Sweet Takes First ACT Victory at Thunder Road

BARRE – The first 80 laps of Sunday’s Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl appeared to be a continuation of Dave Pembroke’s dominance of American-Canadian Tour events at the Barre track. After starting from the outside pole, the Middlesex driver had a full straightaway lead by lap 12 and was pulling away. That all changed on a lap 80 restart, though, as Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Que., and hometown driver Nick Sweet arrived on the scene.

Laperle rode the outside line to take the lead on lap 81, then the trio waged a 40-lap battle at the front. Pembroke reassumed the lead on lap 96 before Sweet took over 14 circuits later. Pembroke and Sweet swapped the point four more times between laps 112 and 121 before Sweet took control for good. Defending ACT champion Brian Hoar of Williston arrived late in the going for second place, with Laperle third and Pembroke fourth.

“These long races are all about patience,” said Sweet, who started 12th on the 30-car grid. “You have to set up for these kinds of races. You can’t burn the tires off too soon, and I saved it. I’ve learned a lot over these past couple years, and look at me now, I’m winning races.”

For Sweet, in his third season of racing the top-tier Late Model division, the Merchants Bank 150 was his first ACT victory. For his competitors, though, it felt like a long time coming.

“I closed in on Nick the last five laps and tried to nerve him up a little bit, but he did a great job,” said Hoar. “He didn’t nerve up much. He’s definitely a future champion.”

“This is the first race we’ve had to worry about Nick Sweet,” Pembroke said sarcastically; the two are weekly competitors at Thunder Road. “We knew last year that Nick was a great, great driver.”

Mark Lamberton of Mooers Forks, N.Y., had a strong return to full-time competition by finishing in fifth place. The unofficial top ten was completed by Craig Bushey, Joey Laquerre, Chip Grenier, polesitter Scott Payea, and Mark Hayward in a career-best tenth.

With the win, Sweet became the first driver to qualify for the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

Veteran driver George May of Barre won the 35-lap Tiger Sportsman feature in a caution-free event. May’s last win at Thunder Road came in 1994. Mike Ziter of Williamstown was second, followed by Cody Blake, Joel Hodgdon, and Josh Demers.

Street Stock driver Mike MacAskill of Williamstown dominated the first of two Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior combined features, with Travis Hull second and Bunker Hodgdon third. Tim Campbell of West Topsham beat Greg Adams, Jr., by two feet to win the second feature, with Barre’s Ron Gabaree third. Cabot’s Ken Christman and Kevin Wheatley of Williamstown were the top-finishing Junkyard Warrior drivers in their respective features.

REVISED Merchants Bank 150 Results

OFFICIAL RESULTS – Merchants Bank 150 (revised 5/06)
American-Canadian Tour – Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, May 2, 2010

(Pos.-Driver-Hometown)

ACT Late Model Tour (150 laps)
1. Nick Sweet, Barre
2. Brian Hoar, Williston
3. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, Que.
4. Dave Pembroke, Middlesex
5. Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
6. Craig Bushey, Cambridge
7. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier
8. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
9. Scott Payea, Milton
10. Mark Hayward, Newport, N.H.

Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman (35 laps)
1. George May, Barre
2. Mike Ziter, Williamstown
3. Cody Blake, Barre
4. Joel Hodgdon, Craftsbury
5. Josh Demers, Middlesex

Allen Lumber Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior #1 (30 laps)
1. Mike MacAskill, Williamstown (SS)
2. Travis Hull, Graniteville (SS)
3. Bunker Hodgdon, Hardwick (SS)
4. Jean LeBlanc, Gorham, N.H. (SS)
5. Billy Hennequin, Morrisville (SS)

14. Ken Christman, Cabot (JW)
17. Kevin Hebert, Williamstown (JW)
20. Tommy Elwood, Morrisville (JW)

Allen Lumber Street Stock/Junkyard Warrior #2 (30 laps)
1. Tim Campbell, West Topsham (SS)
2. Greg Adams, Jr., Hardwick (SS)
3. Ron Gabaree, Barre (SS)
4. Scott Weston, Berlin (SS)
5. Joe Fecteau, Hardwick (SS)

7. Shawn Swallow, Stark, N.H. (JW)
10. Kevin Wheatley, Williamstown (JW)
11. Kevin Dodge, Barre (JW)

ACT Post-Season Awards Top $100,000

WATERBURY -- The American-Canadian Tour sanctioning body will celebrate its 25th year in 2010, and is getting its race teams in on the festivities. For the first time, in the current Late Model phase of the ACT series, more than $100,000 in post-season awards will handed out.

“Our Late Model program has grown significantly over the past decade [and] ACT has tried to maintain the balance between keeping this division cost-effective, whether it is weekly racing or Tour racing," said ACT vice president Darla Hartt. "Most of our Tour competitors, and those weekly racers that have supported the ACT Late Model rules formula are primarily focused on winning championships, which is the way it should be. It is still great that we can reward the teams with some financial awards at the end of a long season of racing.”

Both the U.S.-based ACT Late Model Tour and the Canadian Série ACT-Castrol will pay their champions a bonus of $10,000 this season, part of a total of more than $80,000 in combined awards for the two touring series. The “King of the Road” at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl will receive $5,000, with over $20,000 in total point fund money awarded to Thunder Road competitors.

In addition, the ACT Late Model Tour Racing Electronics Rookie of the Year will receive a $1,000 bonus, and the new Ford Blue Oval Challenge Cup program will make available an additional point fund of over $10,000 with $5,000 going to the champion among approved Ford teams.

“This should be one of the most exciting and competitive seasons in recent memory,” said seven-time champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton. “It looks like I picked the right year to return to the Tour. I have always liked a challenge and this year sure looks like it has all the makings of being just that."

The season gets underway at Thunder Road's Merchants Bank 150 on Sunday.

VIDEO: Scott Payea 2010 Season Preview

A look inside the garage with American-Canadian Tour driver Scott Payea and crew chief Chris Companion, as Payea talks about his team's goals for the 2010 season. Video produced by Justin St. Louis/Vermont Motorsports Magazine, © 2010.