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

Scott Wrecks, Dragon Wins at Twin State

CLAREMONT, N.H. -- It's been eight years, 11 months, and four days since Phil Scott won an ACT Late Model Tour race. And unfortunately for Scott, that time will extend for at least one more day. The Vermont State Senator and former ACT champion was practically a shoo-in to end the dry spell at Twin State Speedway in Claremont, N.H. on Friday night before a pair of late-race incidents, both involving number-four point driver Randy Potter, effectively ended Scott's night.

Scott led every step of the Twin State 100 from the pole position, navigating lapped traffic with ease, before a lap 70 caution brought second-place runner Brent Dragon to Scott's tail for a restart. The yellow caution flag flew for Guy Caron, who after some tight, sometimes physical racing with Potter, was dumped off the backstretch by Potter by into the infield.

With Dragon pressuring Scott for the lead a dozen laps later, Potter spun just before Turn 1, coming to rest with the front half of his car on the racing surface. Potter got his stalled car refired in time to move out of the way as the leaders approched, but in a brief instant, the yellow flag flew just as Potter inexplicably drove out onto the track directly into their path. Scott jammed on his brakes and drove to the high side in an attempt to avoid, but collided hard with Potter and spun into the wall; Dragon got by unscathed on the inside.

Despite heavy cosmetic damage, Scott refired his car on his own, but was placed at the rear of the field for the restart with Potter. It was then smooth sailing for Dragon, who held off John Donahue through that restart and another final one on lap 93 for the win.

Scott was obviously disappointed with the wreck. "I guess I could have paid attention [to what Potter was doing] more. I saw him coming out, I just thought he was going to stay there," Scott said. "I did what I thought was right, and usually a car that's spun on the inside usually comes down and stays low, it doesn't cross the track. I don't know if he didn't see how quickly we were coming."

Potter left the pit area almost immediately after the race concluded and was unavailable for comment.

Scott was also frustrated with the call made by race director Tom Curley to place him at the rear of the field for the lap 82 restart, thinking that the caution flag flew for Potter before the accident. Scott fell off the pace at the restart until debris cleared itself away from the right-front tire of his car under the green flag. "As it turned out, I don't know as we could have held on to the lead anyhow, but I wasn't happy with [the call]," Scott said. "But you know, you make the calls as you see them, and obviously [Curley] was throwing the yellow for [Potter]. And [Curley] was letting some cars spin and stay there [until they refired during other incidents in the race], so it's not like it was anything directed at me, but sometimes, you know, it's tough to take."

Prior to the lap 82 wreck, Dragon had several chances to force his way into the lead past Scott, both on the inside and outside lanes. In fact, Dragon was just under Scott's car at the time of the accident.

"I think I could have beat Phil. We were pressuring him pretty good, and it's too bad he got wrecked," Dragon said. "He was so tight in the middle of the corner, and I could have drove up underneath him. Even on the straightaway there was a couple times I had my nose in there. And I had him outside, too, but I really wanted to go underneath him and just beat him on the straightaway nice and clean, because I knew once I got all the way beside he'd just let me go. It would have been interesting, it would have been fun."

Scott saw it differently, thinking he had the car to beat. "I was just being very, very careful trying to protect the bottom when we had that restart [on lap 70] with the lapped car on the outside," he said. "I didn't want to slip up into him and I didn't want to have Brent dive underneath me, so I was just biding my time a little bit, protecting the bottom. Once I got out and started hitting my marks again, I don't know as Brent could have caught us. We had a very stout car. We'll try [Sunday at Thunder Road] to go out and win that race."

For Dragon, the win was his third of 2009, but his first victory of the year on the ACT Late Model Tour. He won a pair of events in Canada prior to the Twin State 100 -- the Coors Light 200 Showdown all-star event at Autodrome Chaudière last Sunday, and a Série ACT-Castrol event at Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Qué. in June. Dragon joked that he was relieved to finally be able to put an end to the season-long ribbing he's taken from friends and competitors that he couldn't win a race in the United States.

"This is our first win in the States this year, so I guess I can be a U.S. citizen again," Dragon laughed. "Everybody's been beating on me about being a Canadian all year."

ACT Late Model Tour point leader Scott Payea had a quiet, but impressive drive from 19th starting position to finish in third place. The finish was his sixth third-place effort of the year, coupled with a win at Airborne Speedway in May. Rookie Joey Doiron, 17, finished an ACT career-best fourth, with Brian Hoar, Payea's chief rival for the championship, in fifth place. Daniel Descoste finished a career-best sixth, in front of Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Ben Rowe, and Twin State Speedway regulars Aaron Fellows and Dallas Trombley.

Unofficially, Payea maintained a narrow five-point lead over Hoar entering Sunday's Bond Auto Labor Day Classic 200 at Thunder Road in Barre.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Twin State 100
ACT Late Model Tour -- Twin State Speedway, Claremont, N.H.
Friday, Sept. 4, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown (# - indicates rookie)

1. Brent Dragon, Milton
2. John Donahue, Graniteville
3. Scott Payea, Milton
4. #Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me.
5. Brian Hoar, Williston
6. Daniel Descoste, St-Joseph-du-Lac, Qué.
7. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H.
8. Ben Rowe, Turner, Me.
9. Aaron Fellows, Croydon, N.H.
10. Dallas Trombley, Rutland
11. Stéphane Descoste, Oka, Qué.
12. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
13. Darrell Keane, Springfield, Mass.
14. Phil Scott, Montpelier
15. Chris Riendeau, Ascutney
16. Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury
17. Jamie Fisher, Shelburne
18. Todd Davis, Claremont, N.H.
19. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville
20. Marc Palmisano, Hadley, Mass.
21. Chip Grenier, Graniteville
22. Bryan Town, Charlestown, N.H.
23. Chris Bergeron, Claremont, N.H.
24. Mark Hayward, Unity, N.H.
25. Punky Caron, Goshen, N.H.
26. Guy Caron, Lempster, N.H.
27. Eric Williams, Hyde Park
28. Dennis Stange, Athol, Mass.
29. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me.
30. Glen Luce, Turner, Me.


(PHOTOS: 1. Bretn Dragon waves to the crowd after his victory in the Twin State 100; 2. Phil Scott's car became a mangled mess after a lap 82 crash while Scott was leading. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

Dragon Wins ACT Showdown at Chaudière

VALLÉE-JONCTION, Qué. -- Brent Dragon of Milton won the second annual Coors Light 200 Showdown at Chaudière, a non-points all-star event for top U.S.- and Canadian-based ACT teams, on Sunday.

ACT Late Model Tour point leader Scott Payea, also of Milton, and top Série ACT-Castrol driver Karl Allard of St-Félicien, Qué. traded the lead several times over the first 91 laps before Dragon took command. Dragon led the final 109 laps, and led the U.S. group to its second "team" victory in the two years of the event.

Payea finished second, with Randy Potter of Groveton, N.H. third. Castrol point leader Donald Theetge of Boischatel, Qué. was the top Canadian in fourth place, while Graniteville's Pete Potvin, III had a career day with a fifth-place showing.

The Showdown was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was pushed back by rain to Sunday afternoon.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Coors Light 200 Showdown at Chaudière

Autodrome Chaudière, Vallée-Jonction, Qué.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown-(Team)

1. Brent Dragon, Milton (USA)

2. Scott Payea, Milton (USA)
3. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H. (USA)

4. Donald Theetge, Boischatel, Qué. (CAN)

5. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville (USA)

6. Brian Hoar, Williston (USA)

7. Karl Allard, St-Félicien, Qué. (CAN)

8. Jean-François Déry, Québec, Qué. (CAN)

9. Joey Doiron, Berwick, Me. (USA)

10. Chip Grenier, Graniteville (USA)

11. Patrick Cliche, St-Jean-de-Chrysostome, Qué. (CAN)

12. Jacques Poulin, East-Broughton, Qué. (CAN)

13. Yvon Bédard, St-Nicolas, Qué. (CAN)

14. Dany Ouellet, La Pocatière, Qué. (CAN)

15. Brooks Clark, Fayston (USA)

16. Ricky Rolfe, Albany Twp., Me. (USA)

17. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, Qué. (CAN)

18. Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie, Qué. (CAN)

19. John Donahue, Graniteville (USA)

20. Alexandre Gingras, Québec, Qué. (CAN)

21. Patrick Hamel, St-Édouard-de-Lotbinière, Qué. (CAN)

22. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H. (USA)

Helliwell Takes Dramatic Win at Riverside

Lee regular beats Welch, Potter, and heat

GROVETON, N.H. -- There was no question that there were three specific drivers that would be in the hunt at Riverside Speedway.

From practice and qualifying at the start of the sunny, 95-degree day, the class of the field for the Mason Tractor & Equipment 'Clash of the Titans 150' was clearly the trio of former White Mountain Motorsports Park champion Quinny Welch, defending Lee USA Speedway king Wayne Helliwell, Jr., and Riverside's favorite son, Randy Potter.

Potter, a multi-time Riverside champion who lives quite literally at the edge of the speedway's property line in Groveton, N.H., is an established ACT Late Model Tour championship contender. Welch, from nearby Lancaster, N.H., currently leads the championship standings at White Mountain and races successfully on a part-time basis with ACT, but has a checkered past at Riverside. Helliwell, from Dracut, Mass. and a veteran of many disciplines of short track racing, made a lasting first impression at Riverside last week, and is poised to win another title at Lee USA this fall.

Each driver has top-notch equipment and a stout team behind him. Each driver is regarded highly enough to have been invited to participate in the upcoming ACT test session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Each driver won his qualifying heat on Sunday, and each started the 'Clash' from one of the top-three positions on the 26-car grid.

There was no question they would be at the top of the finishing order. Instead, the question was how that order would be decided.

Potter led the first 28 laps from the pole, then Welch took over but was not more than two car lengths ahead of Potter until around lap 60. With a restart 20 circuits later, Potter was again within striking distance. Helliwell, who had been conserving his tires for later in the race, suddenly became a player, as did ACT and Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl regular John Donahue. A restart on lap 96 allowed Helliwell to sweep under Potter and take control of second place. Donahue, meanwhile, had pitted for fresh right side tires during the caution period and, while back in tenth place, was expected to quickly return to the front.

Helliwell sniffed his first move under Welch on lap 106, but backed out, opting to run behind the leader. Potter ran a close third. Donahue, by lap 111, was up to fifth place. A lap later, however, he retired with a broken right-rear hub. After the restart for Donahue's spun car bunched the leaders again, giving Potter the opportunity to briefly take second back from Helliwell. Potter's tires began to give up, though, and Helliwell moved back ahead on lap 115, then set to work on Welch.

At lap 126, Helliwell tried the outside to no avail. Due to the intense heat, a recently-applied strip of asphalt in the low groove of Turn 3 began coming apart early in the day. During the PASS Modified event prior to the 'Clash', the combination of heat and bad asphalt badly blistered the right-rear tire of winner Dan Somes' car. Using an old home remedy, track crews laid down dry concrete powder mix over the broken-up surface following the Modified race and during many of the caution periods in the subsequent PASS Sportsman and 'Clash' races to slow the decay of the track. While the intense heat of the day made passing a bit tougher on the outside, the inside lane in Turn 3 also suffered somewhat as a result of the bad asphalt.

Helliwell made two inside-lane bids on laps 129 and 136, then made another try on the top at lap 140. That time, with a thrilling, all-guts move, Helliwell made his car stick, taking the lead on lap 142. Backmarker Cody LeBlanc spun one lap later, setting up one final seven-lap dash to the win.
But during that lap 143 caution period, something was going on inside Helliwell's car. Dehydrated and exhausted, he was suffering badly.

"At lap 80, I was getting dizzy," he said. "I kept pulling my gloves down and hanging my hands out the window trying to cool my wrists. I was good on that last [long green flag] run, and then that caution came out with seven to go.

"And it just hit, everything started spinning."

Helliwell lined up for the final sprint with Welch on his outside and Potter on his rear bumper. Potter immediately jumped in front of Welch and into second place, but washed up the track three laps later. Welch returned to second place, but by then was too far behind Helliwell to make a charge before the checkered flag on lap 150.

Luckily for Helliwell, the race was not 151 laps long. With his left hand out the window looking for air, a dazed Helliwell came out of Turn 4 at half-speed as the checkers waved. He slowly made his way around the track before stopping in victory lane, not taking the traditional victory lap.

Helliwell was in trouble.

As Welch and Potter, who had been drinking fluids throughout the race, climbed out of their cars hot and sweaty but relatively spry, Helliwell sat in pain and heat-induced confusion. It was not until rescue workers, equipped with frozen cold-compacts and bottles of cold water, arrived on the scene and helped pull the winner out of his car before Helliwell was able to realize his victory. Even then, a full five minutes of recuperation time passed before Helliwell was able to make his way -- half-carried -- to the podium for the interview and trophy presentation.

"When we took the [lap 143] restart I looked up and I thought I'd seen, like, five or six car lenghts," said Helliwell. "[My spotter] said 'You're by yourself, just run.' I just backed off. I just idled around the speedway on the last lap. If there was another lap I would have drove right off the [track]."

All three drivers were complimentary of each other and of the race, and Welch and Potter -- who have plenty of laps racing each other, but very limited experience against Helliwell -- appreciated the winner's effort.

"I had a feeling it would come down to us three," said Potter. "We raced pretty good together and had a lot of fun. Wayne is a class act. I'll tell you, he could have uprooted me after a couple of them restarts when I couldn't go, and he let me go and his car would come in, and it paid off in the end. I want to congratulate him. This is a great race to have at my home track, and even though I haven't been here in a while it's still home."

"Lapped traffic played a big factor today, and Wayne ran a helluva race," said runner-up Welch. "He's a good driver with an awesome car and a good bunch of guys, and Randy, we battled with him all day and it was fun. It just came down to the end and I ran out of tires. It was a heck of a job, anyway, and it was probably the best race I've been in, I don't know, probably my whole career. I had a great time."

"Honest to God, if I could run with those guys every week, I'd come up here and run every single week," said Helliwell, who earned a track record $5,000 purse for his victory. "Down where we run, we don't have guys that you can run like that. I pride myself on being able to run bumper-to-bumper with people and not hitting, and it was really awesome to be able to come up here and run like that for 150 laps."

Howard Switser of West Burke was the top Vermonter in fourth place, and also the top finisher on American Racer tires; the top-three drivers all used Goodyear tires. Switser pitted twice during early caution periods to make adjustements on his car, and also survived an early chain-reaction incident that ultimately left his car without a hood for most of the race. Switser passed Bryan Mason of Stark, N.H. on lap 147 for fourth. Mason beat his brother, Corey, for fifth place. The balance of the unofficial top ten was completed by Steve Patnaude, Sammy Gooden, Mike Kenison, and Mike Paquette.

Ten caution periods slowed the event, including the first on lap 21 for a wild, multi-time flip by Pat Corbett of Williamstown. He was uninjured. Twenty-seven cars attempted to qualify, with only Dean Weber, who demolished his car in his heat race, failing to start the race.

Mike Landry of Oakland, Me. won the PASS Sportsman race, which was shortened from 75 laps to 50 due to the heat and track conditions. Landry beat point leader Dan McKeage of Gorham, Me. and Clyde Hennessey of Windham, Me. for the win. Somes, of Belgrade, Me., was followed in the PASS Modified race -- which was shortened from 40 laps to 30 -- by point leader Andy Shaw of Center Conway, N.H. and Sumner Sessions of Norway, Me. Jeff Ainsworth of Bethlehem, N.H. won the 50-lap Cyclone Enduro race.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- Mason Tractor & Equipment 'Clash of the Titans 150'
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H.
Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pos.-Driver-Hometown

1. Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dracut, Mass.
2. Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
3. Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
4. Howard Switser, West Burke
5. Bryan Mason, Stark, N.H.
6. Corey Mason, Stark, N.H.
7. Steve Patnaude, Pittsburg, N.H.
8. Sammy Gooden, Whitefield, N.H.
9. Mike Kenison, Groveton, N.H.
10. Mike Paquette, Pittsburg, N.H.
11. Cody LeBlanc, Gorham, N.H.
12. Kenny Marier, Littleton, N.H.
13. Paul Schartner, III, Lyndonville
14. Bob Ailes, Sr., St. Johnsbury
15. John Donahue, Graniteville
16. Matt Pepin, Concord, N.H.
17. Jamie Swallow, Jr., Stark, N.H.
18. Matt Sanborn, West Baldwin, Me.
19. Zig Geno, Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H.
20. Haywood Herriott, Gorham, N.H.
21. Stephen Hodgdon, Danville
22. Marc Palmisano, Hadley, Mass.
23. Jeff Marshall, Groveton, N.H.
24. Jeremy Davis, Tamworth, N.H.
25. Pat Corbett, Williamstown
26. Bill McCarthy, Medford, Mass.
DNS - Dean Weber, Weare, N.H.

(PHOTOS: 1. Wayne Helliwell is assisted in victory lane by his crew members and Groveton Rescue after winning the Clash of the Titans 150 in 90+ degree heat; 2. Helliwell's #27 Unique Ford entry at speed; 3. Third-place finisher Randy Potter (left) and runner-up Quinny Welch (2nd from right) hold an exhausted Wayne Helliwell up on the podium at Riverside Speedway. Photos by Justin St. Louis/VMM)

COMMENTARY: Why Complain About Waterford?

-by Justin St. Louis

For perhaps the first time in American-Canadian Tour history, there were some big questions left unanswered, two days after a checkered flag fell. Maybe we're wrong about that, but for sure, nothing like the confusion surrounding the finish of Saturday's Nutmeg State 100 at Waterford Speedbowl has come up in recent memory.

Vermont Motorsports Magazine was not at Waterford, so all of our information is second-hand at best. But here's what we understand to have happened: Brad Leighton wrecked with lapped driver Howard Payne out of the lead while racing for the win with Brian Hoar on lap 98. The white flag was out as the incident took place, followed quickly by the yellow flag. It seems like the cars of Hoar, Randy Potter, Tim Jordan, Scott Payea, and John Donahue crossed under the flagstand to take the white flag before the yellow flew, with the balance of the field locked in by the yellow. Under ACT rules, anyone that crosses the start/finish line to take the white flag before the yellow flies may race back to the finish line, and all others must retain their position and cross the finish line under yellow conditions.

Is it a perfect rule? Of course not. But it is the rule.

According to reports, third-place runner Tim Jordan -- a Waterford regular in just his second-ever ACT race -- slowed on the backstretch upon seeing yellow lights on lap 99 after he had taken the white flag, seemingly unaware that he should have raced back to the finish line, as outlined in the aforementioned rule. During this, Potter, Payea, and Donahue stayed at racing speed and passed Jordan to finish the race.

After the checkered flag, all five drivers, including winner Brian Hoar (whose finish, by the way, has never come into question) pulled into victory lane on the frontstretch. In the confusion, ACT officials -- maybe going back to the running order on lap 98 or 99? -- told Payea and Donahue to head back to the pits, and photos and interviews were taken from Hoar, apparent runner-up Potter, and third-place man Jordan. Following the race, the drivers were reportedly told to give their trophies back because the finish would have to be reviewed.

At 3:39pm on Monday, the official finish for the race was published by ACT. Hoar and Potter's finishes of first and second, respectively, were upheld. Payea was moved up to third, Donahue took fourth, and Jordan was placed back in fifth, the order in which he crossed the finish line. Brent Dragon and Joey Doiron were sixth and seventh, while Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. was eighth.

In addition to the finish, an excerpt of the ACT rulebook outlining the race prodcedure in question was included. (Click to go to page.)

According to a memo attached to the finish and rule posting, "It was determined that the yellow flag was displayed when the 97NH (Polewarczyk), running in 8th position at the time, reached the flag stand following the incident between the 55NH (Leighton) and 16CT (Payne). All cars in front of the 97NH are allowed, under the rules and procedures as sited above, to continue racing for position (with caution) until they complete the distance and receive a checkered/yellow flag."

Was it frustrating to not know the finishing order? Yes, absolutely. But understand this: ACT got it right the first time, and it shouldn't matter how long they took to do it.

ACT president Tom Curley, who is usually the race director for Tour events, was directing the Série ACT-Castrol event at Autodrome Chaudière in Québec at the time of the Nutmeg State 100. Curley was no doubt in the thick of reviewing scoring tapes for the Waterford race and making sure everything was done the right way. He has a reputation of integrity to uphold for his organization. In fact, the official finish for the Castrol event was also held until Monday, pending a review.

What looks worse? A sanctioning body that releases an ultimately false finishing order in a knee-jerk reaction, only to revise the finish several days later -- a la the PASS North debacle at Thompson Int'l Speedway last year -- or a sanctioning body that takes two or three days and gets everything correct?

"It's pretty simple," said Hoar on Monday at 2:00pm. "[ACT officials are] taking their time to get the finish right. There's no question that we won. The question is, when did [ACT chief starter Mike Wilder] throw the yellow? I took the white flag before the yellow, but to my knowledge, I don't know when the yellow came out after that. I know I took the white. Absolutely. I think the 47 (Jordan) did not race back to the line, and that's probably because he's never raced under that ACT procedure and didn't know the rule. Scott Payea certainly knows the rules, I'm sure John Donahue knows the rules. That's all it is, I think."

Even Payea, who has spent most of the season leading the ACT Late Model Tour point standings and will likely hold onto a very slim lead over Hoar after the finish is announced, wasn't losing much sleep over the outcome at Waterford. "Can't sweat it," he said at 1:45pm. "It's out of my control. I've got to worry about fourth not being good enough when Hoar is winning. I think I should have been third, but I'm not really complaining too much, although I do know the value of every position and point. We will worry about making the car better."

We're of the opinion that ACT did exactly what it needed to do to be a professional series that remains fair to its competitors and fans. We're not thrilled with the amount of time that passed since the checkers fell on Saturday night, but if that's all we have to worry about, that's no big deal. Kudos to ACT and Tom Curley for doing it right.