ACTion News Wednesday, February 6, 2008
-by Justin St. Louis

It looks like the American-Canadian Tour will have a pair of talented rookies making a full-time go of it in
2008.  Nick Sweet of Barre, VT and Tyler Cahoon of Danville, VT will each tackle the Tour, giving further
developmental credential power to the NAPA Tiger Sportsman and Allen Lumber Street Stock division at Thunder
Road.  In case you missed it, Sweet put together a three-win season to take the Sportsman title at Thunder Road
last year, while Cahoon, the 2000 Thunder Road Street Stock Champion, is a multi-time winner at White Mountain
Motorsports Park.

In our recent Top 25 poll, Dave Moody said this of Sweet: (In 2007) he dominated a division that is just about
immune to domination You can't usually look at a kid this young and say, He's going to be great, but with
Sweet, it's a no-brainer.  A winner at five tracks in four states already, its likely that Sweet will (at least
by the Central Vermont fans that have come to depend on his back-to-front charges in Sportsman and Street Stock
events) be expected to rival the remarkably veteran-looking rookie seasons of Scott Payea in 2005 or Jamie Fisher
in 1999.

Adding a bit of a fun twist to the story is that Sweet sold his Sportsman car to Street Stock Champion Bobby
Therrien.  In his first full year in a stock car, 20 year-old Therrien won six Thunder Road features and the track
and rookie points titles.  Hell now join his big brother, Tommy, in the Tiger Sportsman ranks with a proven car
underneath him and a few thousand people wondering aloud if he can pick up in 2008 where he left off in 07.

Cahoon should be fun to watch, as well.  The second-generation racer is making a self-admitted big jump, and is
hoping to enjoy some of the success his father, Stacy, has tasted in ACT waters during his long career.  But as
much as Tyler, 26, looks up to his father, his eyes were on Randy Potter last year.  Having grown up watching
Stacy race against Potter at tracks in Vermont and New Hampshire, he saw the fun and success Potters close-knit
team had in ACT, and wants to try his hand at it.  Tyler has raced against (and often beaten) Potter at White
Mountain, and has made the occasional ACT Late Model Tour qualifying effort at Thunder Road, White Mountain, and
Oxford Plains Speedway.

I cant wait to see what Nick Sweet will accomplish on the Tour, said ACT President Tom Curley.  He has shown a
lot of potential, and he has great role models to learn from in the many successful drivers that have come through
our system.  I tip my hat to Tyler Cahoon and his team for making the decision to race the Tour, as well.  One of
the highlights of my season last year was seeing Tylers team effort trying to make the field at the Milk Bowl and
at Oxford.  I think a lot of people will be watching both of these young drivers pretty closely.

***

Our printing deadline comes a couple of days early, but rest assured, by the time you read this column, three
American-Canadian Tour drivers will either be at or nearly at Floridas New Smyrna Speedway for the 42nd Annual
World Series of Asphalt Racing.  Speaking with Hudson, NH driver Joey Pole Polewarczyk on Monday, the youngster
said he is ready to go, just buttoning up the truck and trailer for the ride.

Were excited, were leaving Tuesday and cant wait for the first practice on Thursday, he said.  Its going to
be a long week, its a lot of travel and a lot of racing, but were confident it will go well.

Apparently, the excitement is shared down south.  Thirty-three drivers have pre-entered the Crate/ASA-type Late
Model division that Polewarczyk and Vermont drivers Eric Chase and Ryan Nolin will be competing in, making it by
far the largest field of the seven classes competing at the World Series.  New Smyrna Speedway officials have
added an extra event to the schedule for the division, bringing its total number of outings to eight over a period
of nine days.

The Crate/ASA cars are essentially ACT Late Models with a slightly more powerful engine.  The American Speed
Association (ASA) runs these cars in the Midwest and Southeast with a spec crate engine program very similar to
ACTs.  Incidentally, those ASA tours are powered by Torco Racing Fuels, which has become the Official Racing Fuel
of ACT and Thunder Road.  Torcos mission is to become the fuel of choice for all spec engine Late Model series in
the U.S. and Canada.  Polewarczyk and Chase have each installed the ASA crate engine into their cars.  (Chase and
Nolin, teammates on the ACT Late Model Tour, will be sharing driving duties night-to-night.)

Also on the World Series card are Tour-type Modifieds (think True Value Modifieds, NASCAR, and Race of Champions
Tour cars), SK Modifieds (very similar to Tour Mods, theyre the cars that run weekly at tracks like Waterford,
Thompson, Stafford, and Wall Stadium), Super Late Models (like a Pro Stock in New England), Late Models (were not
really sure, but we think thats a cross between a Super Late Model and an ACT-type car), Florida/IMCA Modifieds
(like the low-slung dirt cars of the Midwest, but on asphalt), and Pro Trucks (again, were not really sure about
the rules, but we do know that they are trucks).

Drivers have entered from half of the 50 U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and even Scotland.  The long haul
award, besides Scottish driver Gordon Moody, goes to Darrell Midgley of Sidney, British Columbia, a short hop from
Vancouver.  Florida is a long way from Canada to begin with, but Mr. Midgley will be traveling over 3,200 miles
each way, and with two race cars a Crate/ASA car, and a Super Late Model.  Racing takes place every night from
Friday, Feb. 8 to Saturday, Feb. 16.  The only night off for the Crate/ASA division will be Sunday, Feb. 10.

Good luck to Joey Polewarczyk, Eric Chase, and Ryan Nolin!  The ACT website (www.acttour.com) will have updates on
the trio throughout the World Series, so stay tuned!

***

Did you know?

-Tyler Cahoon won the Allen Lumber Street Stock title at Thunder Road in 2000 without finishing a race.  In fact,
he never finished second, either, and was third just one time after the winner was disqualified!  But Cahoon was
smooth as silk the entire season, with five Top 5 finishes and eleven Top 10s.  On the night he finished third, he
started in 30th place and the race was only 20 laps long!  He was also the championship runner-up in 1999, taking
three second-place finishes that year.  In fact, as good as Cahoon was in his Street Stock days at Thunder Road,
he never did carry a checkered flag. 

-Twelve times in the modern era (since 1982) has a driver won a Thunder Road championship without winning a race
during the season.  They happened as follows: 1992 Don LaHue (NAPA Tiger Sportsman); 1995 Cooper MacRitchie
(Sportsman); 1996 Phil Scott (Late Model) and Ricky Dennis (Sportsman); 2000 Tyler Cahoon (Allen Lumber Street
Stock); 2001 Dan Nolin (Street Stock); 2002 Joe Steffen (Sportsman); 2003 Reno Gervais (Sportsman); 2004
Reno Gervais (Sportsman), Joe Small (Street Stock), and Ron Gabaree (Power Shift Online Junkyard Warrior); 2006
Chad Wheeler (Late Model).  Note Reno Gervais won back-to-back titles with winless seasons.

-An ACT-sanctioned series championship has been won five times with the champion not winning a race during the
year, and pay attention to these names: 1997 Ricky Dennis (Tiger Sportsman Series); 1998 Jason LaHue (Street
Stock Tri-State Series); 2002 Phil Scott (ACT Late Model Tour); 2006 Chuck Beede (Sportsman); 2007 Jean-Paul
Cyr (Tour).  Theres something to be said for Ricky Dennis, Phil Scott, and the LaHue family in terms of their
consistent finishes; Dennis and Scott each won a track title and a series title while going winless, as did the
father-son LaHue boys, with father Don teaching young Jason the ropes.

Comments, questions, and all that jazz are gladly welcomed at media@acttour.com!