Rowe Snaps Long ACT Winless Drought at Oxford as Hebert Locks up First Title
Belanger Overwhelms Field in Flying Tiger Oxford Open
Oxford, ME — Turner, ME’s Ben Rowe and Williamstown, VT’s Jimmy Hebert took home the glory of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) season finale at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, October 18. Rowe broke a long ACT dry spell with his victory in the Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 while Hebert’s third-place finish clinched his first ACT Late Model Tour championship.
For Rowe, it was the multi-time Pro All Star Series champion’s first win in an ACT-sanctioned event since 2006 — a drought of more than 14 years. Hebert, meanwhile, finally claimed a title after having finished second or third in the ACT standings four different times during his career.
Stark, NH’s Jamie Swallow Jr. set the early tempo, snatching the lead from polesitter Marcel J. Gravel amidst a trio of early cautions. Once the field got going, Swallow checked out, putting several seconds between himself and a raging battle that included Ryan Kuhn, Rowe, Tom Carey III, D.J Shaw, Derek Gluchacki, and others.
Waterbury, VT — The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is slated to descend on Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway this Saturday, October 17 at 1:00pm for the final event of the 2020 racing season. The Lee’s Family Trailer Sales & Service 150 for the ACT Late Model Tour and Oxford Open for the ACT Flying Tigers send off the 35th season of ACT competition with a bang.
Despite a season with unique challenges never before seen in ACT’s long history, the finale is still brimming with excitement and intrigue. Late Model stars like Jimmy Hebert, D.J. Shaw, Ben Rowe, Dylan Payea, and Derek Gluchacki are ready for 150 more laps to decide who will end the campaign on a high note. They’ll be joined by Flying Tiger standouts Jason Woodard, Cameron Ouellette, Colin Cornell, and more in an encore trip to the famous 3/8-mile oval.
Hebert Finally Breaks Through at Oxford to Extend ACT Point Lead
Oxford, ME — Williamstown’s Jimmy Hebert finished a job he had come close to so many times before by winning the Oxford Plains 150 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, August 30. Hebert took the lead for good from Turner, ME’s Ben Rowe with 57 laps to go and was never seriously threatened from there on his way to becoming the first repeat winner of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) season.
For Hebert, it was a victory that had been within reach on multiple occasions prior to Sunday. In nine previous starts at Oxford, he had posted six top-5 finishes with a pair of runner-up results. His elusive first win at the historic 3/8-mile track also put him in the driver’s seat for his first ACT championship with three point-counting events remaining.
Coming into the 2020 season champion Spencer Morse was looking forward to another great point’s battle to defend his 2019 Title. A string of bad luck resulting in several poor finishes has mired Morse nearly 100 points out coming into Saturdays Lee’s Family Trailer Sales Pass Mod 50. That luck seems to have finally turned as Morse scored his second win of the year Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Morse who started the feature in the seventh spot was able to capitalize on other competitor’s misfortune to quickly move his way to the front. Before lap 6 Morse overtook early leader Milo Washer to put the #34 out front for good. More, however, didn’t have it as easy as it sounds. A pair of cautions erased sizable leads forcing Morse to defend his lead throughout the contest. Morse was dogged by a very fast Ryan Ripley over the last dozen laps before beating him across the line by a car length to keep his championship hopes alive.
Sweet Triples Up with PASS Holiday Win at White Mountain
Marshall Snatches Victory in Foley Late Model 100
N. Woodstock, NH — Barre, VT’s Nick Sweet continued his torrid start to the 2020 Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model season by dominating down the stretch for the win in the Foley Oil & Propane 150 at N. Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park on Friday, July 3. Sweet got the break over multi-time PASS champion Ben Rowe on a lap-66 restart and was never headed from there on the way to his third win of the year in front of the largest White Mountain crowd of the season.
Sweet started 11th in and steadily worked his way through the field early on. Farmington, ME’s Johnny Clark led the first 27 laps from the pole, but during the first caution for an Austin Teras spin, Clark suddenly headed down pit road. While he returned to the track in time for the restart, Clark would retire from the event during the next caution four laps later with apparent mechanical problems.
Eddie MacDonald posted a solid fifth place finish in the Coastal Auto Parts 150 Super Late Model race at Oxford Plains Speedway, Maine on Sunday. The Hancock Electric/Grimm Construction Chevy owned by Freddie Peterson raced for the first time this season with MacDonald somewhat pleased with the result.
“Obviously you always want to run better but after the practice day on Saturday, we made a ton of changes and they almost paid off,” said Eddie Mac after the race. “We were real slow on Saturday so Rollie (LaChance-crew chief) and the crew made a bunch of adjustments and by the end of practice Sunday morning we felt we had a pretty good car.”