, Long Pond, Pa. (TNT/1:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Fri., June 4 -- Ace Speedway, Altamahaw, N.C. (7:45pm)
Série ACT-Castrol Edge: Sat., June 5 -- Autodrome Chaudiere, Vallee-Jct., Qué. (6:00pm)
Sprint Cars of New England: Fri., June 4 -- Canaan Dirt Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (7:00pm)
Showing posts with label John Donahue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Donahue. Show all posts
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Masse, Pembroke Repeat Thunder Road Memorial Day Wins
Modified Racing Series coverage presented by GossCars.com
BARRE-- It was nearly as simple as copying and pasting last year’s Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic results at Barre’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday: Steve Masse dominated the Modified Racing Series event, and Dave Pembroke dominated the Late Model race.
But it wasn’t that simple.
While he stole the headlines with his career-first MRS win last year, Masse was nearly an afterthought to the MRS portion of the event in 2010, after a controversial finish involving Les Hinckley and Rowan Pennink at Airborne Speedway on Saturday night centered the focus on those two drivers.
Hinckley would prove to be a non-factor at Thunder Road, but Pennink kept everyone’s attention with two frightful trips over the top of the first turn, one of which sent his car into a barrel roll.
But once Pennink’s dust settled and he eventually retired from the event, Masse assumed the lead role. Masse was unchallenged virtually the entire 100-lap distance, leading by as much as a half-lap.
“I like this track,” said the 20 year-old Bellingham, Mass., driver, whose two career Modified Racing Series victories have both come at the track known to chew up and spit out veterans three times his age. “For some reason I know how to drive it. I feel like I’ve got a good grip on it. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Masse wrecked his primary car at Airborne on Saturday night and rolled out his back-up car to win at Thunder Road.
“The car was awesome, that’s it,” said Masse, who started fifth on the 24-car field. “[The win] is a tremendous thing. We found something [wrong with the car] over the long break we just had, and I think we’re going to be a contender all year long from now on. We should be fast at every track.”
Rob Goodenough of Swanzey, N.H., drove from seventh at the start to finish as the runner-up, and Ken Barry of Preston, Conn., came from 12th to finish a season-best third. Three-time MRS champion Kirk Alexander of West Swanzey, N.H., was fourth and rookie Max Zachem of Preston, Conn., was fifth. Hinckley finished sixth with Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis seventh. Charlie Pasteryak, Dwight Jarvis, and Eddy Spiers completed the unofficial top ten.
Pembroke’s drive wasn’t quite as easy initially during the 100-lap Late Model feature, coming from 14th at the start.
As Pembroke drove through the field, Graniteville’s John Donahue battled Jeffersonville driver Joe Becker at the front, banging doors and fenders several times. Nick Sweet, who had arguably the fastest car on the track, made his way by Becker on lap 37 and raced outside Donahue for the lead until they came together on lap 46.
Sweet spun to bring out the yellow flag, leaving Pembroke in fourth place for the restart. Donahue and Becker resumed their previous fight up front, with the final blow coming on lap 68. As Becker slid up the track, Pembroke dived under both drivers to take the lead, then cruised to a large lead. He withstood a lap-96 restart and beat Donahue by two car-lengths to the finish. Donahue nipped Hyde Park’s Eric Williams by a foot for second place; Becker faded to sixth.
“I don’t want to say that luck was why I won, but it helped that I didn’t have to pass Nick to win the race. He had the fastest car, I think,” Pembroke said. “When [Donahue] and Joe Becker kind of touched a little bit getting into [Turn 1], Becker had to chase his car up the track and I just was able to turn under him.”
Pembroke’s Memorial Day Classic victory was his third in four years in the event. His name now ranks among some of the all-time Thunder Road elite winners and champions, including multi-time Memorial Day winners Dave Dion, Jean-Paul Cabana, and Robbie Crouch.
“I used to come here as a kid [to watch them race], and now… I don’t even know,” Pembroke said of his accomplishment. “It’s crazy. Crazy.”
Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier was fourth behind Williams, with Charlotte’s Rich Lowrey fifth. Tracie Bellerose, Jamie Fisher, Sweet, and Brent Dragon followed Becker across the line to complete the top ten.
Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott held off a race-long challenge from Hinesburg’s Tom Therrien to win the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature. Ricky Roberts was third, with Lance Allen and David Finck rounding out the top five.
Travis Hull of Graniteville earned his first career Street Stock victory over Mike MacAskill, Dan Lathrop, Jamie Davis, and Dave LaFleche. Ken Christman of Cabot earned his second Junkyard Warrior win in as many starts, beating Josh Erwin and Brock Parrott. Amanda Habel of Roxbury earned her first win the Street Stock/Warrior reserve feature.
BARRE-- It was nearly as simple as copying and pasting last year’s Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic results at Barre’s Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl on Sunday: Steve Masse dominated the Modified Racing Series event, and Dave Pembroke dominated the Late Model race.
But it wasn’t that simple.
While he stole the headlines with his career-first MRS win last year, Masse was nearly an afterthought to the MRS portion of the event in 2010, after a controversial finish involving Les Hinckley and Rowan Pennink at Airborne Speedway on Saturday night centered the focus on those two drivers.
Hinckley would prove to be a non-factor at Thunder Road, but Pennink kept everyone’s attention with two frightful trips over the top of the first turn, one of which sent his car into a barrel roll.
But once Pennink’s dust settled and he eventually retired from the event, Masse assumed the lead role. Masse was unchallenged virtually the entire 100-lap distance, leading by as much as a half-lap.
“I like this track,” said the 20 year-old Bellingham, Mass., driver, whose two career Modified Racing Series victories have both come at the track known to chew up and spit out veterans three times his age. “For some reason I know how to drive it. I feel like I’ve got a good grip on it. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Masse wrecked his primary car at Airborne on Saturday night and rolled out his back-up car to win at Thunder Road.
“The car was awesome, that’s it,” said Masse, who started fifth on the 24-car field. “[The win] is a tremendous thing. We found something [wrong with the car] over the long break we just had, and I think we’re going to be a contender all year long from now on. We should be fast at every track.”
Rob Goodenough of Swanzey, N.H., drove from seventh at the start to finish as the runner-up, and Ken Barry of Preston, Conn., came from 12th to finish a season-best third. Three-time MRS champion Kirk Alexander of West Swanzey, N.H., was fourth and rookie Max Zachem of Preston, Conn., was fifth. Hinckley finished sixth with Ascutney rookie Joey Jarvis seventh. Charlie Pasteryak, Dwight Jarvis, and Eddy Spiers completed the unofficial top ten.
Pembroke’s drive wasn’t quite as easy initially during the 100-lap Late Model feature, coming from 14th at the start.
As Pembroke drove through the field, Graniteville’s John Donahue battled Jeffersonville driver Joe Becker at the front, banging doors and fenders several times. Nick Sweet, who had arguably the fastest car on the track, made his way by Becker on lap 37 and raced outside Donahue for the lead until they came together on lap 46.
Sweet spun to bring out the yellow flag, leaving Pembroke in fourth place for the restart. Donahue and Becker resumed their previous fight up front, with the final blow coming on lap 68. As Becker slid up the track, Pembroke dived under both drivers to take the lead, then cruised to a large lead. He withstood a lap-96 restart and beat Donahue by two car-lengths to the finish. Donahue nipped Hyde Park’s Eric Williams by a foot for second place; Becker faded to sixth.
“I don’t want to say that luck was why I won, but it helped that I didn’t have to pass Nick to win the race. He had the fastest car, I think,” Pembroke said. “When [Donahue] and Joe Becker kind of touched a little bit getting into [Turn 1], Becker had to chase his car up the track and I just was able to turn under him.”
Pembroke’s Memorial Day Classic victory was his third in four years in the event. His name now ranks among some of the all-time Thunder Road elite winners and champions, including multi-time Memorial Day winners Dave Dion, Jean-Paul Cabana, and Robbie Crouch.
“I used to come here as a kid [to watch them race], and now… I don’t even know,” Pembroke said of his accomplishment. “It’s crazy. Crazy.”
Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier was fourth behind Williams, with Charlotte’s Rich Lowrey fifth. Tracie Bellerose, Jamie Fisher, Sweet, and Brent Dragon followed Becker across the line to complete the top ten.
Brendan Moodie of North Wolcott held off a race-long challenge from Hinesburg’s Tom Therrien to win the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature. Ricky Roberts was third, with Lance Allen and David Finck rounding out the top five.
Travis Hull of Graniteville earned his first career Street Stock victory over Mike MacAskill, Dan Lathrop, Jamie Davis, and Dave LaFleche. Ken Christman of Cabot earned his second Junkyard Warrior win in as many starts, beating Josh Erwin and Brock Parrott. Amanda Habel of Roxbury earned her first win the Street Stock/Warrior reserve feature.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
MacDonald Wins Again at Oxford
OXFORD, Me. -- Eddie MacDonald is considered the man to beat every time he races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and with four wins there since 2008 he’s earned that recognition. After his American-Canadian Tour victory on Sunday, the same could be said about him at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway.
MacDonald’s first ACT Late Model Tour win came at the 3/8-mile oval in 2007, and he won the TD Bank Oxford 250, one of the country’s most prestigious short track events, last year. Sunday, he led the final 96 laps of the WJAB 150 and held off regular Oxford competitor Tommy Ricker en route to another win.
“This is just awesome,” said MacDonald, of Rowley, Mass. “It’s our first run out with the car [since] we changed a bunch of things over from last year and upgraded a few things, and just everything paid off.”
MacDonald, a top driver on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, gave all the credit to his team and crew chief Rollie LaChance. “Rollie got the car just handling awesome. We were tweaking on little things all day long, but as soon as we unloaded the car it was pretty good. The crew did an awesome job.”
MacDonald took the lead from rookie Austin Theriault on lap 54 and held a comfortable lead until Ricker caught him with 30 circuits remaining. Ricker reeled MacDonald in as they sliced through lapped traffic, and made two attempts to take the lead during the closing laps. His car broke loose several times, though, the result of worn out tires.
For Ricker, who had yet to even finish an ACT event, it was a career day.
“This is terrific. I’ve never been more excited [except] getting into the 250 I think,” Ricker beamed. “I think I wore the tires out trying to get to Eddie. I should have been a little more patient. Eddie’s a close friend and I enjoy racing with him. It would have been a great thrill to beat him if I could have, I just worked too hard at it.”
“I am so happy for Tommy, he did an awesome job,” said MacDonald.
Defending ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston finished in third place after leading the first 25 laps. Graniteville’s John Donahue drove from 31st at the start to finish fourth, with former Oxford Plains Speedway champion Tim Brackett fifth. Travis Adams, Scott Payea, Brent Dragon, Jeff White, and T.J. Brackett completed the unofficial top-ten.
Only one caution period slowed the event on lap 54, and all but four of the 33 starters were running at the finish. 53 cars attempted to qualify. The next ACT event is at Lee USA Speedway on June 11.
For the win, MacDonald earned an invitation to compete at the second annual ACT Invitational at New Hampshire in September – an event he won last year.
MacDonald’s first ACT Late Model Tour win came at the 3/8-mile oval in 2007, and he won the TD Bank Oxford 250, one of the country’s most prestigious short track events, last year. Sunday, he led the final 96 laps of the WJAB 150 and held off regular Oxford competitor Tommy Ricker en route to another win.
“This is just awesome,” said MacDonald, of Rowley, Mass. “It’s our first run out with the car [since] we changed a bunch of things over from last year and upgraded a few things, and just everything paid off.”
MacDonald, a top driver on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, gave all the credit to his team and crew chief Rollie LaChance. “Rollie got the car just handling awesome. We were tweaking on little things all day long, but as soon as we unloaded the car it was pretty good. The crew did an awesome job.”
MacDonald took the lead from rookie Austin Theriault on lap 54 and held a comfortable lead until Ricker caught him with 30 circuits remaining. Ricker reeled MacDonald in as they sliced through lapped traffic, and made two attempts to take the lead during the closing laps. His car broke loose several times, though, the result of worn out tires.
For Ricker, who had yet to even finish an ACT event, it was a career day.
“This is terrific. I’ve never been more excited [except] getting into the 250 I think,” Ricker beamed. “I think I wore the tires out trying to get to Eddie. I should have been a little more patient. Eddie’s a close friend and I enjoy racing with him. It would have been a great thrill to beat him if I could have, I just worked too hard at it.”
“I am so happy for Tommy, he did an awesome job,” said MacDonald.
Defending ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston finished in third place after leading the first 25 laps. Graniteville’s John Donahue drove from 31st at the start to finish fourth, with former Oxford Plains Speedway champion Tim Brackett fifth. Travis Adams, Scott Payea, Brent Dragon, Jeff White, and T.J. Brackett completed the unofficial top-ten.
Only one caution period slowed the event on lap 54, and all but four of the 33 starters were running at the finish. 53 cars attempted to qualify. The next ACT event is at Lee USA Speedway on June 11.
For the win, MacDonald earned an invitation to compete at the second annual ACT Invitational at New Hampshire in September – an event he won last year.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Hoar, Cyr Ready to Finally Battle for ACT Title
BARRE -- Goliath meets Goliath at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl on Sunday. Williston's Brian Hoar and Milton's Jean-Paul Cyr -- the two all-time winningest drivers in American-Canadian Tour Late Model history -- will face each other head-to-head for the 2010 championship in the most anticipated matchup in recent memory.
***
TALE OF THE TAPE
Defending champion Hoar's 25 career wins top the all-time ACT Late Model Tour victory chart, while Cyr's 19 wins rank second. In 106 career starts, Hoar has 60 top-fives, 78 top-tens, and an average finish of 7.7. In 137 starts, Cyr has 60 top-fives, 86 top-tens, and a 9.3 average finish.
Hoar owns six ACT championships -- 1993, each year from 1997 to 2000, and 2009. Cyr's seven titles are an ACT record, having won in 1994, 1996, and each season from 2003 to 2007.
In addition to his ACT titles, Hoar was the track champion at both Airborne Speedway and Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in 1999, was that year's ACT Overall champion, was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year in 2001, and won the 2006 New Hampshire Motor Speedway track championship.
Cyr won the Devil's Bowl Speedway championship in 1990 as a dirt track racer, won ACT's Am/Can Challenge title in 1996, is the reigning Thunder Road track champion, and is a successful off-road motorcycle racer, competing in the legendary Baja 1000 and Baja 500 events.
Hoar drove for his family-owned Goss Dodge team before joining Rick Paya's RPM Motorsports for the ACT championship last year. Paya was Cyr's crew chief from 2003-08, also serving as car owner the final two years. After a successful year driving for Joey and Jeff Laquerre, Cyr will race for veteran Gary Caron this season.
***
NEVER WORKED OUT
For one reason or another, Hoar and Cyr have raced the entire ACT schedule together just three times. As Cyr won championships in 1994 and 2007, Hoar endured tough seasons to finish a distant sixth each time. In 1996, the two entered the final event at Airborne Speedway in a tight battle with Dave Whitcomb. Hoar's car failed to come to life on the starting grid, though, and he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
"It's never really worked out," said Cyr. "The times he won it, I wasn't around. The times I've won it, Brian has either not been there or not been able to be up there with me."
Each driver won four consecutive ACT titles at different points, but each streak took place while the other was racing NASCAR. Hoar's 1993 and 2009 titles came when Cyr ran only weekly events at Airborne or Thunder Road.
"I think not being there at the same time as the other was good for our careers," said Hoar. "He made it look easy [in 2003-06], and I did in the '90s, but now there are a lot of new faces and it's going to be tougher. It's probably not realistic to think that we're going to be the only ones racing for the title, but it would be pretty cool."
And that championship in 1996? Cyr won by two points over Whitcomb. Hoar finished third on the trailer, 62 points back.
***
FAST FOES, FAST FRIENDS
"There are a lot of things that have to go just right for it to happen, and I'm hoping it happens," Hoar says of a potential championship showdown between he and Cyr. "We're at points in both of our careers where we've each won lots of races and championships. The only thing we really have left to do is to beat each other."
"If Brian wins the title this year, he'll tie my record [of seven ACT championships]," says Cyr. "I don't really want him to do that. If I'm able to pull it off and beat him, it will personally be one of the more rewarding championships I'll have had."
That intense focus should not draw bitter conclusions, though. While fierce competitors on the track, the two are close off the track; Cyr and Hoar go motorcycle riding, go-kart racing, and snowboarding together in the off-season. Cyr also remains close with Paya, speaking with him "at least once or twice a week."
Still, the drive to be the best racer is too great to ignore: "Jean is a great competitor and a great friend, but it would really suck to lose to him," Hoar says. "It would suck worse to lose to him than anyone else."
***
SOMEONE ELSE
Losing to someone else is a very real possibility for both drivers. Names dropped by Cyr and Hoar as potential race winners and title contenders included Scott Payea, Joey Polewarczyk, and part-timer Eric Williams, and both are concerned about Brent Dragon and John Donahue as championship spoilers.
Payea won the Spring Green 100 at Airborne and has finished second in each of the last three seasons, including to Cyr in 2007 and Hoar last year. He hopes that the potential battle between the two will work to his advantage.
"I'm sure it's going to weigh on Brian's mind and Jean's as well," Payea said. "That's fine with me. Let them have their own battle, and I'll go and try to steal the championship from both of them."
Dragon is also a three-time championship runner-up with nine career wins, including a score at Twin State Speedway last September and a pair of wins in Canada. Donahue won at White Mountain Motorsports Park in June and finished no worse than fourth in the final five championshp events of 2009, adding a win in the Milk Bowl and a fifth-place effort at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the process. Polewarczyk and Williams each had a win at Oxford Plains Speedway, and Williams also won at Thunder Road.
The list of top conteders -- full-time or otherwise -- also includes Brad Leighton, Patrick Laperle, Randy Potter, Dave Pembroke, Cris Michaud, Glen Luce, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, and ACT newcomers Aaron Fellows, Travis Adams, Bradley Babb, and Chris Riendeau.
***
ADVANTAGE?
Cyr and Paya's long association creates advantages for both teams. Having won five of his seven ACT titles with Paya as either crew chief, car owner, or both, Cyr feels he knows Paya well enough to have educated guesses for each strategic decision Paya may make, but understands that Paya knows most Cyr's tricks behind the wheel, too.
"Rick is very clever, very methodical. He brings a whole different dimension to the Tour because he eats, breathes, and sleeps racing," says Cyr. "I've never actually competed against him because I've always been with him. It's going to be fun if there are any races where [Hoar and I] really running at par with each other. Rick has an advantage knowing how I drive, but I know his strategies. If he one-ups me I'll be able to look back at it and I'll know why and how he did it, but I think I can call his bluff, too."
Hoar doesn't see the Cyr-Paya familiarity as a problem. "I know I'm with a great team," he said. "Rick has had two very different styles of driver in me and Jean, and he's had similar results with both of us. The team does a great job, so it's up to me to work my [butt] off behind the wheel."
Cyr thinks this will be his best shot at challenging Hoar head-on. "I know the equipment he's in is great, because I used to drive it," he said. "The equipment I'm in this year is pretty aged and it's been around the block a few times, but I'm really optimistic. We tested at Canaan and I'm really pleased with how it went. Keith [Williams] and Kyle [Caron] did an unbelievable job putting the car together. It's up to the standards I'm used to. I wouldn't be racing this car if I didn't believe it could win."
(PHOTOS: 1. Brian Hoar; 2. Jean-Paul Cyr; 3. Scott Payea. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)
***
TALE OF THE TAPE
Defending champion Hoar's 25 career wins top the all-time ACT Late Model Tour victory chart, while Cyr's 19 wins rank second. In 106 career starts, Hoar has 60 top-fives, 78 top-tens, and an average finish of 7.7. In 137 starts, Cyr has 60 top-fives, 86 top-tens, and a 9.3 average finish.Hoar owns six ACT championships -- 1993, each year from 1997 to 2000, and 2009. Cyr's seven titles are an ACT record, having won in 1994, 1996, and each season from 2003 to 2007.
In addition to his ACT titles, Hoar was the track champion at both Airborne Speedway and Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in 1999, was that year's ACT Overall champion, was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year in 2001, and won the 2006 New Hampshire Motor Speedway track championship.
Cyr won the Devil's Bowl Speedway championship in 1990 as a dirt track racer, won ACT's Am/Can Challenge title in 1996, is the reigning Thunder Road track champion, and is a successful off-road motorcycle racer, competing in the legendary Baja 1000 and Baja 500 events.
Hoar drove for his family-owned Goss Dodge team before joining Rick Paya's RPM Motorsports for the ACT championship last year. Paya was Cyr's crew chief from 2003-08, also serving as car owner the final two years. After a successful year driving for Joey and Jeff Laquerre, Cyr will race for veteran Gary Caron this season.
***
NEVER WORKED OUT
For one reason or another, Hoar and Cyr have raced the entire ACT schedule together just three times. As Cyr won championships in 1994 and 2007, Hoar endured tough seasons to finish a distant sixth each time. In 1996, the two entered the final event at Airborne Speedway in a tight battle with Dave Whitcomb. Hoar's car failed to come to life on the starting grid, though, and he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
"It's never really worked out," said Cyr. "The times he won it, I wasn't around. The times I've won it, Brian has either not been there or not been able to be up there with me."Each driver won four consecutive ACT titles at different points, but each streak took place while the other was racing NASCAR. Hoar's 1993 and 2009 titles came when Cyr ran only weekly events at Airborne or Thunder Road.
"I think not being there at the same time as the other was good for our careers," said Hoar. "He made it look easy [in 2003-06], and I did in the '90s, but now there are a lot of new faces and it's going to be tougher. It's probably not realistic to think that we're going to be the only ones racing for the title, but it would be pretty cool."
And that championship in 1996? Cyr won by two points over Whitcomb. Hoar finished third on the trailer, 62 points back.
***
FAST FOES, FAST FRIENDS
"There are a lot of things that have to go just right for it to happen, and I'm hoping it happens," Hoar says of a potential championship showdown between he and Cyr. "We're at points in both of our careers where we've each won lots of races and championships. The only thing we really have left to do is to beat each other."
"If Brian wins the title this year, he'll tie my record [of seven ACT championships]," says Cyr. "I don't really want him to do that. If I'm able to pull it off and beat him, it will personally be one of the more rewarding championships I'll have had."
That intense focus should not draw bitter conclusions, though. While fierce competitors on the track, the two are close off the track; Cyr and Hoar go motorcycle riding, go-kart racing, and snowboarding together in the off-season. Cyr also remains close with Paya, speaking with him "at least once or twice a week."
Still, the drive to be the best racer is too great to ignore: "Jean is a great competitor and a great friend, but it would really suck to lose to him," Hoar says. "It would suck worse to lose to him than anyone else."
***
SOMEONE ELSE
Losing to someone else is a very real possibility for both drivers. Names dropped by Cyr and Hoar as potential race winners and title contenders included Scott Payea, Joey Polewarczyk, and part-timer Eric Williams, and both are concerned about Brent Dragon and John Donahue as championship spoilers.
Payea won the Spring Green 100 at Airborne and has finished second in each of the last three seasons, including to Cyr in 2007 and Hoar last year. He hopes that the potential battle between the two will work to his advantage."I'm sure it's going to weigh on Brian's mind and Jean's as well," Payea said. "That's fine with me. Let them have their own battle, and I'll go and try to steal the championship from both of them."
Dragon is also a three-time championship runner-up with nine career wins, including a score at Twin State Speedway last September and a pair of wins in Canada. Donahue won at White Mountain Motorsports Park in June and finished no worse than fourth in the final five championshp events of 2009, adding a win in the Milk Bowl and a fifth-place effort at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the process. Polewarczyk and Williams each had a win at Oxford Plains Speedway, and Williams also won at Thunder Road.
The list of top conteders -- full-time or otherwise -- also includes Brad Leighton, Patrick Laperle, Randy Potter, Dave Pembroke, Cris Michaud, Glen Luce, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, and ACT newcomers Aaron Fellows, Travis Adams, Bradley Babb, and Chris Riendeau.
***
ADVANTAGE?
Cyr and Paya's long association creates advantages for both teams. Having won five of his seven ACT titles with Paya as either crew chief, car owner, or both, Cyr feels he knows Paya well enough to have educated guesses for each strategic decision Paya may make, but understands that Paya knows most Cyr's tricks behind the wheel, too.
"Rick is very clever, very methodical. He brings a whole different dimension to the Tour because he eats, breathes, and sleeps racing," says Cyr. "I've never actually competed against him because I've always been with him. It's going to be fun if there are any races where [Hoar and I] really running at par with each other. Rick has an advantage knowing how I drive, but I know his strategies. If he one-ups me I'll be able to look back at it and I'll know why and how he did it, but I think I can call his bluff, too."
Hoar doesn't see the Cyr-Paya familiarity as a problem. "I know I'm with a great team," he said. "Rick has had two very different styles of driver in me and Jean, and he's had similar results with both of us. The team does a great job, so it's up to me to work my [butt] off behind the wheel."
Cyr thinks this will be his best shot at challenging Hoar head-on. "I know the equipment he's in is great, because I used to drive it," he said. "The equipment I'm in this year is pretty aged and it's been around the block a few times, but I'm really optimistic. We tested at Canaan and I'm really pleased with how it went. Keith [Williams] and Kyle [Caron] did an unbelievable job putting the car together. It's up to the standards I'm used to. I wouldn't be racing this car if I didn't believe it could win."
(PHOTOS: 1. Brian Hoar; 2. Jean-Paul Cyr; 3. Scott Payea. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Juice: Practice Was Actually A Lot Of Fun
-by Justin St. Louis
VMM Editor
For most racing folks up where we're located, this weekend is a big one. For Late Model fans, the American-Canadian Tour kicks its 25th season off at Lee USA Speedway on the New Hampshire seacoast on Sunday, while the open-wheel fans can enjoy the first-ever Modified Racing Series/Race of Champions Tour showdown at the all-new Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. A bit further east, the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models open their North schedule at Speedway 95 near Bangor, Maine.
As much as we'd love to be in two or three places at once, VMM is headed to Lee to find out who the first qualifier for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be.
Now if only Mother Nature can cooperate.
***
Getting back to Thunder Road for Tuesday's practice session -- strangely enough -- did this soul a whole lot of good. Yeah, we started the season a few weeks ago with an actual race at Waterford, but it was cold, windy, wet, and far from home. In fact, there was a pretty decent snowstorm that we trudged through on the way back north.
But the weather at Thunder Road was pretty close to perfect for mid-April in Vermont, and the ride home was about three-and-a-half hours shorter. In fact, I even got back in time for supper, in time to tell my new puppy, Witten, that no, this was my spaghetti, not his.
We got a pretty-much-complete list of the Late Models and Tiger Sportsmen that were there, but God help me if I was going to get all of the numberless and even paintless Street Stocks and Warriors.
Late Models we counted: Norm Andrews, Joey Becker, Cody Blake, Nathan Brown, Craig Bushey, Brooks Clark, John Donahue (two cars), Aaron Fellows, Jamie Fisher, Grant Folsom, Reno Gervais, Chip Grenier, Brian Hoar, Joey Laquerre, Cris Michaud, Doug Murphy, Scott Payea, Dave Pembroke, Chris Riendeau, Phil Scott, Nick Sweet, Dave Whitcomb, Matt White.
And Tigers: Eric Badore, Mike Billado, Jeff Bousquet, Jason Corliss, Josh Demers, Alex Ferno, David Finck, Shawn Fleury, Neal Foster, Kevin Godfrey, Troy Gray, Jimmy Hebert, Joel Hodgdon, John Lambert, Mike Martin, George May, Derrick O'Donnell, Matt Potter, Tim Potter, Ricky Roberts, Tucker Williams, Mike Ziter.
***
John Donahue had both of his cars at Thunder Road, including one with the new Ford crate engine. Donahue was happy with the switch and basically echoed the thoughts of others that have tried out the new powerplant.
"It's got a longer power curve," he said. "I feel like all my speed is at the end of the straightaway, rather than out of the corner with the Chevy motor." Donahue said he thinks it will be very interesting at shorter tracks like Thunder Road. He also practiced the engine at White Mountain Motorsports Park last week and was pleased with the performance of it there.
***
Our favorite Tweet of the week: "@LaxSpeedway: We are proud to announce that Festival Foods' Oktoberfest Bratwursts are the Speedway's official Bratwurst this year."
Gotta hand it to LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for constant promotion. The Wisconsin track's annual Oktoberfest is a national short track happening, and to me, the Bratwurst thing seems like a fantastic year-long reminder of that event. (And honestly, who wouldn't want to eat a couple of those every Saturday night at the races?) Good work, LaCrosse.
It's been suggested that VMM should sign some sort of endorsement deal for an official food.
I wonder if I can get Mike Perrotte to get on board with this. Eight Airborne Speedway Michigan Dogs a week and you've got a deal.
***
Check out these cool videos produced by the Air National Guard in association with Vermont's own Latitude 43 Motorsports. And while you're at it, check out some cool videos we put together from Thunder Road.
***
An interesting deal: Jay Webb will be back behind the wheel of a Tiger Sportsman car this season. Webb struck a deal with car owner Chris Burnett that brings a new engine under the hood of the #19 car driven weekly at Thunder Road by Neal Foster in exchange for a seat in the car at the four ACT Tiger Sportsman Series races at White Mountain, Canaan, Thunder Road, and Riverside. Webb will also turn some wrenches on the car when Foster drives.
The Milton racer won the 1997 Renegade championship at Airborne and was one of the Tiger division's top racers in the early 2000s with six feature wins there and in long-distance series events. He and Burnett have each spent the last few years as crew members for RPM Motorsports on the ACT Late Model Tour, winning titles with both Jean-Paul Cyr and Brian Hoar.
I'll say it now: it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see Jay Webb snare a win or even contend for the Tiger Sportsman Series championship this year. On top of that, Foster made big gains at the end of last year, and his program should improve quite a bit more this season with Webb in the pits.
***
Notably absent from Thunder Road Late Model practice: Jean-Paul Cyr, Tracie Bellerose, Brent Dragon, Eric Chase, Mike Bailey, Tony Andrews, Rich Lowrey, Dylan Smith, and Tom Tiller.
That's right, Tom Tiller was not there. Come to think of it, he's missed the last few practices, too. Hmm.
***
The best moment from practice was a conversation with Cris Michaud, who has become a gold mine for instantly classic quotes. You see, Michaud is as much a hockey fan as he is a racer, loving specifically the Montréal Canadiens. (He's a smart man. Habs over Washington in six. Ovechkin who?)
While we can't reprint everything from the conversation, it started something like this:
VMM: "Hey Cris, how are ya?"
Michaud: "(Expletive) Canadiens... They can't (expletive) get one (expletive) win before the (expletive) playoffs?"
...and it went on from there. We feel your pain, Cris Michaud, we feel your pain. Hang on to 1993. It could happen again.
***
THIS WEEK:
Saturday, April 17
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 12:00pm (Quarter-Midgets, NETS Trucks, Enduro)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 9:30am (Tire Sale)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)
Sunday, April 18
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (MRS/ROC Modifieds)
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Car Show)
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. -- 1:00pm (ACT Late Model Tour)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)
TOURING SERIES:
ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., April 18 -- Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (1:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sun., April 18 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series: Sat., April 17 -- Can-Am Speedway, LaFargeville, N.Y. (4:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., April 17 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (9:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., April 18 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (3:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sun., April 18 -- Speedway 95, Hermon, Me. (1:30pm)
VMM Editor
For most racing folks up where we're located, this weekend is a big one. For Late Model fans, the American-Canadian Tour kicks its 25th season off at Lee USA Speedway on the New Hampshire seacoast on Sunday, while the open-wheel fans can enjoy the first-ever Modified Racing Series/Race of Champions Tour showdown at the all-new Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. A bit further east, the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models open their North schedule at Speedway 95 near Bangor, Maine.
As much as we'd love to be in two or three places at once, VMM is headed to Lee to find out who the first qualifier for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be.
Now if only Mother Nature can cooperate.
***
Getting back to Thunder Road for Tuesday's practice session -- strangely enough -- did this soul a whole lot of good. Yeah, we started the season a few weeks ago with an actual race at Waterford, but it was cold, windy, wet, and far from home. In fact, there was a pretty decent snowstorm that we trudged through on the way back north.
But the weather at Thunder Road was pretty close to perfect for mid-April in Vermont, and the ride home was about three-and-a-half hours shorter. In fact, I even got back in time for supper, in time to tell my new puppy, Witten, that no, this was my spaghetti, not his.
We got a pretty-much-complete list of the Late Models and Tiger Sportsmen that were there, but God help me if I was going to get all of the numberless and even paintless Street Stocks and Warriors.
Late Models we counted: Norm Andrews, Joey Becker, Cody Blake, Nathan Brown, Craig Bushey, Brooks Clark, John Donahue (two cars), Aaron Fellows, Jamie Fisher, Grant Folsom, Reno Gervais, Chip Grenier, Brian Hoar, Joey Laquerre, Cris Michaud, Doug Murphy, Scott Payea, Dave Pembroke, Chris Riendeau, Phil Scott, Nick Sweet, Dave Whitcomb, Matt White.
And Tigers: Eric Badore, Mike Billado, Jeff Bousquet, Jason Corliss, Josh Demers, Alex Ferno, David Finck, Shawn Fleury, Neal Foster, Kevin Godfrey, Troy Gray, Jimmy Hebert, Joel Hodgdon, John Lambert, Mike Martin, George May, Derrick O'Donnell, Matt Potter, Tim Potter, Ricky Roberts, Tucker Williams, Mike Ziter.
***
John Donahue had both of his cars at Thunder Road, including one with the new Ford crate engine. Donahue was happy with the switch and basically echoed the thoughts of others that have tried out the new powerplant.
"It's got a longer power curve," he said. "I feel like all my speed is at the end of the straightaway, rather than out of the corner with the Chevy motor." Donahue said he thinks it will be very interesting at shorter tracks like Thunder Road. He also practiced the engine at White Mountain Motorsports Park last week and was pleased with the performance of it there.
***
Our favorite Tweet of the week: "@LaxSpeedway: We are proud to announce that Festival Foods' Oktoberfest Bratwursts are the Speedway's official Bratwurst this year."
Gotta hand it to LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for constant promotion. The Wisconsin track's annual Oktoberfest is a national short track happening, and to me, the Bratwurst thing seems like a fantastic year-long reminder of that event. (And honestly, who wouldn't want to eat a couple of those every Saturday night at the races?) Good work, LaCrosse.
It's been suggested that VMM should sign some sort of endorsement deal for an official food.
I wonder if I can get Mike Perrotte to get on board with this. Eight Airborne Speedway Michigan Dogs a week and you've got a deal.
***
Check out these cool videos produced by the Air National Guard in association with Vermont's own Latitude 43 Motorsports. And while you're at it, check out some cool videos we put together from Thunder Road.
***
An interesting deal: Jay Webb will be back behind the wheel of a Tiger Sportsman car this season. Webb struck a deal with car owner Chris Burnett that brings a new engine under the hood of the #19 car driven weekly at Thunder Road by Neal Foster in exchange for a seat in the car at the four ACT Tiger Sportsman Series races at White Mountain, Canaan, Thunder Road, and Riverside. Webb will also turn some wrenches on the car when Foster drives.
The Milton racer won the 1997 Renegade championship at Airborne and was one of the Tiger division's top racers in the early 2000s with six feature wins there and in long-distance series events. He and Burnett have each spent the last few years as crew members for RPM Motorsports on the ACT Late Model Tour, winning titles with both Jean-Paul Cyr and Brian Hoar.
I'll say it now: it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see Jay Webb snare a win or even contend for the Tiger Sportsman Series championship this year. On top of that, Foster made big gains at the end of last year, and his program should improve quite a bit more this season with Webb in the pits.
***
Notably absent from Thunder Road Late Model practice: Jean-Paul Cyr, Tracie Bellerose, Brent Dragon, Eric Chase, Mike Bailey, Tony Andrews, Rich Lowrey, Dylan Smith, and Tom Tiller.
That's right, Tom Tiller was not there. Come to think of it, he's missed the last few practices, too. Hmm.
***
The best moment from practice was a conversation with Cris Michaud, who has become a gold mine for instantly classic quotes. You see, Michaud is as much a hockey fan as he is a racer, loving specifically the Montréal Canadiens. (He's a smart man. Habs over Washington in six. Ovechkin who?)
While we can't reprint everything from the conversation, it started something like this:
VMM: "Hey Cris, how are ya?"
Michaud: "(Expletive) Canadiens... They can't (expletive) get one (expletive) win before the (expletive) playoffs?"
...and it went on from there. We feel your pain, Cris Michaud, we feel your pain. Hang on to 1993. It could happen again.
***
THIS WEEK:
Saturday, April 17
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (Open Practice)
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 12:00pm (Quarter-Midgets, NETS Trucks, Enduro)
Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. -- 9:30am (Tire Sale)
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)
Sunday, April 18
Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. -- 1:00pm (MRS/ROC Modifieds)
Big Daddy's Speedbowl, Rumney, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Car Show)
Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. -- 1:00pm (ACT Late Model Tour)
Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H. -- 12:00pm (Open Practice)
TOURING SERIES:
ACT Late Model Tour: Sun., April 18 -- Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (1:00pm)
Modified Racing Series: Sun., April 18 -- Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, N.Y. (1:00pm)
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series: Sat., April 17 -- Can-Am Speedway, LaFargeville, N.Y. (4:00pm)
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sat., April 17 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (9:00pm)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sun., April 18 -- Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Tx. (3:00pm)
Pro All Stars Series: Sun., April 18 -- Speedway 95, Hermon, Me. (1:30pm)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Donahue Joins ACT Ford Blue Oval Cup Program
WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour announced on Monday that Graniteville driver John Donahue has become the latest driver to join the new Ford Blue Oval Cup Challenge, a contingency program designed to reward teams using the newly introduced Ford Racing S347JR crate engine.Donahue was very strong in 2009, finishing third in ACT Late Model Tour points. He scored a dominant win at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., in June and finished the championship season with five-straight top-four finishes. He was also fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and picked up a win at the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Barre's Thunder Road in October.
"I have always been a Ford man, and it was driving me crazy hearing about all the good teams that have gone to a Ford motor program for the coming season," said team owner Kendall Roberts in an ACT press release. "I just had to get on the bandwagon. We plan to give Ford and our National Guard Ford Fusion the ACT title."
Donahue becomes the tenth driver in the Ford Blue Oval Cup program, joining ACT drivers Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Joey Laquerre, Glen Luce, and rookie Austin Theriault, Oxford Plains (Me.) Speedway driver Jeff Taylor, Lee USA (N.H.) Speedway racers Wayne Helliwell, Jr., and Mike Johnson, and Wiscasset (Me.) Raceway driver Jerry Williams.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
LOSING
It sucks. It's the worst part of racing, and for some it never stops. But there can only be one winner.
The question is: How good a loser are you?
***
"It's a little frustrating when you don't win, but oh well, that's racing. That's why they call it 'racing' and not just 'winning.' " --Patrick Dupree
"We're trying to figure out how to even get the car in the trailer." --Patrick Laperle after wrecking at New Smyrna Speedway
"It's a bummer not having sponsors." --Eric Williams
"I'm over it. Last year is last year. It could have been a hundred points and it wouldn't have mattered. We finished second the year before, too." --Scott Payea on losing the 2008 ACT championship by one point
"They're playing their cards, you know what I mean? Come on, they didn't start racing yesterday. They're better than they showed, and they were good." --Eric Williams on Cris Michaud's team while testing the new ACT-approved Ford 'spec' crate engine
"I don't like struggling to qualify, and I don't like struggling to keep up." --Trampas Demers
"I wasn't thinking about the trophy or going to Loudon. I wanted that chair. I wanted it last year, too. Maybe Scott [Payea] will let me sit in it." --Randy Potter, after finishing second in the Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway two years in a row
"I go from hero to zero in a one-hour drive over the mountain." --Ben Rowe on struggling in ACT events at Thunder Road, less than 24 hours after winning a PASS event at White Mountain Motorsports Park
"I'm pissed off now. I want to win here. I want to win at this place more than anything in the world." --Joey Polewarczyk after spinning out of the lead at Thunder Road, 18 laps shy of the checkered flag
---Overheard in the Bear Ridge Speedway pits following Brent Dragon's dirt racing debut---
Brent Dragon: "I'll never complain about Ste-Croix being a rough track ever again."
Gary Siemons: "What? That ain't even rough. That wasn't bad at all."
Brent Dragon: (Expletive deleted)
"Um, a little bit... maybe... not really... kinda, yeah." --Joey Polewarczyk on whether or not losing at Thunder Road to Tony Stewart -- in one of his own cars -- would bother him
"I have had to do a lot of fixing this year." --Junkyard Warrior driver Ken Christman on the Street Stock/Warrior divisional merge at Thunder Road
"We can't afford it this year from a money and risk standpoint." --Scott Payea on having to skip racing the TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway
"Right now I'm sad, but at the RV we're going to have a party." --Patrick Laperle on finishing second in the TD Bank 250
"I think he learned the hard way that racing up here in the north is nothing like what he's used to down south." -- Joe Polewarczyk, Sr., on Georgia driver Michael Pope, who wrecked out of a PASS event at Lee USA Speedway in his own Super Late Model, then wrecked in one of Polewarczyk's cars at the TD Bank 250 one week later
"He just came over and said, 'I overdrove.' I said, 'Yup, you did, but if you don't try it, you don't learn.' " --Tony Andrews after beating Brooks Clark for a win at Thunder Road
"Everybody was pretty crazy tonight. I don't know, the whole place was going nuts." --Chris Donnelly, after finishing second in a race that featured one flip and two other major wrecks at Bear Ridge Speedway
"Sometimes I get a little impatient and I run out of talent, it just happens." --Nick Sweet
"This is the funniest thing I've ever said in my life, but Brad Leighton thought I drove him rough. That's bullsh-t. And that's a direct quote. Write that down. He got his hand caught in the candy jar." --Brian Hoar after winning a controversial ACT Late Model Tour event at Waterford Speedbowl, in which Leighton crashed out of the lead coming to the final lap
"He blatantly drove over my nose. I'm not taking his crap any more. It's happened to me too many times." --Joey Polewarczyk on an incident with Brian Hoar at Waterford Speedbowl
"I guess it's sort of my fault that Jason lost the title. Duquette would have helped us out. We've lost titles before, and we've won them, too. It would have been nice to win, but it's no big deal. Stuff like this is why we race." --Ron Bonnett after helping to repair point leader Shawn Duquette's car following a crash in the ACT Tiger Sportsman Series finale at Thunder Road; Duquette beat Jason Bonnett, Ron's son, for the championship in a tie-breaker
"I'm good at doing vinyl. I'm getting fantastic at that." --Nick Sweet on making constant repairs to his car
"I gave that one away. Maybe not the championship, but tonight's race I gave away, like a f---ing moron." --Patrick Dupree after finishing second to Martin Roy in both the Charlie Trombley Memorial 100 and Modified championship points at Airborne Speedway
"I wish he would have stopped hitting me and just let us race." --John Donahue on Patrick Laperle
"I beat him in the race -- I was third and he was fifth -- but he won his heat and we were even after it was over. It all comes down to heat points. It sucks." --Scott Payea on battling for the ACT championship with Brian Hoar
"He's a pain in the ass." --Patrick Laperle on rival Donald Theetge
"Everything went black." --Joey Polewarczyk after a hard crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
"It's clearly obvious to anybody but Laperle fans what the situation was ... Laperle had a lot of options. If option number one works and option number two works, but option number three doesn't, why do it? They chose option number three. I can't explain that." --ACT president Tom Curley, following a Série ACT-Castrol controversy at Autodrome St-Eustache that penalized Patrick Laperle for allegedly mainpulating the outcome of the season's final race and the series' championship
"I don't know what it is, but I think he likes Theetge and not me." --Patrick Laperle, suggesting he was unfairly targeted by Tom Curley
"I'm afraid I might do something stupid if I go race there." --Patrick Laperle on skipping the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road, and therefore a chance at becoming the race's only three-peat winner
"We're not a bunch of idiots, we're not just a piece of meat to throw around. I'm done, I've had enough for now. I don't think I'll be racing ACT for a while, maybe like two years I'll come back. I say that I'm done, but I might have regret and come back next year. But then I'll probably want to smash my head off a wall if I do." --Patrick Laperle
"It's the second time it's happened this year. I'll be good with it, and I'll keep it in my memory bank. That's part of the deal. We'll see what happens next week." --Brent Dragon after being on the losing end of a rough battle with John Donahue
"We ran good at Thunder Road for a long time before the win. The win gives us confidence and it got the monkey off our back, but you can't ever go to Thunder Road thinking you're going to win there. It's such a tough place, and it'll bite you at any second. You can come out of Turn 4 and think you're just going to brush the wall a little bit, and the next thing you know you're upside down. You have to respect it, because something will always go wrong that will bring you back to reality." --Joey Polewarczyk
The question is: How good a loser are you?
***
"It's a little frustrating when you don't win, but oh well, that's racing. That's why they call it 'racing' and not just 'winning.' " --Patrick Dupree"We're trying to figure out how to even get the car in the trailer." --Patrick Laperle after wrecking at New Smyrna Speedway
"It's a bummer not having sponsors." --Eric Williams
"I'm over it. Last year is last year. It could have been a hundred points and it wouldn't have mattered. We finished second the year before, too." --Scott Payea on losing the 2008 ACT championship by one point
"They're playing their cards, you know what I mean? Come on, they didn't start racing yesterday. They're better than they showed, and they were good." --Eric Williams on Cris Michaud's team while testing the new ACT-approved Ford 'spec' crate engine
"I don't like struggling to qualify, and I don't like struggling to keep up." --Trampas Demers
"I wasn't thinking about the trophy or going to Loudon. I wanted that chair. I wanted it last year, too. Maybe Scott [Payea] will let me sit in it." --Randy Potter, after finishing second in the Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100 at Airborne Speedway two years in a row"I go from hero to zero in a one-hour drive over the mountain." --Ben Rowe on struggling in ACT events at Thunder Road, less than 24 hours after winning a PASS event at White Mountain Motorsports Park
"I'm pissed off now. I want to win here. I want to win at this place more than anything in the world." --Joey Polewarczyk after spinning out of the lead at Thunder Road, 18 laps shy of the checkered flag---Overheard in the Bear Ridge Speedway pits following Brent Dragon's dirt racing debut---
Brent Dragon: "I'll never complain about Ste-Croix being a rough track ever again."
Gary Siemons: "What? That ain't even rough. That wasn't bad at all."
Brent Dragon: (Expletive deleted)
"Um, a little bit... maybe... not really... kinda, yeah." --Joey Polewarczyk on whether or not losing at Thunder Road to Tony Stewart -- in one of his own cars -- would bother him
"I have had to do a lot of fixing this year." --Junkyard Warrior driver Ken Christman on the Street Stock/Warrior divisional merge at Thunder Road
"We can't afford it this year from a money and risk standpoint." --Scott Payea on having to skip racing the TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway
"Right now I'm sad, but at the RV we're going to have a party." --Patrick Laperle on finishing second in the TD Bank 250
"I think he learned the hard way that racing up here in the north is nothing like what he's used to down south." -- Joe Polewarczyk, Sr., on Georgia driver Michael Pope, who wrecked out of a PASS event at Lee USA Speedway in his own Super Late Model, then wrecked in one of Polewarczyk's cars at the TD Bank 250 one week later"He just came over and said, 'I overdrove.' I said, 'Yup, you did, but if you don't try it, you don't learn.' " --Tony Andrews after beating Brooks Clark for a win at Thunder Road
"Everybody was pretty crazy tonight. I don't know, the whole place was going nuts." --Chris Donnelly, after finishing second in a race that featured one flip and two other major wrecks at Bear Ridge Speedway
"Sometimes I get a little impatient and I run out of talent, it just happens." --Nick Sweet
"This is the funniest thing I've ever said in my life, but Brad Leighton thought I drove him rough. That's bullsh-t. And that's a direct quote. Write that down. He got his hand caught in the candy jar." --Brian Hoar after winning a controversial ACT Late Model Tour event at Waterford Speedbowl, in which Leighton crashed out of the lead coming to the final lap
"He blatantly drove over my nose. I'm not taking his crap any more. It's happened to me too many times." --Joey Polewarczyk on an incident with Brian Hoar at Waterford Speedbowl
"I guess it's sort of my fault that Jason lost the title. Duquette would have helped us out. We've lost titles before, and we've won them, too. It would have been nice to win, but it's no big deal. Stuff like this is why we race." --Ron Bonnett after helping to repair point leader Shawn Duquette's car following a crash in the ACT Tiger Sportsman Series finale at Thunder Road; Duquette beat Jason Bonnett, Ron's son, for the championship in a tie-breaker
"I'm good at doing vinyl. I'm getting fantastic at that." --Nick Sweet on making constant repairs to his car
"I gave that one away. Maybe not the championship, but tonight's race I gave away, like a f---ing moron." --Patrick Dupree after finishing second to Martin Roy in both the Charlie Trombley Memorial 100 and Modified championship points at Airborne Speedway
"I wish he would have stopped hitting me and just let us race." --John Donahue on Patrick Laperle"I beat him in the race -- I was third and he was fifth -- but he won his heat and we were even after it was over. It all comes down to heat points. It sucks." --Scott Payea on battling for the ACT championship with Brian Hoar
"He's a pain in the ass." --Patrick Laperle on rival Donald Theetge
"Everything went black." --Joey Polewarczyk after a hard crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
"It's clearly obvious to anybody but Laperle fans what the situation was ... Laperle had a lot of options. If option number one works and option number two works, but option number three doesn't, why do it? They chose option number three. I can't explain that." --ACT president Tom Curley, following a Série ACT-Castrol controversy at Autodrome St-Eustache that penalized Patrick Laperle for allegedly mainpulating the outcome of the season's final race and the series' championship
"I don't know what it is, but I think he likes Theetge and not me." --Patrick Laperle, suggesting he was unfairly targeted by Tom Curley
"I'm afraid I might do something stupid if I go race there." --Patrick Laperle on skipping the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road, and therefore a chance at becoming the race's only three-peat winner
"We're not a bunch of idiots, we're not just a piece of meat to throw around. I'm done, I've had enough for now. I don't think I'll be racing ACT for a while, maybe like two years I'll come back. I say that I'm done, but I might have regret and come back next year. But then I'll probably want to smash my head off a wall if I do." --Patrick Laperle
"It's the second time it's happened this year. I'll be good with it, and I'll keep it in my memory bank. That's part of the deal. We'll see what happens next week." --Brent Dragon after being on the losing end of a rough battle with John Donahue
"We ran good at Thunder Road for a long time before the win. The win gives us confidence and it got the monkey off our back, but you can't ever go to Thunder Road thinking you're going to win there. It's such a tough place, and it'll bite you at any second. You can come out of Turn 4 and think you're just going to brush the wall a little bit, and the next thing you know you're upside down. You have to respect it, because something will always go wrong that will bring you back to reality." --Joey Polewarczyk
GUTS
It takes a lot of things to get into a race car: Money, people, time, energy, sponsors, equipment, dedication.
But it only takes one thing to win: Guts.
***
"The only traction control I need is in my right foot." --Patrick Laperle
"The sky is the limit, we just have to use our heads and move slowly." --Airborne Speedway promoter Mike Perrotte
"You're my new hero." --NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon's remark to ACT driver Phil Scott after Scott ran full-bore through a stream of water in Turn 1 during a Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
"There was some bumping, but this is short track, right?" --Brad Leighton at Airborne Speedway
"If you're nuts enough to stick it out there, you can really go." --Mike Perrotte on Airborne Speedway's new outside lane
"He might be driving one of my cars, but he's gonna have to try to get by me to win that race." --Joey Polewarczyk on NASCAR champion Tony Stewart's Governor's Cup 150 appearance at Thunder Road
"I've been doing this a long time. I'm not going to wait if I see an opening, whether it's behind a lapped car or whatever, I'm going to head down there and take a shot at it and see if it works." --Chris Donnelly
"I've heard a lot of bad stories about it." --Airborne Speedway Sportsman driver Shawn Duquette on making his first start at Thunder Road
"At lap 80, I was getting dizzy. I kept pulling my gloves down and hanging my hands out the window trying to cool my wrists. I was good on that last run, and then that caution came out with seven to go. And it just hit, everything started spinning. If there was another lap I would have drove right off the speedway." --Wayne Helliwell, Jr., who collapsed from heat exhaustion in victory lane at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., after winning the Clash of the Titans 150 in 95-degree heat
"If you want to jack me up and spin me out, well, you're going to the rear, too. That's just the way I look at things. I'm not going to let someone booger me around." --John Donahue
"We've got good notes and a lot of confidence, and it's not like I'm going out there and pussyfooting around. We're going over to win." --Scott Payea
"The Milk Bowl is all about patience, but then again, you can't say that, either. You have to get to the front fast, but you have to race with the sense in your head that, 'Okay, there's another leg right after this one, so don't wreck.' " --Joey Polewarczyk
"I don't like being put three-wide, but this is the third segment, this is the Milk Bowl, this happens once a year. I don't know how else to put it. I wanted it more than he did. I got rough. I usually don't drive like that, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal." --John Donahue on racing for the Milk Bowl victory with Brent Dragon
"I hate seeing that black bumper in my mirror. He's always run me clean, but I still let him go if he wants a spot." --Nick Sweet on racing with Eric Williams
"You don't want to piss Eric off, because he gets mad and he don't forget." --John Donahue on racing with Eric Williams
"Life isn't a dress rehearsal." --Gardner Stone's advice to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Bill Jenkins
But it only takes one thing to win: Guts.
***
"The only traction control I need is in my right foot." --Patrick Laperle "The sky is the limit, we just have to use our heads and move slowly." --Airborne Speedway promoter Mike Perrotte
"You're my new hero." --NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon's remark to ACT driver Phil Scott after Scott ran full-bore through a stream of water in Turn 1 during a Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
"There was some bumping, but this is short track, right?" --Brad Leighton at Airborne Speedway
"If you're nuts enough to stick it out there, you can really go." --Mike Perrotte on Airborne Speedway's new outside lane
"He might be driving one of my cars, but he's gonna have to try to get by me to win that race." --Joey Polewarczyk on NASCAR champion Tony Stewart's Governor's Cup 150 appearance at Thunder Road
"I've been doing this a long time. I'm not going to wait if I see an opening, whether it's behind a lapped car or whatever, I'm going to head down there and take a shot at it and see if it works." --Chris Donnelly "I've heard a lot of bad stories about it." --Airborne Speedway Sportsman driver Shawn Duquette on making his first start at Thunder Road
"At lap 80, I was getting dizzy. I kept pulling my gloves down and hanging my hands out the window trying to cool my wrists. I was good on that last run, and then that caution came out with seven to go. And it just hit, everything started spinning. If there was another lap I would have drove right off the speedway." --Wayne Helliwell, Jr., who collapsed from heat exhaustion in victory lane at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, N.H., after winning the Clash of the Titans 150 in 95-degree heat "If you want to jack me up and spin me out, well, you're going to the rear, too. That's just the way I look at things. I'm not going to let someone booger me around." --John Donahue
"We've got good notes and a lot of confidence, and it's not like I'm going out there and pussyfooting around. We're going over to win." --Scott Payea
"The Milk Bowl is all about patience, but then again, you can't say that, either. You have to get to the front fast, but you have to race with the sense in your head that, 'Okay, there's another leg right after this one, so don't wreck.' " --Joey Polewarczyk
"I don't like being put three-wide, but this is the third segment, this is the Milk Bowl, this happens once a year. I don't know how else to put it. I wanted it more than he did. I got rough. I usually don't drive like that, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal." --John Donahue on racing for the Milk Bowl victory with Brent Dragon "I hate seeing that black bumper in my mirror. He's always run me clean, but I still let him go if he wants a spot." --Nick Sweet on racing with Eric Williams
"You don't want to piss Eric off, because he gets mad and he don't forget." --John Donahue on racing with Eric Williams
"Life isn't a dress rehearsal." --Gardner Stone's advice to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Bill Jenkins
Monday, October 12, 2009
Williams "Can't Believe" Oxford ACT Win
New England Dodge Dealers 150 coverage presented by C&S Screenprinting and Burnett Scrap Metals
OXFORD, Me. -- All Eric Williams wanted to do was get through the Milk Bowl at his home track in Vermont. No wrecks, maybe a little slice of the race's generous $75,000 purse. If he did that, he could take his race car to Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine the next week, with hopefully enough Milk Bowl money to at least cover the cost of tires, fuel, and entry fees, and finish the ACT Late Model Tour season inside the top ten in points, despite missing nearly one-third of the season's races.
Turns out, things went a little better than Williams had planned. After a surprise third-place finish in the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Williams brought his small, family-operated team to Oxford, and still had a bit of cash left over. Still, Oxford Plains
Speedway had never been that kind to the driver that had won so many races on his own turf back home. In fact, since his Late Model rookie year in 1995, Williams had only three top-ten finishes -- including his first career Oxford top-five this past May -- at the tricky, low-banked 3/8-mile, despite a close relationship with nine-time Oxford track champion Jeff Taylor, Williams' car builder, setup advisor, and friend for the better part of 20 years. A decent run Sunday would lock up seventh place in ACT points for the year, his best showing on the Tour since tying for third in 2002. That's all he wanted.
But by the time the sun began to set behind the grandstands, he'd have easily achieved that goal. He'd also be carrying around a first-place trophy from the track that had haunted him for so long.
"I love it, I can't believe it," Williams said, a mile-wide grin stretched across his face. "I've always struggled up here, this is a hard track. I think this track is probably hard to everybody like Thunder Road is hard to everybody else when they come there. They're like two different extremes. I just can't believe it."
Williams was elated to win at Oxford, but his victory also validated his fifth-place finish earlier in the year and backed up his runner-up showing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in July, a track often compared to Oxford. Williams said Taylor's Distance Racing Products company was a big part of that success, as was Chas Howe, co-owner of the famous Michigan-based Howe Racing Enterprises, one of the nation's leading chassis fabricators.
"Now we've got a flat-track setup," Williams said confidently. "This is the same setup we had at Beech Ridge, so that's nice. [Taylor] has helped me out all through the years, and he kind of helped me hook up with Howe. I've been working with Howe and we've all been kind of working together. Howe is really focused on getting better with the [ACT] cars, and to be a part of it. I've been working with Howe for three years now and Jeff was a big part of starting that up and helping me get it. Him and Howe are obviously a big part of [my success]. All I've ever had are Distance cars and Howe cars since I started in the Tigers. My old Tiger car [in the early 1990s at Thunder Road] was made by Jeff Taylor. So he was pretty happy, and of course he built [runner-up Joey Polewarczyk's] car. Top two, that makes him feel pretty good Monday morning, you know?"
Williams took advantage of a bobble by leader John Donahue on lap 119 to take over the top spot. Polewarczyk, who dominated the first half of the race, passed Donahue on the outside for second place two laps later, and the pair staged a restart duel during the balance of the race. Williams slipped up the track entering Turn 1 on a lap 124 restart, allowing Polewarczyk to take the lead on the backstretch, but he regained control of the race before the lap was completed. Williams won another restart battle on lap 140, then Polewarczyk got the jump on the final restart with five laps remaining in the race. Williams was again able to sneak back ahead for the lead before the start/finish line, and Polewarczyk was relegated to second place. Donahue finished third, with Brian Hoar clinching the ACT Late Model Tour championship in fourth-place finish. Oxford regular Tim Brackett was fifth.
Although Polewarczyk supplied plenty of pressure, Williams thought he would be okay as long as he didn't make any mistakes. "I knew that I couldn't screw up, and if I didn't screw up, within one lap I'd take off," he said. "The very first lap, the first restart we had when I was beside him, I went [into Turn 1] and I got real loose and it caught me off guard. I was like, 'Where'd that come from?' But I probably didn't clean my rear tires enough. You see guys out there kind of spinning a little [under caution], that's what you're doing, getting pieces of rubber off the rear tires. And so I made sure I did that the next time, and then I backed off just a little bit early [in Turn 1], rather than lose it, to just stay there. As soon as I punched it on the backstretch, I'd pull away from him. I'd see how quickly I pulled away and I figured, as long I didn't do anything mentally challenged I'll be just fine."
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- New England Dodge Dealers Fall Spectacular 150
ACT Late Model Tour -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pos.-Driver-Hometown (# - denotes rookie)
1. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
2. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H.
3. John Donahue, Graniteville
4. Brian Hoar, Williston
5. Tim Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
6. Bradley Babb, Windham, Me.
7. Jay Laquerre, East Montpelier
8. Scott Payea, Milton
9. Brent Dragon, Milton
10. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne
11. Glen Luce, Turner, Me.
12. Travis Adams, Canton, Me.
13. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
14. Aaron Ricker, Tamworth, N.H.
15. D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.
16. Shawn Martin, Turner, Me.
17. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
18. Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Me.
19. #Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me.
20. Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass.
21. Tommy Ricker, Poland, Me.
22. Corey Morgan, Lewiston, Me.
23. #Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
24. Nick Sweet, Barre
25. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
26. Scott Dragon, Milton
27. Shawn Knight, South Paris, Me.
28. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me.
29. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville
30. Jeff White, Winthrop, Me.
31. Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury
32. Ben Rowe, Turner, Me.
33. Eric Chase, Milton
(PHOTOS: 1. New England Dodge Dealers 150 winner Eric Williams (right) and runner-up Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. (left) were all smiles in victory lane; 2. Williams (#7) leads Polewarczyk (#97) late in the race. Photo 1 by Justin St. Louis/VMM; Photo 2 by Alan Ward.)
OXFORD, Me. -- All Eric Williams wanted to do was get through the Milk Bowl at his home track in Vermont. No wrecks, maybe a little slice of the race's generous $75,000 purse. If he did that, he could take his race car to Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine the next week, with hopefully enough Milk Bowl money to at least cover the cost of tires, fuel, and entry fees, and finish the ACT Late Model Tour season inside the top ten in points, despite missing nearly one-third of the season's races.Turns out, things went a little better than Williams had planned. After a surprise third-place finish in the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Williams brought his small, family-operated team to Oxford, and still had a bit of cash left over. Still, Oxford Plains
Speedway had never been that kind to the driver that had won so many races on his own turf back home. In fact, since his Late Model rookie year in 1995, Williams had only three top-ten finishes -- including his first career Oxford top-five this past May -- at the tricky, low-banked 3/8-mile, despite a close relationship with nine-time Oxford track champion Jeff Taylor, Williams' car builder, setup advisor, and friend for the better part of 20 years. A decent run Sunday would lock up seventh place in ACT points for the year, his best showing on the Tour since tying for third in 2002. That's all he wanted.But by the time the sun began to set behind the grandstands, he'd have easily achieved that goal. He'd also be carrying around a first-place trophy from the track that had haunted him for so long.
"I love it, I can't believe it," Williams said, a mile-wide grin stretched across his face. "I've always struggled up here, this is a hard track. I think this track is probably hard to everybody like Thunder Road is hard to everybody else when they come there. They're like two different extremes. I just can't believe it."Williams was elated to win at Oxford, but his victory also validated his fifth-place finish earlier in the year and backed up his runner-up showing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in July, a track often compared to Oxford. Williams said Taylor's Distance Racing Products company was a big part of that success, as was Chas Howe, co-owner of the famous Michigan-based Howe Racing Enterprises, one of the nation's leading chassis fabricators.
"Now we've got a flat-track setup," Williams said confidently. "This is the same setup we had at Beech Ridge, so that's nice. [Taylor] has helped me out all through the years, and he kind of helped me hook up with Howe. I've been working with Howe and we've all been kind of working together. Howe is really focused on getting better with the [ACT] cars, and to be a part of it. I've been working with Howe for three years now and Jeff was a big part of starting that up and helping me get it. Him and Howe are obviously a big part of [my success]. All I've ever had are Distance cars and Howe cars since I started in the Tigers. My old Tiger car [in the early 1990s at Thunder Road] was made by Jeff Taylor. So he was pretty happy, and of course he built [runner-up Joey Polewarczyk's] car. Top two, that makes him feel pretty good Monday morning, you know?"
Williams took advantage of a bobble by leader John Donahue on lap 119 to take over the top spot. Polewarczyk, who dominated the first half of the race, passed Donahue on the outside for second place two laps later, and the pair staged a restart duel during the balance of the race. Williams slipped up the track entering Turn 1 on a lap 124 restart, allowing Polewarczyk to take the lead on the backstretch, but he regained control of the race before the lap was completed. Williams won another restart battle on lap 140, then Polewarczyk got the jump on the final restart with five laps remaining in the race. Williams was again able to sneak back ahead for the lead before the start/finish line, and Polewarczyk was relegated to second place. Donahue finished third, with Brian Hoar clinching the ACT Late Model Tour championship in fourth-place finish. Oxford regular Tim Brackett was fifth.
Although Polewarczyk supplied plenty of pressure, Williams thought he would be okay as long as he didn't make any mistakes. "I knew that I couldn't screw up, and if I didn't screw up, within one lap I'd take off," he said. "The very first lap, the first restart we had when I was beside him, I went [into Turn 1] and I got real loose and it caught me off guard. I was like, 'Where'd that come from?' But I probably didn't clean my rear tires enough. You see guys out there kind of spinning a little [under caution], that's what you're doing, getting pieces of rubber off the rear tires. And so I made sure I did that the next time, and then I backed off just a little bit early [in Turn 1], rather than lose it, to just stay there. As soon as I punched it on the backstretch, I'd pull away from him. I'd see how quickly I pulled away and I figured, as long I didn't do anything mentally challenged I'll be just fine."UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- New England Dodge Dealers Fall Spectacular 150
ACT Late Model Tour -- Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Me.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Pos.-Driver-Hometown (# - denotes rookie)
1. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
2. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H.
3. John Donahue, Graniteville
4. Brian Hoar, Williston
5. Tim Brackett, Buckfield, Me.
6. Bradley Babb, Windham, Me.
7. Jay Laquerre, East Montpelier
8. Scott Payea, Milton
9. Brent Dragon, Milton
10. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne
11. Glen Luce, Turner, Me.
12. Travis Adams, Canton, Me.
13. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
14. Aaron Ricker, Tamworth, N.H.
15. D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.
16. Shawn Martin, Turner, Me.
17. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
18. Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Me.
19. #Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me.
20. Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass.
21. Tommy Ricker, Poland, Me.
22. Corey Morgan, Lewiston, Me.
23. #Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
24. Nick Sweet, Barre
25. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
26. Scott Dragon, Milton
27. Shawn Knight, South Paris, Me.
28. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me.
29. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville
30. Jeff White, Winthrop, Me.
31. Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury
32. Ben Rowe, Turner, Me.
33. Eric Chase, Milton
(PHOTOS: 1. New England Dodge Dealers 150 winner Eric Williams (right) and runner-up Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. (left) were all smiles in victory lane; 2. Williams (#7) leads Polewarczyk (#97) late in the race. Photo 1 by Justin St. Louis/VMM; Photo 2 by Alan Ward.)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Juice -- At What Point Did John Donahue Become a Star?
-by Justin St. Louis
Don't look now, but there's a new kid in town. Actually, there's nothing new about him at all, really, or kid-like. He's a hard worker with strong, dirty hands, hints of an old-time "ayuh" accent, and has been around this game for the better part of 20 years.
But all of a sudden, for the first time, John Donahue is a headline driver.
There's no telling the exact moment when he became one. Sunday, after winning the Milk Bowl? It might have been the crown jewel of his career, but it certainly wasn't his first win, or even his first important win. But in writing the post-race wrap-up of the Milk Bowl on Sunday and Monday, I found myself surprised, thinking something to the effect of, "Holy cow, Donahue's racked up quite the résumé. When did that happen?" In reality, it began a lot longer ago than I realized, maybe longer than anyone did.
A farmer by trade, the woodchuck-through-and-through Donahue rolled out of the rural Graniteville hills with a block-long Chevrolet for the "Killer B" class at Barre's Thunder Road in 1994. He recalled thinking that his car -- a larger, heavier, less powerful version of the era's Flying Tigers -- was "too slow" to have any fun in, so he moved up to the Tigers to race against his older brother, Bill, who had followed in their father Paul's footsteps as a multi-time winner and championship contender in the division.
And it turned out that "Irish John" was a chip off the ol' block, finishing third in points as a rookie. During the five seasons that followed, he would earn a pair of Thunder Road championships, a Triple Crown title at New Hampshire's Riverside Speedway, a "Tiger 50 Series" title, well over two dozen feature races at Thunder Road, Riverside, and Airborne Speedway in New York, and three Strictly Stock features at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.
In 2002, Donahue was hired to drive an American-Canadian Tour Late Model for Lee Delphia, winning top rookie honors at Thunder Road and finishing second on the Tour to the well-financed Ryan Moore, while also taking a Limited Sportsman win at Oxford. But a split from Delphia as the season ended left Donahue without a full-time ride for 2003, and the funding for his Maine-based team dried up as well. Donahue was on the outside looking in before another car owner, Mike Thompson, put Donahue in his Late Model for 2004.
Although comparatively underfunded, the team notched a win in the 2005 regular season finale at Thunder Road, a second win in mid-2006, and was constantly a top-five threat. A few on-track tussles brought some fanfare, including a couple involving Eric Williams, one of Thunder Road's all-time great villains. Add to that the fact that T-Road impresario Ken Squier loved to say the words "Irish John Donahue" (as he still does), and the name was becoming a water cooler topic in the offices of Central Vermont each Friday morning after the races, but still rarely appeared in print, radio, or television.
A windfall ride from new car owner Kendall Roberts -- complete with flashy, high-profile sponsorship from the National Guard, a pair of brand new cars with technical support from chassis builder Dale Shaw, and the occasional performance boost in crew chief Jeff Laquerre, at least in the first season -- appeared at Donahue's door in 2007, and, as far as my best guess goes, anyway, that's probably when things really began to click. Donahue knocked off a 100-lap open win at Oxford in June and took his first ACT victory in Thunder Road's 200-lap Labor Day Classic in September. The next season, he won back-to-back races at Thunder Road, on Mother's Day and in the ACT race on Memorial Day, then finished in the top-five in points with both the weekly Thunder Road chase and the ACT Late Model Tour. But still, he was never much for the headlines.
Now, this year, Donahue scored a dominating ACT win at White Mountain Motorsports Park, has three ACT runner-up finishes, pulled down a third-place effort in the Oxford 250 after leading some laps, took fifth in the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, won last week's Milk Bowl, and is about to again finish among the top five in ACT points. And we're finally talking about him. You'll notice that Donahue has won some races, big ones at that, but like was said earlier, he's been winning from the very start. So what's made him a star now? I think the answer might be John Donahue himself.
It's easy to tell that when speaking with the media, Donahue's still not always comfortable being in the spotlight. But he's certainly come a long way from the days of his Tiger championships; Donahue won the Milk Bowl season finale in 2001 to clinch both the track and Tiger 50 titles, and he got out of the car with big smile and a two-fisted "Rocky" salute to the crowd. All well and good for photos, but his victory lane speech -- and I still remember hearing it -- was pretty much void of the content or emotion a race fan might expect to hear from a driver going through so much excitement.
Last Sunday at the Milk Bowl, though, Donahue played it up for the crowd, for the media, for Squier, for the Governor, for everybody. He performed a series of smoky, spinning burnouts while carrying the checkered flag. He dumped Booth Bros. milk down his frontside as he drank from the bowl trophy. He lifted the farm-style milk can above his head as though it was the Stanley Cup. He kissed the cow in victory lane -- on the lips -- twice. He celebrated with his family and team. As a couple of television cameras and a crowd of a half-dozen reporters stuck their microphones in Donahue's face, he flashed a confident smile, answered on-the-spot questions, and even cracked a joke or two. He never backed down from a question, gave honest answers, and even spit a little bit of fire when confronted with another driver's ruffled feathers. At White Mountain in June, his victory lane and post-race radio interviews were well-spoken and entertaining. His confidence with being a publicly prominent sports figure in the region seems to grow after every top-five finish (and he's on a streak of six straight right now).
Travis Barrett of Green-White-Checker asked Donahue on Sunday if he has felt overlooked as a top driver. I asked him a similar question after the Fall Foliage 300 at Airborne last month, speaking in terms of the ACT championship battle. And it seemed as though Donahue didn't really care if he was forgotten or not. "I'm sort of out of the picture," Donahue said at Airborne. "That's okay, make 'em think." And then he rambled on -- yes, rambled -- about how good his car and his team are, and gave this writer more than enough to fill a blog post's worth of space.
If anyone on the track, in the media, or anywhere else -- myself included -- forgot to think about John Donahue in the past, well, we won't now.
He's not the new kid in town. But he's definitely in town.
***
Three words: Bucktona International Speedway. If you don't know, ask someone who does.
***
Interesting stuff from the Milk Bowl pit meeting:
--ACT president Tom Curley said that there is "no question" that his series will be invited back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next year. Ken Squier said the same thing.
--Curley said that the 2010 ACT Late Model Tour schedule is expected to be completed and published by the end of October. The Tour will not return to Kawartha Speedway in Ontario, but will visit "one or two new tracks".
--ACT's announcement that it will continue to sanction the Castrol Series in Canada comes this early, in part, to dispell rumors that the recent Patrick Laperle scandal drove Curley's group away. In fact, Curley said he's going back to Canada in 2010 because he's "pissed off" about the Autodrome St-Eustache incident and wants to continue holding fair races for the teams that have supported him.
--Okay, this wasn't at the pit meeting, but we overheard Curley telling third-place finisher Eric Williams that he is exploring the idea of expanding the Milk Bowl's three segments from 50 laps each to 75 laps, as early as next year. Curley thinks that another 25 laps would help bring back the possibility of the single-digit Milk Bowl win and bring back more excitement to the race. The fact that John Donahue's winning score was 17 points, and other recent winning scores have been as high as 23 points -- a far cry from Brian Hoar's 4-point win in 1998 -- means to Curley that the segments are just too short to produce the kind of racing the Milk Bowl became famous for. With the current ACT rules package, the cars are too equal to allow for three back-to-front drives through traffic. Robbie Crouch was the last driver to win every segment and score a perfect three points... in 1986. And it was a distant nine years ago that Phil Scott and Tracie Bellerose each scored eight points in the race, the most recent single-digit scores.
***
Speaking of Bellerose, she will be back in competition at Riverside Speedway on Saturday behind the wheel of a Late Model owned by Jane LeBlanc. Bellerose has been out of competition since a 10th-place ACT Late Model Tour finish at Oxford Plains Speedway in October 2007.
***
And speaking of Oxford, we'll be there on Sunday for the New England Dodge Dealers Fall Spectacular 150 and the ACT Late Model Tour season finale, welcoming a new supporter to Vermont Motorsports Magazine in Burnett Scrap Metals of Williston, Vt. Burnett has been involved in local racing for many years, and fielded a pair of race cars -- Neal Foster's Tiger Sportsman and Keith Fortier's Junkyard Warrior -- at Thunder Road in 2009.
Brian Hoar will try to fend off Scott Payea at Oxford for his sixth ACT championship, and first since 2000. Payea, of course, is looking for his first title, but will have to break his streak of not-so-good luck at Oxford. In ten career ACT starts at Oxford, Payea's got an average finish of just 12th, with a pair of sixth-place runs as his best finishes. He also has two 17ths, a 19th in May of this year, and a 22nd. Payea readily admits that Oxford is his achilles heel, and has been rumored to be building a second chassis for the 2010 season strictly to help improve his Oxford program. It'll be fun to watch, either way.
***
Rookie Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me. celebrated his first True Value Modified Racing Series win... a day after the race. Dore finished second across the finish line at Twin State Speedway on Sunday, but was named the winner of the Ricky Miller Memorial 112 on Monday after Matt Hirschman was disqualified. Dore, 20, was informed of the ruling as he was doing homework in his dorm room at the University of New Hampshire. Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney was fourth, and his nephew, Joey, finished 19th in a car normally driven by his father, Peter. The TVMRS cars now head to Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts on Saturday and Sunday for the annual D. Anthony Venditti Memorial Fall Classic event.
Don't look now, but there's a new kid in town. Actually, there's nothing new about him at all, really, or kid-like. He's a hard worker with strong, dirty hands, hints of an old-time "ayuh" accent, and has been around this game for the better part of 20 years.
But all of a sudden, for the first time, John Donahue is a headline driver.
There's no telling the exact moment when he became one. Sunday, after winning the Milk Bowl? It might have been the crown jewel of his career, but it certainly wasn't his first win, or even his first important win. But in writing the post-race wrap-up of the Milk Bowl on Sunday and Monday, I found myself surprised, thinking something to the effect of, "Holy cow, Donahue's racked up quite the résumé. When did that happen?" In reality, it began a lot longer ago than I realized, maybe longer than anyone did.
A farmer by trade, the woodchuck-through-and-through Donahue rolled out of the rural Graniteville hills with a block-long Chevrolet for the "Killer B" class at Barre's Thunder Road in 1994. He recalled thinking that his car -- a larger, heavier, less powerful version of the era's Flying Tigers -- was "too slow" to have any fun in, so he moved up to the Tigers to race against his older brother, Bill, who had followed in their father Paul's footsteps as a multi-time winner and championship contender in the division.
And it turned out that "Irish John" was a chip off the ol' block, finishing third in points as a rookie. During the five seasons that followed, he would earn a pair of Thunder Road championships, a Triple Crown title at New Hampshire's Riverside Speedway, a "Tiger 50 Series" title, well over two dozen feature races at Thunder Road, Riverside, and Airborne Speedway in New York, and three Strictly Stock features at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.
In 2002, Donahue was hired to drive an American-Canadian Tour Late Model for Lee Delphia, winning top rookie honors at Thunder Road and finishing second on the Tour to the well-financed Ryan Moore, while also taking a Limited Sportsman win at Oxford. But a split from Delphia as the season ended left Donahue without a full-time ride for 2003, and the funding for his Maine-based team dried up as well. Donahue was on the outside looking in before another car owner, Mike Thompson, put Donahue in his Late Model for 2004.
Although comparatively underfunded, the team notched a win in the 2005 regular season finale at Thunder Road, a second win in mid-2006, and was constantly a top-five threat. A few on-track tussles brought some fanfare, including a couple involving Eric Williams, one of Thunder Road's all-time great villains. Add to that the fact that T-Road impresario Ken Squier loved to say the words "Irish John Donahue" (as he still does), and the name was becoming a water cooler topic in the offices of Central Vermont each Friday morning after the races, but still rarely appeared in print, radio, or television.
A windfall ride from new car owner Kendall Roberts -- complete with flashy, high-profile sponsorship from the National Guard, a pair of brand new cars with technical support from chassis builder Dale Shaw, and the occasional performance boost in crew chief Jeff Laquerre, at least in the first season -- appeared at Donahue's door in 2007, and, as far as my best guess goes, anyway, that's probably when things really began to click. Donahue knocked off a 100-lap open win at Oxford in June and took his first ACT victory in Thunder Road's 200-lap Labor Day Classic in September. The next season, he won back-to-back races at Thunder Road, on Mother's Day and in the ACT race on Memorial Day, then finished in the top-five in points with both the weekly Thunder Road chase and the ACT Late Model Tour. But still, he was never much for the headlines.
Now, this year, Donahue scored a dominating ACT win at White Mountain Motorsports Park, has three ACT runner-up finishes, pulled down a third-place effort in the Oxford 250 after leading some laps, took fifth in the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, won last week's Milk Bowl, and is about to again finish among the top five in ACT points. And we're finally talking about him. You'll notice that Donahue has won some races, big ones at that, but like was said earlier, he's been winning from the very start. So what's made him a star now? I think the answer might be John Donahue himself.
It's easy to tell that when speaking with the media, Donahue's still not always comfortable being in the spotlight. But he's certainly come a long way from the days of his Tiger championships; Donahue won the Milk Bowl season finale in 2001 to clinch both the track and Tiger 50 titles, and he got out of the car with big smile and a two-fisted "Rocky" salute to the crowd. All well and good for photos, but his victory lane speech -- and I still remember hearing it -- was pretty much void of the content or emotion a race fan might expect to hear from a driver going through so much excitement.
Last Sunday at the Milk Bowl, though, Donahue played it up for the crowd, for the media, for Squier, for the Governor, for everybody. He performed a series of smoky, spinning burnouts while carrying the checkered flag. He dumped Booth Bros. milk down his frontside as he drank from the bowl trophy. He lifted the farm-style milk can above his head as though it was the Stanley Cup. He kissed the cow in victory lane -- on the lips -- twice. He celebrated with his family and team. As a couple of television cameras and a crowd of a half-dozen reporters stuck their microphones in Donahue's face, he flashed a confident smile, answered on-the-spot questions, and even cracked a joke or two. He never backed down from a question, gave honest answers, and even spit a little bit of fire when confronted with another driver's ruffled feathers. At White Mountain in June, his victory lane and post-race radio interviews were well-spoken and entertaining. His confidence with being a publicly prominent sports figure in the region seems to grow after every top-five finish (and he's on a streak of six straight right now).
Travis Barrett of Green-White-Checker asked Donahue on Sunday if he has felt overlooked as a top driver. I asked him a similar question after the Fall Foliage 300 at Airborne last month, speaking in terms of the ACT championship battle. And it seemed as though Donahue didn't really care if he was forgotten or not. "I'm sort of out of the picture," Donahue said at Airborne. "That's okay, make 'em think." And then he rambled on -- yes, rambled -- about how good his car and his team are, and gave this writer more than enough to fill a blog post's worth of space.
If anyone on the track, in the media, or anywhere else -- myself included -- forgot to think about John Donahue in the past, well, we won't now.
He's not the new kid in town. But he's definitely in town.
***
Three words: Bucktona International Speedway. If you don't know, ask someone who does.
***
Interesting stuff from the Milk Bowl pit meeting:
--ACT president Tom Curley said that there is "no question" that his series will be invited back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next year. Ken Squier said the same thing.
--Curley said that the 2010 ACT Late Model Tour schedule is expected to be completed and published by the end of October. The Tour will not return to Kawartha Speedway in Ontario, but will visit "one or two new tracks".
--ACT's announcement that it will continue to sanction the Castrol Series in Canada comes this early, in part, to dispell rumors that the recent Patrick Laperle scandal drove Curley's group away. In fact, Curley said he's going back to Canada in 2010 because he's "pissed off" about the Autodrome St-Eustache incident and wants to continue holding fair races for the teams that have supported him.
--Okay, this wasn't at the pit meeting, but we overheard Curley telling third-place finisher Eric Williams that he is exploring the idea of expanding the Milk Bowl's three segments from 50 laps each to 75 laps, as early as next year. Curley thinks that another 25 laps would help bring back the possibility of the single-digit Milk Bowl win and bring back more excitement to the race. The fact that John Donahue's winning score was 17 points, and other recent winning scores have been as high as 23 points -- a far cry from Brian Hoar's 4-point win in 1998 -- means to Curley that the segments are just too short to produce the kind of racing the Milk Bowl became famous for. With the current ACT rules package, the cars are too equal to allow for three back-to-front drives through traffic. Robbie Crouch was the last driver to win every segment and score a perfect three points... in 1986. And it was a distant nine years ago that Phil Scott and Tracie Bellerose each scored eight points in the race, the most recent single-digit scores.
***
Speaking of Bellerose, she will be back in competition at Riverside Speedway on Saturday behind the wheel of a Late Model owned by Jane LeBlanc. Bellerose has been out of competition since a 10th-place ACT Late Model Tour finish at Oxford Plains Speedway in October 2007.
***
And speaking of Oxford, we'll be there on Sunday for the New England Dodge Dealers Fall Spectacular 150 and the ACT Late Model Tour season finale, welcoming a new supporter to Vermont Motorsports Magazine in Burnett Scrap Metals of Williston, Vt. Burnett has been involved in local racing for many years, and fielded a pair of race cars -- Neal Foster's Tiger Sportsman and Keith Fortier's Junkyard Warrior -- at Thunder Road in 2009.Brian Hoar will try to fend off Scott Payea at Oxford for his sixth ACT championship, and first since 2000. Payea, of course, is looking for his first title, but will have to break his streak of not-so-good luck at Oxford. In ten career ACT starts at Oxford, Payea's got an average finish of just 12th, with a pair of sixth-place runs as his best finishes. He also has two 17ths, a 19th in May of this year, and a 22nd. Payea readily admits that Oxford is his achilles heel, and has been rumored to be building a second chassis for the 2010 season strictly to help improve his Oxford program. It'll be fun to watch, either way.
***
Rookie Jacob Dore of Sanford, Me. celebrated his first True Value Modified Racing Series win... a day after the race. Dore finished second across the finish line at Twin State Speedway on Sunday, but was named the winner of the Ricky Miller Memorial 112 on Monday after Matt Hirschman was disqualified. Dore, 20, was informed of the ruling as he was doing homework in his dorm room at the University of New Hampshire. Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney was fourth, and his nephew, Joey, finished 19th in a car normally driven by his father, Peter. The TVMRS cars now head to Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts on Saturday and Sunday for the annual D. Anthony Venditti Memorial Fall Classic event.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Donahue Spars With Dragon at Milk Bowl
Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines
John Donahue and Patrick Laperle weren't racing for the win at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl's Labor Day Classic last month, but they were definitely the show to watch all day. At Sunday's Milk Bowl at the Barre track, Donahue found a new boxing partner in Brent Dragon. But the stakes were much higher this time.
Donahue and Dragon were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the Milk Bowl field on Sunday, and entered the third and final 50-lap segment racing each other for the overall victory in Vermont's biggest annual race and a $10,000 top prize. Dragon, the 2006 Milk Bowl winner, held a razor-thin, one-point advantage over Donahue, and the two raced each other exactly as if that was the case.
By virtue of their ninth- and tenth-place finishes in the second leg of the race and the traditional full-field inversion between segments, they found themselves starting the final round in the 21st and 22nd positions and needing to move forward quickly. Making daring moves in traffic -- including a four-lap stretch where either Donahue, Dragon, or both was racing three-wide on Thunder Road's narrow surface -- eventually push came to shove.
And both drivers shoved. Dragon put his nose under Donahue and Glen Luce on lap 17 to complete a three-wide pass, one that Donahue wasn't fond of.
"I don't like being put three-wide, but this is the third segment, this is the Milk Bowl," Donahue said. "I said, 'Alright, my car is good enough, I can put you three-wide.' So I did."
And he did. On the next lap, with Dragon now on the outside lane, Donahue stuck his nose in an opening in the middle lane. Dragon, as a result, was briefly knocked off the track, and, he says, out of contention for the win.
"When I got ran off the backstretch there, it knocked the rear end out and instantly I knew it, I could feel it," Dragon said. "It just made the car so loose, and I was done. I was along for the ride at that point." Dragon acknowledged that his driving style at the Milk Bowl was out of character for the usually smooth, calculated racer. "We wanted it bad. We wanted to win it and that's what you've got to do in the Milk Bowl. That's just part of the deal. I wanted to win."
Dragon said he was surprised by Donahue's move, and although he understood that the lure of a Milk Bowl win fuels drivers to race harder, losing the race that way was hard to take.
"Yeah, a little bit. I didn't expect John to run me like that," he said. "I mean, I probably do in the Milk Bowl, [but] I had him pinned behind a car on the backstretch and I was in good shape, I would have gained a couple spots right there, and he just ran me off the backstretch. I can't believe I didn't crash, I got that far out into the dirt. That's the worst part of it."
Donahue saw the move as an eye-for-an-eye situation. "He says I cut him off. Whatever," said Donahue. "He put me three-wide. You know, what comes around, goes around. He might be mad.
"I mean, this is the Milk Bowl, this happens once a year. I don't know how else to put it. I wanted it more than he did. I got rough. I usually don't drive like that, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal."
While winning that first Milk Bowl may be something a driver only gets to do once, Dragon said experiencing Donahue's tactics was not. And it's not something he'll likely forget as the American-Canadian Tour season comes to a close at Oxford Plains Speedway next Sunday.
"No, it's the second time it's happened this year [with Donahue]," Dragon said. "I'll be good with it, and I'll keep it in my memory bank. That's part of the deal.
"We'll see what happens next week."
John Donahue and Patrick Laperle weren't racing for the win at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl's Labor Day Classic last month, but they were definitely the show to watch all day. At Sunday's Milk Bowl at the Barre track, Donahue found a new boxing partner in Brent Dragon. But the stakes were much higher this time.Donahue and Dragon were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the Milk Bowl field on Sunday, and entered the third and final 50-lap segment racing each other for the overall victory in Vermont's biggest annual race and a $10,000 top prize. Dragon, the 2006 Milk Bowl winner, held a razor-thin, one-point advantage over Donahue, and the two raced each other exactly as if that was the case.
By virtue of their ninth- and tenth-place finishes in the second leg of the race and the traditional full-field inversion between segments, they found themselves starting the final round in the 21st and 22nd positions and needing to move forward quickly. Making daring moves in traffic -- including a four-lap stretch where either Donahue, Dragon, or both was racing three-wide on Thunder Road's narrow surface -- eventually push came to shove.
And both drivers shoved. Dragon put his nose under Donahue and Glen Luce on lap 17 to complete a three-wide pass, one that Donahue wasn't fond of."I don't like being put three-wide, but this is the third segment, this is the Milk Bowl," Donahue said. "I said, 'Alright, my car is good enough, I can put you three-wide.' So I did."
And he did. On the next lap, with Dragon now on the outside lane, Donahue stuck his nose in an opening in the middle lane. Dragon, as a result, was briefly knocked off the track, and, he says, out of contention for the win.
"When I got ran off the backstretch there, it knocked the rear end out and instantly I knew it, I could feel it," Dragon said. "It just made the car so loose, and I was done. I was along for the ride at that point." Dragon acknowledged that his driving style at the Milk Bowl was out of character for the usually smooth, calculated racer. "We wanted it bad. We wanted to win it and that's what you've got to do in the Milk Bowl. That's just part of the deal. I wanted to win."
Dragon said he was surprised by Donahue's move, and although he understood that the lure of a Milk Bowl win fuels drivers to race harder, losing the race that way was hard to take."Yeah, a little bit. I didn't expect John to run me like that," he said. "I mean, I probably do in the Milk Bowl, [but] I had him pinned behind a car on the backstretch and I was in good shape, I would have gained a couple spots right there, and he just ran me off the backstretch. I can't believe I didn't crash, I got that far out into the dirt. That's the worst part of it."
Donahue saw the move as an eye-for-an-eye situation. "He says I cut him off. Whatever," said Donahue. "He put me three-wide. You know, what comes around, goes around. He might be mad.
"I mean, this is the Milk Bowl, this happens once a year. I don't know how else to put it. I wanted it more than he did. I got rough. I usually don't drive like that, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal."
While winning that first Milk Bowl may be something a driver only gets to do once, Dragon said experiencing Donahue's tactics was not. And it's not something he'll likely forget as the American-Canadian Tour season comes to a close at Oxford Plains Speedway next Sunday.
"No, it's the second time it's happened this year [with Donahue]," Dragon said. "I'll be good with it, and I'll keep it in my memory bank. That's part of the deal.
"We'll see what happens next week."
(PHOTOS: 1. Brent Dragon (#55) gets underneath John Donahue (#26) and Glen Luce (#7); 2. Donahue repays the favor with Dragon outside and Eric Chase (#40) and Joey Becker (#16) down low. Photos by Leif Tillotson)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Donahue in Good Company with Milk Bowl Win
Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines
BARRE -- Three years ago, John Donahue's name was often little more than a footnote in American-Canadian Tour race finishes or year-end point standings. And three short years later, the Graniteville driver has firmly established himself as a driver that will be remembered long after his final lap.
With a win in the 47th running of the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Donahue became just the tenth driver in history to win each of the track's "big three" events -- he won the Memorial Day Classic in 2008, the Labor Day Classic, the site of his first ACT Late Model Tour win, in 2007, and now Sunday's Milk Bowl. The victory means his name will be now etched in all three granite monuments at the Barre track honoring past winners of the events, alongside pioneers Larry Demar and Russell Ingerson, Hall of Famers Jean-Paul Cabana, Bobby Dragon, Dave Dion, and Robbie Crouch, and modern-day heroes Jean-Paul Cyr, Dave Pembroke, and Brent Dragon.
It's something Donahue spent a lot of time thinking about, too.
"This'll put the third one on there now," Donahue said after his Milk Bowl victory. "[It means] a lot. A month ago, Tom (Curley, ACT president) brought us all up there, the drivers, and I'm looking on down through and I'm on two of [the monuments], and I said, 'Boy, I'd really like to be on that Milk Bowl one, that way my name is on all three of them.' I've been thinking about it since then."
And perhaps appropriately, it was one of those names already carved into each piece of the rock -- Milton's Brent Dragon -- that Donahue had to outduel to win the Milk Bowl.
Dragon won the opening 50-lap round of the three-segment, cumulatively scored race, with Donahue third. Donahue finished ninth in the middle leg, one spot better than Dragon, and trailed Dragon by one point entering the final 50 laps. And that's when Donahue turned up the wick.
Both drivers raced three-wide through traffic, along with Scott Payea, Brian Hoar, and Brad Leighton, who each would be within striking distance under the right circumstances, near the one-third mark of the final segment. Dragon and Donahue traded jabs on the track, knowing their mid-pack battle was almost certainly for the overall victory.
Dragon pushed three-wide under Donahue and Glen Luce on lap 17, then swapped lanes on the next lap. Donahue seized the opportunity, returning the three-wide favor. In the intense action, Dragon's car was shoved momentarily off the backstretch, while Donahue was able to squeeze by. Two laps later, Payea spun off the track with Dave Whitcomb and Eric Chase to bring out the caution flag.
Donahue and Dragon realigned in 13th and 14th for the restart on lap 20, which proved to be the decisive moment of the race. Traffic in Donahue's inside lane moved faster than Dragon's high side group, and Donahue picked his way through the field to finish fifth in the segment. But Dragon, his car knocked out of alignment from the contact on lap 18, was only able to muster a tenth-place finish in segment. With the final tally added up, Donahue's 17 segment points secured him his first Milk Bowl win, four points better than Dragon's 21, and nine better than Eric Williams of Hyde Park.
Donahue began his career as a Flying Tiger/Sportsman racer at Thunder Road in the mid-nineties, winning more than his share of races and championships, but had little in the way of headline-grabbing success in the top-tier Late Model class -- and certainly with the touring ACT division -- until recently. His Milk Bowl victory and planting the traditional kiss on a "trophy queen" cow, he says, is the crowning achievement of his racing career.
"It's right at the top. I've had a lot of good races, I won a [Labor Day] 200 here, but this is different," he said. "You've got three different segments, you stop, you have to think about it, re-do your car. This is one I've been wanting for a long time. I'm just going to soak this one in and be happy."
Williams' third-place finish went virtually unnoticed, overshadowed by the Donahue-Dragon saga, but his segment finishes of seventh, fifteenth, and fourth were good enough for the podium spot. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, N.H. (28 points) and Brian Hoar of Williston (29 points) finished fourth and fifth overall. The top-ten was completed by Dave Pembroke, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, Joey Laquerre, and Chip Grenier. Track champion Jean-Paul Cyr, who won the third segment finished 11th overall, while second-segment winner Wayne Helliwell, Jr. finished 18th overall in his first start at Thunder Road.
***
Eighteen year-old Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown became the youngest driver in history to win a championship in Thunder Road's famed Tiger Sportsman division on Sunday, taking a four-point victory over Tony Rossi of Barre. Hebert overcame a tense moment on lap 17 of the 50-lap finale when hard contact with Mark Barnier cut Hebert's left-rear tire, sending him into a spin down the frontstretch. After pitting under the caution period, Hebert recovered for a 13th-place finish.
"It's ten times better that I ever thought it would be," said Hebert. "Ever since I was little, I dreamed of this. I never thought I would race at 16, say nothing about winning a championship at 18. The first year we really struggled and everybody seemed discouraged, but last year we put together some good runs. This year we worked on consistency and it really paid off for us."
Shawn Fleury of Middlesex took the lead from upstart Jason Corliss on lap 28, then cruised to his second win of the season. Mike Ziter followed Fleury past Corliss, but was penalized with under ten laps remaining for spinning a lapped car off the backstretch. Ziter was placed last in the 28-car field. Danville driver Corliss, the 2008 Street Stock champion making only his fourth appearance in the Tiger Sportsman division, finished second officially, with Bradford's Derrick O'Donnell third, Rossi fourth, and Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg in fifth.
Pete Ainsworth, who entered the final weekend with an eight-point lead in the division, failed to qualify for the main event. He slumped to a fourth-place championship finish behind Hebert, Rossi, and Brendan Moodie.
Tommy "Thunder" Smith of Williamstown moved into sole possession of first-place all-time in the Street Stock division with his 20th career win, his third of the season. Mike Martin of Craftsbury Common was the runner-up, with rookie Danny Doyle of Hancock third, Garry Bashaw of Lincoln fourth, and Randolph's Markus Farnham fifth. Veteran driver Gary Mullen of Tunbridge captured his first championship with a ninth-place finish, beating Martin for the title by 26 points.
Like Ainsworth, Junkyard Warrior point leader Donny Yates of North Montpelier failed to qualify for the Milk Bowl finale, but was still able to clinch his division's championship on the strength of six wins during the season. Ken Christman of Cabot took his third victory, over Keith Fortier of Hinesburg, Kevin Streeter of Waitsfield, Northfield's John Prentice, and Tommy Elwood of Morrisville.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- 47th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pos.-Driver-Hometown-(Segment Finishes/Total Score)
1. John Donahue, Graniteville (3+9+5=17)
2. Brent Dragon, Milton (1+10+10=21)
3. Eric Williams, Hyde Park (7+15+4=26)
4. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H. (4+22+2=28)
5. Brian Hoar, Williston (16+4+9=29)
6. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex (5+19+7=31)
7. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne (10+13+8=31)
8. Nick Sweet, Barre (2+17+12=31)
9. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier (11+8+15=34)
10. Chip Grenier, Graniteville (9+25+3=37)
11. Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton (8+29+1=38)
12. Phil Scott, Montpelier (6+27+6=39)
13. Scott Payea, Milton (12+5+23=40)
14. Brad Leighton, Center Harbor, N.H. (13+6+22=41)
15. Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury (22+2+20=44)
16. Glen Luce, Turner, Me. (18+16+11=45)
17. Tony Andrews, Northfield (24+3+18=45)
18. Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dracut, Mass. (27+1+19=47)
19. Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me. (14+7+26=47)
20. Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H. (21+12+17=50)
21. Matt White, Northfield (15+28+16=59)
22. Chad Wheeler, Waterbury Center (19+30+13=62)
23. Mark Hayward, Unity, N.H. (25+11+27=63)
24. Mike Olsen, North Haverhill, N.H. (17+18+28=63)
25. Eric Chase, Milton (20+14+29=63)
26. Joey Becker, Jeffersonville (23+21+21=65)
27. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville (28+24+14=66)
28. Rich Lowrey, Charlotte (26+20+25=71)
29. Mike Bailey, South Barre (30+23+24=77)
30. Dave Whitcomb, Essex Junction (29+26+30=85)
NAPA Tiger Sportsman (# - denotes rookie)
1. Shawn Fleury, Middlesex
2. #Jason Corliss, Danville
3. Derrick O'Donnell, Bradford
4. Tony Rossi, Barre
5. Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
6. Ray Stearns, East Corinth
7. Brendan Moodie, North Wolcott
8. Tommy Therrien, Hinesburg
9. Josh Demers, Middlesex
10. Lance Allen, Barre
Allen Lumber Street Stock/Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior (# - denotes rookie)
Pos.-Driver-Hometown (# - denotes rookie)
1. Tommy Smith, Williamstown (SS)
2. Mike Martin, Craftsbury Common (SS)
3. #Danny Doyle, Hancock (SS)
4. Garry Bashaw, Lincoln (SS)
5. Markus Farnham, Randolph (SS)
20. Ken Christman, Cabot (JW)
21. Keith Fortier, Hinesburg (JW)
22. Kevin Streeter, Waitsfield (JW)
23. John Prentice, Northfield (JW)
24. Tommy Elwood, Morrisville (JW)
BARRE -- Three years ago, John Donahue's name was often little more than a footnote in American-Canadian Tour race finishes or year-end point standings. And three short years later, the Graniteville driver has firmly established himself as a driver that will be remembered long after his final lap. With a win in the 47th running of the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Donahue became just the tenth driver in history to win each of the track's "big three" events -- he won the Memorial Day Classic in 2008, the Labor Day Classic, the site of his first ACT Late Model Tour win, in 2007, and now Sunday's Milk Bowl. The victory means his name will be now etched in all three granite monuments at the Barre track honoring past winners of the events, alongside pioneers Larry Demar and Russell Ingerson, Hall of Famers Jean-Paul Cabana, Bobby Dragon, Dave Dion, and Robbie Crouch, and modern-day heroes Jean-Paul Cyr, Dave Pembroke, and Brent Dragon.
It's something Donahue spent a lot of time thinking about, too.
"This'll put the third one on there now," Donahue said after his Milk Bowl victory. "[It means] a lot. A month ago, Tom (Curley, ACT president) brought us all up there, the drivers, and I'm looking on down through and I'm on two of [the monuments], and I said, 'Boy, I'd really like to be on that Milk Bowl one, that way my name is on all three of them.' I've been thinking about it since then." And perhaps appropriately, it was one of those names already carved into each piece of the rock -- Milton's Brent Dragon -- that Donahue had to outduel to win the Milk Bowl.
Dragon won the opening 50-lap round of the three-segment, cumulatively scored race, with Donahue third. Donahue finished ninth in the middle leg, one spot better than Dragon, and trailed Dragon by one point entering the final 50 laps. And that's when Donahue turned up the wick.
Both drivers raced three-wide through traffic, along with Scott Payea, Brian Hoar, and Brad Leighton, who each would be within striking distance under the right circumstances, near the one-third mark of the final segment. Dragon and Donahue traded jabs on the track, knowing their mid-pack battle was almost certainly for the overall victory.
Dragon pushed three-wide under Donahue and Glen Luce on lap 17, then swapped lanes on the next lap. Donahue seized the opportunity, returning the three-wide favor. In the intense action, Dragon's car was shoved momentarily off the backstretch, while Donahue was able to squeeze by. Two laps later, Payea spun off the track with Dave Whitcomb and Eric Chase to bring out the caution flag.
Donahue and Dragon realigned in 13th and 14th for the restart on lap 20, which proved to be the decisive moment of the race. Traffic in Donahue's inside lane moved faster than Dragon's high side group, and Donahue picked his way through the field to finish fifth in the segment. But Dragon, his car knocked out of alignment from the contact on lap 18, was only able to muster a tenth-place finish in segment. With the final tally added up, Donahue's 17 segment points secured him his first Milk Bowl win, four points better than Dragon's 21, and nine better than Eric Williams of Hyde Park.
Donahue began his career as a Flying Tiger/Sportsman racer at Thunder Road in the mid-nineties, winning more than his share of races and championships, but had little in the way of headline-grabbing success in the top-tier Late Model class -- and certainly with the touring ACT division -- until recently. His Milk Bowl victory and planting the traditional kiss on a "trophy queen" cow, he says, is the crowning achievement of his racing career. "It's right at the top. I've had a lot of good races, I won a [Labor Day] 200 here, but this is different," he said. "You've got three different segments, you stop, you have to think about it, re-do your car. This is one I've been wanting for a long time. I'm just going to soak this one in and be happy."
Williams' third-place finish went virtually unnoticed, overshadowed by the Donahue-Dragon saga, but his segment finishes of seventh, fifteenth, and fourth were good enough for the podium spot. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, N.H. (28 points) and Brian Hoar of Williston (29 points) finished fourth and fifth overall. The top-ten was completed by Dave Pembroke, Jamie Fisher, Nick Sweet, Joey Laquerre, and Chip Grenier. Track champion Jean-Paul Cyr, who won the third segment finished 11th overall, while second-segment winner Wayne Helliwell, Jr. finished 18th overall in his first start at Thunder Road.
***
Eighteen year-old Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown became the youngest driver in history to win a championship in Thunder Road's famed Tiger Sportsman division on Sunday, taking a four-point victory over Tony Rossi of Barre. Hebert overcame a tense moment on lap 17 of the 50-lap finale when hard contact with Mark Barnier cut Hebert's left-rear tire, sending him into a spin down the frontstretch. After pitting under the caution period, Hebert recovered for a 13th-place finish. "It's ten times better that I ever thought it would be," said Hebert. "Ever since I was little, I dreamed of this. I never thought I would race at 16, say nothing about winning a championship at 18. The first year we really struggled and everybody seemed discouraged, but last year we put together some good runs. This year we worked on consistency and it really paid off for us."
Shawn Fleury of Middlesex took the lead from upstart Jason Corliss on lap 28, then cruised to his second win of the season. Mike Ziter followed Fleury past Corliss, but was penalized with under ten laps remaining for spinning a lapped car off the backstretch. Ziter was placed last in the 28-car field. Danville driver Corliss, the 2008 Street Stock champion making only his fourth appearance in the Tiger Sportsman division, finished second officially, with Bradford's Derrick O'Donnell third, Rossi fourth, and Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg in fifth.
Pete Ainsworth, who entered the final weekend with an eight-point lead in the division, failed to qualify for the main event. He slumped to a fourth-place championship finish behind Hebert, Rossi, and Brendan Moodie.
Tommy "Thunder" Smith of Williamstown moved into sole possession of first-place all-time in the Street Stock division with his 20th career win, his third of the season. Mike Martin of Craftsbury Common was the runner-up, with rookie Danny Doyle of Hancock third, Garry Bashaw of Lincoln fourth, and Randolph's Markus Farnham fifth. Veteran driver Gary Mullen of Tunbridge captured his first championship with a ninth-place finish, beating Martin for the title by 26 points. Like Ainsworth, Junkyard Warrior point leader Donny Yates of North Montpelier failed to qualify for the Milk Bowl finale, but was still able to clinch his division's championship on the strength of six wins during the season. Ken Christman of Cabot took his third victory, over Keith Fortier of Hinesburg, Kevin Streeter of Waitsfield, Northfield's John Prentice, and Tommy Elwood of Morrisville.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- 47th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl
Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pos.-Driver-Hometown-(Segment Finishes/Total Score)
1. John Donahue, Graniteville (3+9+5=17)
2. Brent Dragon, Milton (1+10+10=21)
3. Eric Williams, Hyde Park (7+15+4=26)
4. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H. (4+22+2=28)
5. Brian Hoar, Williston (16+4+9=29)
6. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex (5+19+7=31)
7. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne (10+13+8=31)
8. Nick Sweet, Barre (2+17+12=31)
9. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier (11+8+15=34)
10. Chip Grenier, Graniteville (9+25+3=37)
11. Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton (8+29+1=38)
12. Phil Scott, Montpelier (6+27+6=39)
13. Scott Payea, Milton (12+5+23=40)
14. Brad Leighton, Center Harbor, N.H. (13+6+22=41)
15. Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury (22+2+20=44)
16. Glen Luce, Turner, Me. (18+16+11=45)
17. Tony Andrews, Northfield (24+3+18=45)
18. Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dracut, Mass. (27+1+19=47)
19. Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me. (14+7+26=47)
20. Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H. (21+12+17=50)
21. Matt White, Northfield (15+28+16=59)
22. Chad Wheeler, Waterbury Center (19+30+13=62)
23. Mark Hayward, Unity, N.H. (25+11+27=63)
24. Mike Olsen, North Haverhill, N.H. (17+18+28=63)
25. Eric Chase, Milton (20+14+29=63)
26. Joey Becker, Jeffersonville (23+21+21=65)
27. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville (28+24+14=66)
28. Rich Lowrey, Charlotte (26+20+25=71)
29. Mike Bailey, South Barre (30+23+24=77)
30. Dave Whitcomb, Essex Junction (29+26+30=85)
NAPA Tiger Sportsman (# - denotes rookie)
1. Shawn Fleury, Middlesex
2. #Jason Corliss, Danville
3. Derrick O'Donnell, Bradford
4. Tony Rossi, Barre
5. Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
6. Ray Stearns, East Corinth
7. Brendan Moodie, North Wolcott
8. Tommy Therrien, Hinesburg
9. Josh Demers, Middlesex
10. Lance Allen, Barre
Allen Lumber Street Stock/Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior (# - denotes rookie)
Pos.-Driver-Hometown (# - denotes rookie)
1. Tommy Smith, Williamstown (SS)
2. Mike Martin, Craftsbury Common (SS)
3. #Danny Doyle, Hancock (SS)
4. Garry Bashaw, Lincoln (SS)
5. Markus Farnham, Randolph (SS)
20. Ken Christman, Cabot (JW)
21. Keith Fortier, Hinesburg (JW)
22. Kevin Streeter, Waitsfield (JW)
23. John Prentice, Northfield (JW)
24. Tommy Elwood, Morrisville (JW)
(PHOTOS: 1. John Donahue hoists the Milk Bowl trophy after his first win in the classic event; 2. Donahue smooches Larolupine, the Milk Bowl trophy queen, as Governor Jim Douglas looks on; 3. Tiger Sportsman champion Jimmy Hebert; 4. Street Stock champion Gary Mullen. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
