ACT Season Hits Halfway Mark at Leavitt Memorial Race as Title Picture Emerges
American Canadian Tour
Waterbury, VT — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) season receives the crossed flags this Saturday, August 15 when it heads to Groveton, NH’s Riverside Speedway. The Gardiner & June Leavitt Memorial 150 is race number five on the current nine-event schedule, meaning it is time to start thinking about the championship for several drivers.
Following last Saturday’s Midsummer Classic 250 at White Mountain Motorsports Park, Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert is back on top of the standings. The veteran has three podium finishes in four events to give him a 15-point edge over Center Conway, NH’s D.J. Shaw and 31 points on E. Bridgewater, MA’s Ryan Kuhn. Hebert is also the only full-time ACT competitor to snare a win this season, flexing his muscle against a slew of talented local drivers and part-time invaders.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY TO HOST RACE THREE OF 2020 TRI TRACK SEASON
RETURN TO NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR COMPETITIVE NIGHT SET FOR THIS WEEKEND
By Kyle Souza/Souza Media
SEEKONK, Mass. — The Tri Track Open Modified Series returns to competition this Saturday, August 15, for race three of the 2020 season at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire. This is the second stop at the high-banked oval this season, and if the first one was any indication, fans won’t want to leave their seat until the finish checkered flag and beyond.
On July 5, Craig Lutz used a bump-and-run to get around Les Hinckley in a final dash to the finish line, bringing fans to their feet, and creating a bit of frustration between some of the top contenders. Now, as the season hits the middle of August, these two could be headed straight for a rematch. But they won’t be the only top contenders when Tri Track takes the green flag on Saturday.
Matt Hirschman, who has 12 career Tri Track wins, including the SBM at Star Speedway earlier this year, is coming back looking to rebound from a performance he wasn’t happy with last time at Monadnock. Although the driver of the No. 60 finished seventh, Hirschman wasn’t pleased with the way the car handled. After dominating at Star, he’s heading to Monadnock looking to pounce.
GSPSS headed to Beech Ridge speedway for the first time
For the first time ever The Granite State Pro Stock Series heads for the famed Beech Ridge Speedway in Scarborough Maine. This will be the third appearance for the series in the state of Maine and the first since 2017 and everyone involved couldn’t be more excited.
Ray Christian III leads the series regulars into this event. The Uncasville CT driver has already scored two wins in 2020 and looks to extend his point lead over Angelo Belsito and Joey Polewarczyk. Christain III used a recent weekly race to gain some experience at a track where he has very little. Belsito sits second in points, having scored two wins of his own, having never seen the facility while Polewarczyk has many laps there in a late model.
Thompson Announces Initial Division List for 58th World Series
Track Also Adds SK Lights to September 2 Program
Thompson, CT — American-Canadian Tour (ACT), Pro All Stars Series (PASS), and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park officials have announced the initial list of participants for the 58th World Series of Speedway Racing. Fifteen divisions and touring series have been confirmed for the event scheduled for Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13. Additional divisions could be added as discussions continue.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will once again return to the World Series for a 150-lap event. The NASCAR Modifieds have been part of every World Series since the touring era began in 1985, making this their 36th consecutive appearance at the prestigious event.
BYRNE, KIMBALL, ROBBIE AMONG LOCALS WHO LOOK TO EARN TRI TRACK CHECKERED FLAG
By Kyle Souza
SEEKONK, Mass. — When the Tri Track Open Modified Series rolls into Monadnock Speedway this Saturday, August 15, the race will be a battle between some of the Tri Track stars and Monadnock regulars. Monadnock runs a weekly Modified division as part of their NASCAR program, and multiple of the competitors will be jumping up to the Tri Track Series looking to defend their home-turf in the 100-lap feature.
Ben Byrne, who is a three-time winner in the NHSTRA Modified weekly division this year, has shown his strength multiple times in the past with Tri Track. Byrne was a frontrunner in the race last year, and on July 5, he charged to the front of the field, taking the lead on lap 33, and holding the top spot through a caution period on lap 64. Byrne would lose the lead but settle for a third-place finish after Les Hinckley and Craig Lutz got together racing for the lead in the final corner, with Lutz pushing to the win.
Byrne feels like he needs some redemption after showcasing the speed under the hood in the last few Tri Track races at Monadnock and not coming away with the checkered flag.
Divisions and Other Information Announced for Thompson Event on September 2
Waterbury, VT and Naples, ME — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) have announced the divisions, start times, and pricing for the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park season opener on Wednesday, September 2. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour headlines a five-division card with the first green flag flying at 5:00pm.
The Thompson 150 will be the 147th visit for the NASCAR Modifieds in the touring era (1985-present), more than any other race track. All the biggest stars of the Whelen Modified Tour are expected to be in attendance, including current point leader Justin Bonsignore, six-time and defending champion Doug Coby, and former Thompson Speedway winner Timmy Solomito.
PATNODE WINS MODIFIED THRILLER AUGUST 8 AT MONADNOCK
By Gary Dutton
WINCHESTER, N.H. – Brian Robie may have had the fastest car Saturday, August 8, at Monadnock Speedway, but Swanzey, NH star Todd Patnode had the best move, fighting back after Robie’s late-race pass to win the night’s 50-lap NHSTRA Modified main event.
The victory, on the speedway’s eighth night of its pandemic-shortened 2020 racing season, was Patnode’s first of the summer. While it took the speedway’s defending Modified champion eight weeks to taste victory this season, it took the same amount for Aaron Fellows to finally be beaten. That, too, happened Saturday.
Robert Hagar (Windsor, VT) won the night’s Late Model Sportsman feature, stopping Fellows’ winning streak at seven and, so doing, earning his first victory lap of the year. Hagar was one of Saturday’s three first-of-the-year victors, along with Patnode and Pure Stocker Damon Roy (Claremont, NH).
N. Woodstock, NH — Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet showed once again that you can never count him out as he roared to his fourth Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model win of the season at N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park on Sunday, August 9. Sweet overpowered defending champion D.J. Shaw on a restart with 11 laps to go to capture the PASS Midsummer Classic 150 as seen live on the Northeast Sports Network.
As a previous 2020 winner, Sweet started 11th on the grid for the main event. The veteran steadily worked his way through the field, moving into the top-five on lap 29 and grabbing the third spot from polesitter Ben Ashline on lap 52 with Ben Rowe right behind him. At that point, Sweet trailed only Joey Doiron and Shaw, who had combined to set a torrid pace in the early going.
Moltz Takes Control Late for Big Payday in ACT Midsummer Classic
American Canadian Tour
N. Woodstock, NH — New Sharon, ME’s Dillon Moltz was in it for the long haul at N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorports Park on Saturday, August as he took control late to win the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Midsummer Classic 250. Moltz grabbed the lead for good from Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert on a lap-183 restart and steadily pulled away down the stretch to snag the $10,000 payday on day one of Midsummer Classic Weekend.
The multi-time ACT winner started back in 16th for the 250-lap showdown and steadily worked his way through the field as polesitter Ryan Kuhn set the early pace. When the first caution flag on lap 61 after Joey Polewarczyk suffered a mechanical failure and left oil all around the race track, Moltz was up to the sixth spot, trailing Kuhn, Christopher Pelkey, D.J. Shaw, Scott Payea, and Hebert.
JOEY JARVIS WINS LAFONT MEMORIAL THRILLER AT CLAREMONT
Claremont Motorsports Park August 7 event story
By Gary Dutton
CLAREMONT, N.H. – It couldn’t have been scripted better. Joey Jarvis, with competitors draped all over him, won Friday night’s Cody Lafont Memorial Race at Claremont Motorsports Park, earning the 35-lap Pure Stock victory behind the wheel of Lafont’s own car.
Aaron Fellows kept his unblemished track record intact, topping the LMS feature, while Joe Tetreault won a nail-biter in the Street Stocks, Nick Skillings held brother Desmond in his shadow in the Mini Stocks, and Jeremy Blood took his old car out of storage and sped to victory in the Six Shooters.
Amy Jaycox and Doug Nelson led the 31-car Pure Stock field to the green as the 35-lap Cody Lafont Memorial Race went green. With a whopping $1,200 winner’s purse and piles of incentive cash up for grabs, the fifth running of the Lafont race was going to be a dandy.
