Helliwell Takes Advantage of Late Tangle for Oxford Win
Oxford, ME — Dover, NH’s Wayne Helliwell Jr. took full advantage of a late incident involving then-leader Joey Polewarczyk to snag the victory American-Canadian Tour (ACT) victory in the Oxford 150 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, June 28. It was the 13th career point-counting ACT win for the three-time champion and continued his strong start after a runner-up in the season opener.
Helliwell was inside Hudson, NH’s Polewarczyk for the lead with seven laps to go as both were attempting to get around defending ACT Champion Rich Dubeau, who was fighting to stay on the lead lap while running in the sixth spot. With Polewarczyk going to the outside entering turn three and Helliwell looking inside, Dubeau lost grip and slid up the track into the leader.
The contact sent Polewarczyk for a spin to bring out the sixth and final caution. Helliwell inherited the top spot with several lapped cars between him and second-place D.J. Shaw, allowing him to cruise to the win as seen worldwide on Northeast Sports Network.
Prior to the late tangle, Polewarczyk had been in his own area code for much of the event. The 2014 ACT Champion started on the front row and hounded polesitter Stephen Donahue for the first 20 laps. When the race’s second caution came out on lap 20 for Walter Sutcliffe’s spin, Polewarczyk got the jump over Donahue on the restart.
As Polewarczyk ran away and hid from the field, Helliwell and Bryan Kruczek both got around Donahue as well and began going back-and-forth for the second spot. The duo swapped the position multiple times over a span of nearly 50 laps before Kruczek fell off the pace with a broken axle and eventually spun to bring out the fourth caution on lap 84.
One circuit later, Donahue and the lapped car of Tyler Tomassi got together entering turn 3, collecting Dillon Moltz as well for another yellow. Helliwell was at Polewarczyk’s door for the restart, but “Joey Pole” easily got away on the restart and maintained a steady lead during another long green-flag run.
The duo easily sliced through the rest of the field, eventually putting all but six cars at least one lap in arrears. As Polewarczyk began working on the sixth-place car of Dubeau with the laps winding down, Helliwell mustered one final charge, getting to Polwarczyk’s inside and setting up the final dramatic confrontation that put Helliwell in front for the first time.
Center Conway, NH’s Shaw, a multi-time Pro All Stars Series champion, was solid all day and ended up with a second-place finish for car owner Arnie Hill. Opening day winner Jimmy Hebert steadily worked his way forward from the 17th starting position to end the day in third.
Polewarczyk recovered from his heartbreaking tangle to take fourth while defending ACT Rookie of the Year Ryan Kuhn rounded out the top-5. Dubeau, Moltz, Marcel J. Gravel, Dylan Payea, and rookie Derek Gluchacki finished sixth through 10th.
The ACT Late Model Tour has a weekend off before returning to action at Groveton, NH’s Riverside Speedway on Saturday, July 11 for the Gardiner & June Leavitt Memorial 150. Post time is 6:00pm.
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com or www.oxfordplains.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
JUNE 28, 2020
OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY
OXFORD 150
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps
1. ( 5 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. ( 27NH ) , Dover, NH , 150 Laps
2. ( 4 ) D.J. Shaw ( 04VT ) , Center Conway, NH , 150 Laps
3. ( 17 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 150 Laps
4. ( 2 ) Joey Polewarczyk ( 97NH ) , Hudson, NH , 150 Laps
5. ( 10 ) Ryan Kuhn ( 72MA ) , E.Bridgewater, MA , 150 Laps
6. ( 9 ) Rich Dubeau ( 30NH ) , Plainfield, NH , 150 Laps
7. ( 12 ) Dillon Moltz ( 5ME ) , New Sharon, ME , 149 Laps
8. ( 8 ) Marcel J. Gravel ( 86VT ) , Wolcott, VT , 149 Laps
9. ( 14 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH ) , Milton, VT , 149 Laps
10. ( 21 ) #Derek Gluchacki ( 03MA ) , Dartmouth, MA , 149 Laps
11. ( 13 ) Alby Ovitt ( 35NH ) , Candia, NH , 148 Laps
12. ( 11 ) Jesse Switser ( 25NH ) , W. Burke, VT , 148 Laps
13. ( 16 ) #Tom Carey III ( 5MA ) , New Salem, MA , 148 Laps
14. ( 19 ) Bobby Therrien ( 5VT ) , Hinesburg, VT , 148 Laps
15. ( 3 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 148 Laps
16. ( 15 ) Trenton Goodrow ( 31MA ) , Carver, MA , 148 Laps
17. ( 6 ) Ryan Olsen ( 61NH ) , N. Haverhill, NH , 148 Laps
18. ( 24 ) #Tyler Tomassi ( 76RI ) , W. Greenwich, MA , 147 Laps
19. ( 23 ) Matt Anderson ( 49NH ) , Andover, NH , 147 Laps
20. ( 22 ) Walter Sutcliffe ( 78CT ) , East Haven, CT , 146 Laps
21. ( 26 ) #David MacDonald ( 69ME ) , New Gloucester, ME , 141 Laps
22. ( 1 ) Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 138 Laps
23. ( 20 ) Jimmy Renfrew Jr. ( 00NH ) , Candia, NH , 132 Laps
24. ( 7 ) Bryan Kruczek ( 19NH ) , Newmarket, NH , 84 Laps
25. ( 18 ) Joey Laquerre ( 15VT ) , E. Montpelier, VT , 79 Laps
26. ( 25 ) Reilly Lanphear ( 21VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 1 Laps
Lap Leaders: Stephen Donahue, 1-20; Joey Polewarczk, 21-143; Wayne Helliwell Jr., 144-150. (2 lead changes among 3 drivers)
Time of Race: 1:08:14 Margin of Victory: 2.786 seconds
Cautions: 6 (laps 1, 20, 32, 84, 85, 143)
Heat Winners: Marcel J. Gravel, Bryan Kruczek, Rich Dubeau
Consi Winner: Trenton Goodrow