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)

BREAKING NEWS: Laperle Returning to ACT at Albany-Saratoga

Albany-Saratoga 100 coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

MALTA, N.Y. -- Come Sunday, Patrick Laperle's self-imposed exile from the American-Canadian Tour will be over before it ever really started.

Laperle, the 2008 ACT Late Model Tour champion and 2007 Serie ACT-Castrol champion, defected from ACT last September after a falling out with series president Tom Curley, threatening to leave the series for "two years".

A controversial move by Laperle at Autodrome St-Eustache in his native Quebec at the 2009 Serie ACT-Castrol finale left him penalized by Curley and ACT, effectively costing him his second Castrol title by just a single point to Donald Theetge. Laperle skipped the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road the following week -- a race he had won three times in the previous four years -- and the ACT Late Model Tour season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway in October.

Tuesday night, though, he told Vermont Motorsports Magazine that he'll be at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., for the ACT Late Model Tour season opener on Sunday.

Laperle said he has little interest in racing with Curley, but feels competing this weekend is something he owes to his family team.

"I don't want to go," he said. "I haven't talked to Tom and I don't want to. My brothers Eric and Daniel want to test the car, and we're usually pretty good at new tracks, so we're going."

The Albany-Saratoga 100 is the first event for ACT at the newly-paved track. Laperle has previously won inaugural ACT events at Lee USA, Twin State, St-Eustache, and Kawartha.

"It's a track nobody has really been to, and we'll probably have a good chance to win," he said. "Beyond this weekend, I'm racing a dirt modified once at Granby this year, but other than that... when, where, we don't know.

"But we're going to Albany this weekend. We're not doing it for Tom Curley. We're doing it for us."

RPM Racing Engines to Present VMM Coverage of ACT Opener

RPM Racing Engines of Georgia, Vt., will present Vermont Motorsports Magazine's coverage of the inaugural Albany-Saratoga 100 stock car race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, N.Y., on Sunday, April 25. The race will be the first-ever event at the track for the American-Canadian Tour, and is the opening round for the 14-race asphalt Late Model series.

RPM Racing Engines is Vermont's top performance engine builder, specializing in stock car racing, drag racing, street rods, and marine engines. RPM is a licensed dealer of PowerMist Racing Fuels, Synergyn Racing Oil, and AR Bodies, and offers a full line of engine performance parts, service, and machining.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine is quickly becoming one of the northeast's leading sources for stock car racing news, and will provide online coverage of the Albany-Saratoga 100 through its popular blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook page.

"Vermont Motorsports Magazine is thrilled to have RPM Racing Engines come aboard for the first-ever ACT race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway," said Editor Justin St. Louis. "RPM has earned the respect of racers all over the U.S. and Canada, and VMM is working hard to do the same thing. It's a privilege to work with RPM Racing Engines." St. Louis also said that Vermont Motorsports Magazine will promote RPM Racing Engines through the 2010 season.

RPM Racing Engines is among the nation's top builders for short track, crate, and "spec" engines, with winning programs in place with NASCAR, the American-Canadian Tour, the Champlain Valley Racing Association, Bear Ridge Speedway, Canaan Fair Speedway, Devil's Bowl Speedway, Monadnock Speedway, Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, Twin State Speedway, and White Mountain Motorsports Park. RPM is a top builder of NASCAR K&N Pro Series and NASCAR Canadian Tire Series spec engines, and saw Andrew Ranger win six races and the 2009 Canadian Tire Series championship with RPM powerplants. Rick Paya of RPM Racing Engines is an accomplished car owner and crew chief, winning five ACT Late Model Tour championships with driver Jean-Paul Cyr and the 2009 ACT title with Brian Hoar.

For more information on RPM Racing Engines, call (802) 524-7406 or visit http://www.rpmracingengines.net/.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine will offer on-site coverage of more than 60 short track events in 2010, including the Albany-Saratoga 100. VMM is online at http://vtmotormag.blogspot.com/ and is also on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Michaud out, Wheeler in at Milk Bowl

Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

BARRE -- Former Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl champion Chad Wheeler of Waterbury Center will return to the track on Sunday at the second attempt at running the 47th Annual Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl.

Northfield's Cris Michaud, who qualified 14th for the race last Saturday before rains postponed the main event the next day, was injured in a work accident this week and has asked Wheeler to compete in his place.

Wheeler ended Michaud's bid for three consecutive Thunder Road track championships in 2006, taking the title despite going winless on the season; after wrapping up the "King of the Road" crown, Wheeler retired on the spot and has not driven a race since.

"I had a great time racing against Cris for a lot of years and beating him for the title in 2006 got me to thinking that there really wasn’t much more for me in the sport at this time in my life," said Wheeler in a Thunder Road press release. "I wanted to spend a lot of time with my young boys, but now maybe there is one more thing I could accomplish with racing. It sure will be fun to try. I am looking forward to it, and I appreciate the confidence Cris has in putting me in his car.”

"What better guy to take over my ride in the Milk Bowl than Chad?" said Michaud.

Michaud won the 2004 Milk Bowl en route to his second of three Thunder Road championships. Wheeler won the second leg of the three-segment event in 1999; his best overall efforts in the race were fifth-place finishes in 1999 and 2005.

Nick Sweet and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. will start from the front row of the Milk Bowl on Sunday at 1:00pm.

VIDEO: Lots of Cars (and dust!) at Bear Ridge

Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl weekend coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

Saturday night was a historic one at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, as 25 Sportsman Modifieds competed at the track in the 40-lap season finale, the largest field of Modifieds to ever race at the track.

Now, we realize that the number 25 might not be a headline-maker at a lot of tracks in our region, but consider this: one year ago, a "big" field of cars at Bear Ridge was eight. And, realistically, anything more than a dozen Modified-sized cars at the tiny clay oval nestled up in the woods of the Connecticut River Valley tends to make things a bit crowded.

Chris Donnelly (#17) of Piermont, N.H. was on his game as usual, taking his sixth victory of the season, and Gary Siemons (#5) of Orford, N.H. finished second to wrap up his third-straight track championship. Despite eight caution periods, the racing was entertaining, and the "outsiders" -- mostly from Canaan and Devil's Bowl speedways -- did well for themselves, with Middlebury youngster Justin Comes finishing in fourth place.

(Video by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Milk Bowl Postponed by Rain

Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

The 47th annual Milk Bowl at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl has been postponed by rain to Sunday, October 4 at 1:00pm.

Qualifying was completed on Saturday, with hometown driver Nick Sweet earning his first career Milk Bowl pole position with a time trial lap of 13.110 seconds. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, N.H. will start on the outside of the front row after posting a time of 13.164 seconds; Polewarczyk had won the Milk Bowl pole in each of the previous three years.

Dave Pembroke, John Donahue, and Joey Laquerre won the "Triple 50" qualifying heats.

Milk Bowl Time Trial Results

Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

Best single lap time shown



88 Nick Sweet - 13.110
97 Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. - 13.164
55vt Brent Dragon - 13.192
44 Dave Pembroke - 13.204
37 Brian Hoar - 13.218
15vt Joey Laquerre - 13.228
9vt Chip Grenier - 13.258
26vt John Donahue - 13.265
7me Glen Luce - 13.272
41 Pete Potvin, III - 13.276
42 Matt White - 13.278
18 Jamie Fisher - 13.279
32 Mike Olsen - 13.292
6 Cris Michaud - 13.306
8vt Rich Lowrey - 13.309
89 Scott Payea - 13.310
1 Tony Andrews - 13.327
11vt Jean-Paul Cyr - 13.333
55nh Brad Leighton - 13.370
16 Joey Becker - 13.373
14vt Phil Scott - 13.392
85 Trampas Demers - 13.400
7vt Eric Williams - 13.414
77nh Mark Hayward - 13.435
00 Mike Bailey - 13.436
24 Steve Fisher - 13.439
82 Bobby Baillargeon - 13.440
22vt Kyle Caron - 13.453
73me Joey Doiron - 13.454
05 Craig Bushey - 13.461
68 Brooks Clark - 13.464
27nh Wayne Helliwell, Jr. - 13.477
4 Doug Murphy - 13.485
25 Dave Whitcomb - 13.488
78nh Quinny Welch - 13.505
66 A.J. Begin - 13.509
5vt Bob Ailes, Sr. - 13.509
38vt Tyler Cahoon - 13.512
10nh Jeff Taylor - 13.529
31on Spencer MacPherson - 13.552
42ma Jeff Zuidema - 13.552
81 Grant Folsom - 13.542
7pq Daniel Bergeron - 13.558
75 Pete Fecteau - 13.568
71 Bobby Dragon - 13.571
76 Travis Fadden - 13.577
72 Dave Paya - 13.627
8nh Rick Thompson, Jr. - 13.627
34 Dylan Smith - 13.640
51me Ricky Rolfe - 13.743
3 Bernie Lantagne - 13.773
29 Ricky Roberts - 13.795
40 Eric Chase - 13.863
84 Matt Sanborn - 13.895

Looking to Turn Year Around, Polewarczyk Wants Milk Bowl Win

Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

BARRE -- Joey Polewarczyk began the 2009 season with high expactations and a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. At age 20, the Hudson, N.H. racer has often been touted as the "next big thing" to come out of the bullrings of the northeast. NASCAR champions Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick have spoken well of him, and his talents are praised often by the various car owners he has driven for.

But this season has been a miserable one for Polewarczyk, at least on the race track. Sure, he won an ACT Late Model Tour event at Oxford Plains Speedway in May, finally got his first victory at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in June, and has raced twice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this year. But between events in ACT, PASS, and NASCAR competition, he has been involved in no less than five incidents that took him out of contention for a victory in the 2009 calendar year. And although he ranks in the top-five, he is not a contender for the ACT championship this season.

A victory in this weekend's Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road, Polewarczyk says, would erase all of the bad stuff.

"I want this one bad," he said on Friday. "Last night I stayed up and watched the last three years' Milk Bowls on DVDs that we have. I watched every part of them. I'm the most focused I've ever been for any race this year. Next to the Oxford 250, this is the biggest race we have, it's huge. We've had a horrible second-half of the season, and a win in this race could change everything."

While he has a chance to tie Brian Hoar's record of four consecutive pole positions in the race, Polewarczyk has bigger designs on just getting the checkered flag at the end of the day.

"I definitely want another pole. Brian Hoar won four in a row and it would be pretty cool to tie his record, but our main focus is to win the race," Polewarczyk said. "We always qualify well and do well in the first segment, then we seem to have back luck or get in someone else's mess in the second segment. It's all about the second segment." In 2007, a dismal 27th-place effort in the middle 50-lap segment of the race left Polewarczyk 19th overall. He won the first round and finished third overall in 2006, but a 14th-place second-segment finish left him unable to catch winner Brent Dragon or runner-up Cris Michaud.

"The Milk Bowl is all about patience, but then again, you can't say that, either," Polewarczyk said of the race, which inverts the finish of each segment to begin the next and awards the driver with the lowest three-segment point tally (one point to win a segment, two point for second, etc.) the overall win. "You can't look at it like a regular 150-lap race, it's 50 laps that you have do three times. You have to make your moves at the right time and be quick, but you have to save your [equipment], too, and then do it two more times. 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.'"

Polewarczyk earned his first win at Thunder Road in June at the Vermont Governor's Cup 150, but said the win does little to ease his nerves at the tough quarter-mile. "We ran good at Thunder Road for a long time before the win," he said. "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."

But the temptation to race hard and try to win the Milk Bowl, and to turn his frustrating year around for his team means Polewarczyk isn't holding anything back.

"You have to take some chances, but you have to be smart," he said. "And a win in that race would just... I can't even tell you how much it would mean."



(PHOTO: Joey Polewarczyk says he's "more focused" than he's ever been entering this weekend's Milk Bowl at Thunder Road. Photo by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Pembroke Owes it all to ACT Spec Engine

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

LOUDON, N.H. -- "This is definitely not where I expected to be when I started racing Tigers," smiled Dave Pembroke as he unfolded his driving suit in the infield at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

But Pembroke wasn't necessarily speaking of racing at NHMS.

If it wasn't for the American-Canadian Tour's innovative and cost-effective Late Model 'spec' engine program, which began ten years ago next weekend, Pembroke likely would never have been able to get out of the mid-level Tiger Sportsman division at Barre's Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl, and subsequently never would have had the opportunity to race a Late Model car at NHMS.

After winning Rookie of the Year honors at Thunder Road in 2000, the Middlesex driver went on to score in the prestigious Milk Bowl, Memorial Day Classic, and Labor Day Classic events, a Thunder Road track championship, and at various ACT Late Model Tour races.

"No question, the spec engine is how we got into the Late Model division," said Pembroke, who will start 16th the ACT Invitational just after 5:30pm. "And now look at us."

Pembroke looked outside his trailer and smiled again as a rush of NASCAR Camping World Trucks screamed by. "Even now, I'm 38 years old and I still get all excited when I see these (NASCAR) guys race at this track.

"And in about an hour I get to be one of the guys racing here. And it's because of that spec engine."

ACT INVITATIONAL STARTING LINEUP

New Hanpshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

Lineup determined by draw

1. Bruce Thomas, Jr.
2. Joey Doiron
3. Brandon Watson
4. Timmy Jordan
5. Joey Laquerre
6. Randy Potter
7. Shawn Martin
8. Nick Sweet
9. Sean Kennedy
10. Ryan Vanasse
11. Jean-Francois Dery
12. Karl Allard
13. Donald Theetge
14. Brian Hoar
15. Ben Rowe
16. Dave Pembroke
17. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr.
18. Patrick Laperle
19. Eddie MacDonald
20. Brent Dragon
21. John Donahue
22. Brad Leighton
23. Scott Payea
24. Phil Scott
25. Jean-Paul Cyr
26. Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
27. Dan McHattie
28. Glen Luce
29. Stacy Cahoon
30. Travis Adams
31. Guy Caron
32. T.J. Watson
33. Eric Chase
34. Jamie Fisher
35. Ricky Rolfe
36. Cris Michaud

Cahoon Fulfilling a Dream at NHMS

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

LOUDON, N.H. -- Stacy Cahoon never thought it was possible. Not 23 years ago, maybe not even 23 hours ago. The St. Johnsbury racer said that when he began racing in 1986, it would have been absurd to think he would ever race on a superspeedway like the 1.058-mile oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, much less in his own car.

"I'm still kind of in awe that I'm here," he said Saturday morning as NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars roared in the background. Not 12 hours ago, Cahoon had just clinched the 2009 track championship at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., about an hour up the road from Loudon. As nice as it was to have the championship -- his third at the track, a come-from-behind victory as point leader Quinny Welch suffered mechanical woes -- it also carried with it another prize: the 36th and final starting berth at the inaugural ACT Invitational at NHMS on Saturday.

Cahoon said the reality of the situation finally hit him at about 1:00 a.m. as he was working on his race car. "It wasn't until last night after we got done at Donnie Avery's race shop, I was laying underneath the car changing gears that it sunk in -- I'm going to Loudon," said Cahoon. "And here I am today. It's almost undescribable, it really is."

Cahoon admitted that the championship and the invite to NHMS were Welch's to lose, and it was only Welch's broken suspension in Friday night's feature race at White Mountain that gave Cahoon the opportunity to capitalize and take his second-straight title. "I'm sorry for his misfortune, but I think back to when something has been on the line for me and another competitor or an accident took my chances away," said Cahoon. "Quinny is quite a bit younger than me and I hope somewhere down the road he gets another chance to come back down here."

Cahoon and his team worked long into the night on Friday to prepare their car for the ACT Invitational, changing gears, body bracing, front and rear chassis geometry, and exhaust. The crew went to bed at about 1:30 on Saturday morning, was up at 4:30, and was at the NHMS as the gates opened at 6:30. "And," Cahoon adds, "I probably laid awake for at least an hour thinking about coming down here. I probably dozed off for about an hour.

"Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful to be here," Cahoon continued, "but (working through the night) kind of took away from the back-to-back championships. No real celebration, no champagne all over the car or anything."

But the reward of racing on a superspeedway -- in his own car, with his family and friends beside him, is cause for celebration, too. "I'd like to win this race if I have shot, but even if I finish 36th ten laps down I'll be able to say I came here and raced, Cahoon said. "We plan to celebrate tonight."

And what better place to do it than at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Follow Us Today On Twitter!

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

LOUDON, N.H. -- Vermont Motorsports Magazine is at New Hampshire Motor Speedway today for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and American-Canadian Tour events. While our primary focus is the ACT stuff, you can follow the day on our Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/vtmotormag.

BREAKING NEWS: Cahoon Wins WMMP Title

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. -- Stacy Cahoon of St. Johnsbury has won the Late Model track championship at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Friday night, earning a starting berth in Sarurday's ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Quinny Welch of Lancaster, N.H. entered the event with a six-point lead over Cahoon, but reportedly broke a sway bar and was relegated to a poor finish in the feature event on Friday night, handing Cahoon the title.

Polewarczyk Shaken After Wreck at NHMS

New Hampshire Motor Speedway coverage presented by RPM Racing Engines

LOUDON, N.H. -- Joey Polewarczyk was visibly shaken after a hard crash in the NASCAR Camping World Series East event on Friday evening at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Hudson, N.H. driver was running just outside the top ten on a late restart when he came together with the slower car of David Mayhew, who had blown an engine.

As Polewarczyk moved to the high side to get around Mayhew, the two cars made incidental contact, sending Polewarczyk into a spin, followed by a vicious driver's door impact with the outside wall.

"Everything went black," Polewarczyk admitted. "That's the hardest hit I've had in my life."

Mayhew was a contender early in the Heluva Good! 125, which was shortened to 99 laps because of darkness. Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Mass. was the winner after a green-white-checker finish.

The Juice: The Big Payoff

-by Justin St. Louis

It's here. Loudon. The big one. The race that Tom Curley has worked tirelessly toward. The race that hundreds of teams in the U.S. and Canada strived to get into for six months, a pool from which only 36 will compete. It's the big payoff.

Saturday's ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will be the highlight of the year for certainly the majority, if not all of the drivers, regardless of their outcome.

"That's what I wanted, that's my baby," Brad Leighton said of the event after getting a qualifying berth at Lee USA Speedway in April. There are memories of Eric Pembroke screaming "We're going to Loudon!" into the microphone connected to his cousin David's headset after they won the Memorial Day Classic at Thunder Road. Eddie MacDonald said "the best part" of winning the Oxford 250 -- a career-defining achievement in itself -- was getting an invitation to NHMS. Joey Laquerre calls being asked to race in the ACT Invitational the "high point" of his 50-year career. And youngsters like Joey Polewarczyk, Brandon Watson, and Joey Doiron are undoubtedly hoping that some big-league team owners might take notice if they do well in the race.

There's a lot on the line on Saturday, but there's already so much for the competitors, officials, and fans to be proud of. There has been no shortage of effort by any one of those groups to turn the concept of local Late Models racing at New England's superspeedway into a reality. Fifteen years ago, the notion of such a thing happening was almost laughable. Saturday, it's a culmination of everything that everyone has worked so hard for. The 36 race teams, the officials from the American-Canadian Tour and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the sponsors and fans, and everyone in between, are to be saluted.

The race may be the best one the northeast has ever seen, or it may be a total flop. We'll know at around 6:15 on Saturday evening. But the fact that we'll have the chance to know is what's special.

***

There's a race within a race for Loudon, and we'll be there to see how it plays out. Quinny Welch and Stacy Cahoon enter the White Mountain Motorsports Park championship finale on Friday only six points apart for the title, the winner of which will head down I-93 to race at Loudon about 15 or 16 hours later. Oh, and last weekend, Welch and Cahoon finished 1-2 in the feature. If you think there's no pressure there think again. Friday at White Mountain may be the best race to watch during the weekend.

Plus, there's a PASS North event that night, and the 1/4-mile bullring is historically one of the series' best tracks. We'll see you there.

***

Vermont Mototsports Magazine would like to welcome RPM Racing Engines of Georgia, Vt. as its first-ever advertiser. RPM will present coverage of the PASS and ACT events this weekend, as well as the Chittenden Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road on Sept. 26/27. We can't thank Rick Paya and the staff at RPM enough -- or you, the readers -- for believing in VMM this season. It's been an incredible first year for us, and it's all because of you.

***

I like Kayne West and his music, but he's a jerk for what he did at the VMAs to poor Taylor Swift. However, that doesn't excuse the world of "country music" for embracing Swift. Her songs are catchy, sure, and it's commendable that she writes and performs her own stuff, but come on, kids, that ain't country.

Alan Jackson is country. Garth Brooks is country. Alabama is country. I don't even like country music, but I know enough about it to know that Taylor Swift is -- gasp! -- a pop artist.

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When only six cars are on the track in a headline-division feature, that's a bad thing. But when 19 cars start that event, that's even worse. And if that happens when it's only five laps past halfway, you've got a serious problem. That's what Riverside Speedway faced on Saturday night, and kudos to track management for pulling the plug at lap 55 of 100 after a wreckfest of a race like it sounds like they had over there.

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Eddie MacDonald can't get enough. The "Outlaw" -- who just announced his intent to race the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park in October -- will be running the Camping World Series East race at NHMS on Friday as well as the Whelen Modified Tour and ACT Invitational events on Saturday. He's already on the short list of potential winners for the CWSE and ACT races, and who knows, maybe he could put his knowledge of the "Magic Mile" to use in the Modified race and rip off a victory in Andy Seuss's car. Keep your eyes peeled.

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If you weren't entertained at Airborne Speedway's Fall Foliage 300, you'll never be entertained at a stock car race. Nineteen lead changes, Patrick Laperle's ridiculous luck, and side-by-side stuff all race long? It doesn't get better than that.

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Speaking of Laperle, he is no fan of Donald Theetge. But you knew that.

On lap 15 of the Foliage, the two were racing for the lead after starting on the front row. Theetge came across Laperle's nose entering Turn 3 and spun. It was fourth time the two have come together while racing up front over the last three seasons.

And irony of ironies, Theetge was the last car Laperle had to race with during the closing laps of the Fall Foliage 300, as Laperle lapped the seventh-place Theetge coming to the checkers, which Laperle admitted caused some worry.

We can't print all of what Laperle said about Theetge, but he finished a 30-second rant with, "He's a pain in the ass." If you're keeping score at home, the other incidents (that we can remember, anyway, there may be more) were at Autodrome Montmagny and Airborne in 2007, Autodrome Chaudière last year, and now this.

Add in the long-standing dislike that Montréalers (Laperle's home crowd) and Québecers (Theetge supporters) have for each other, and it might be the best rivarly in northeastern Late Model racing right now. And by the way, they'll be racing for the Série ACT-Castrol championship the day after the ACT Invitational. Theetge leads Laperle by 33 points entering the St-Eustache 300, which, of course, is in Laperle's back yard.

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Oh man, that reminds me that pre-season hockey starts this week! Whaddaya think, Habs go for Stanley Cup #25 this year? You Bruins got NUTHIN'! Olé, olé, olé, olé!

***

AROUND THE REGION:

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

ACT Late Model Tour: On Sunday at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Qué., beat Williston's Brian Hoar, Brent Dragon of Milton, John Donahue of Graniteville, and Milton's Scott Payea to win the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Fall Foliage 300.

Airborne Speedway (Plattsburgh, N.Y.): Larry Underwood of Milton finished ninth in Sunday's Sportsman feature; hometown driver Robin Wood won the race while his uncle, Bucko Branham, was declared the champion. Dave Rabtoy of Swanton won the Renegade feature with Swanton's Kevin Boutin fourth, Lance Rabtoy of Fairfax sixth, and Mike Terry of Grand Isle tenth. Lonnie Rivers of Cadyville, N.Y. was the champion. Billy Jenkins of Milton was tenth in the Mini-Modified race, with Clintonville, N.Y.'s Billy Thwaits taking the championship. Josh LaPorte of Peru, N.Y. won the Bomber feature, and Jayson Blondo of Champlain, N.Y. was the champion.

Albany-Saratoga Speedway (Malta, N.Y.): Dave Camara of Fair Haven finished sixth in the 358 Modified feature on Friday night, with Ron Langevin of Londonderry matching that performance in the Sporsman feature. Frank Hoard, III of Manchester was eighth in the Budget Sportsman feature, and Fred Little of Salisbury was third in the Pro Street Stock feature. Bill Duprey of Hydeville translated his six-win season at Devil's Bowl Speedway into a win during a rare appearance in the Limited class at Albany-Saratoga, with Mike Clark of Benson fifth.

Bear Ridge Speedway (Bradford): Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H. posted his fifth Sportsman Modified win of the season on Saturday night over Jack Cook of Moultonboro, N.H., Bryan King of Corinth, Bob Shepard of West Topsham, and Gary Siemons of Orford, N.H. Topsham rivals Melvin Pierson and Josh Harrington continued their season-long battle in the Sportsman Coupe division by finishing 1-2 overall in a three-segment event, with King repeating his third-place finish over Bradford drivers Jason Horniak and Jeremy Stygles. Dan Eastman of Thetford Center took his 11th Limited Late Model win over East Montpelier's Will Hull, Shane Race of South Strafford, Jason Giguere of Enfield, N.H., and Jeremy Hodge of Bradford. Steve Bell of St. Johnsbury won a close Fast Four race over Chris McKinstry of Thetford, Andy Johnson of Wilder, Kevin Harran of St. Johnsbury, and Chelsea's Wayland Childs. Tom Placey of Bradford took his 10th Hornet win over St. Johnsbury's Bobby Bell, Mike Pittman of Corinth, Karl Sheldon of St. Johnsbury, and Mike Chapin of Chelsea. Matt Tanner of Stephenstown, N.Y. won the SCoNE 360 Sprint Car feature.

Monadnock Speedway (Winchester, N.H.): Saturday's races were rained out.

PASS North Super Late Models: Mike Rowe of Turner, Me. nipped D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, N.H. to win Sunday's PASS 300 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Me. Danville rookie Steven Legendre was 16th and Dave Davis of White River Junction was 25th.

Riverside Speedway (Groveton, N.H.): Paul Scharter, III of Lyndonville was declared the winner of Saturday's Bond Auto Late Model Triplw Crown 100 after only 55 laps were completed, due to many cautions and wrecks. Stephen Hodgdon on Danville finished fourth with Brett Gervais of Island Pond seventh. Derek Ming of Island Pond won the Outlaw Sportsman feature with Davey Ofsuryk of Newport Center third and Dan Sidney of St. Johnsbury fourth. Cody Hodge of Orleans won the Super Stock feature with Dilyn Switser of West Burke eighth and Ben Bedor of Lyndonville ninth. Brett Rowell of Concord won the Street Stock race over Hardwick's Andy Fecteau and Jesse Switser of West Burke. Toby Merchant of Concord was fourth in the Dwarf Car feature. Cabot sisters Lyndsay and Johanna Christman traded spots in the Angel feature to finish 1-2, in a reversal of their finish the week before, and Andy Simpson of Lyndon Center was third in the Cyclone race.

Twin State Speedway (Claremont, N.H.): Dallas Trombley of Rutland won the Late Model race on Sunday, while Guy Caron of Lempster, N.H. was crowned the champion. Nate Kehoe of Windham finished third in the Modified race with Ascutney's Joey Jarvis fourth, Windsor's Robert Hagar fifth, Joe Olmstead of Hartland seventh, Zach Jewett of Perkinsville eighth, and Leo Martin, Jr. or Windsor ninth. Jarvis, a rookie, was overtaken in the final event for the championship by Aaron Fellows of Croydon, N.H. Chris Curtis of Baltimore finished fifth in the Siper Street feature with Rick Lamotte of Ascutney seventh, Colby Hodgdon of Ascutney ninth, and Bruce Jaycox of Hartland tenth. Michael Burke of Bellows Falls was the Strictly Stock runner-up with Tara Tarbell of Springfield fifth, David Greenslit of Waitsfield seventh, Kyle Davis of Pittsford ninth, and West Hartford's Jeremy Blood tenth. Kyle Small of Quechee wonthe Wildcat feature over Cody Small of Hartland and Jeremiah Losee of North Springfield.

White Mountain Motorsports Park (North Woodstock, N.H.): St. Johnsbury's Stacy Cahoon was the Late Model runner-up in Saturday's feature with Morrisville's Dwayne Lanphear seventh. Point leader Stevie Parker of Lyndonville was the Strictly Stock runner-up, and Concord's Rubin Call finished second in the Strictly Stock Mini race.

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WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Friday, Sept. 18
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H. -- 7:00pm (Championship Night)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. -- 5:10pm (NASCAR Camping World Series East/Heluva Good! 125)
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Championship Night plus PASS North)

Saturday, Sept. 19
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. -- 12:45pm (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour/New Hampshire 100)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. -- 3:00pm (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series/Heluva Good! 200)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. -- 5:30pm (American-Canadian Tour/ACT Invitational)
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. -- 6:00pm (Regular Event)

Sunday, Sept. 20
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y. -- 2:00pm (Modified Apple Bowl 100)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. -- 2:00pm (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series/Sylvania 300)

LOCAL TOURING SERIES:

ACT Late Model Tour: Sat., Sept. 19 -- New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (5:30pm)
PASS North Super Late Models: Fri., Sept. 18 -- White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (6:00pm)