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TOPIC: ACTion News 4/18/05

rowe24

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Date: Mon Apr 18 17:50:20 2005

ACTion News 4/18/05	Permalink

Last weekend was a busy one for ACT teams – between the Berlin Mall car show and two New Hampshire race tracks holding open test days, over 30 teams from all four ACT/Thunder Road divisions were in action. Six beautiful cars from the ACT Late Model, NAPA Tiger Sportsman, and Allen Lumber Street Stock divisions were joined at the Berlin Mall by a couple of PowerShift Junkyard Warriors. The Late Model of Jerry Lesage, Tiger Sportsmen Tom Therrien, Scott Coburn, and Travis Paquet, and Street Stock rookies Kyle Tatro and Ron Gabaree had their fine looking machines on display, with a very nice spectrum of colors among them. And to the credit of Warrior guys James Dopp and Dave LaFleche, at least the leftover wrinkles in their cars! were covered with shiny new paint! Special thanks goes to each of those drivers for helping the show a success, and thanks also to Cris Michaud, Nick Sweet, Justin Hart, and Joe Small for helping out with Sunday’s autograph session. As has been standard procedure lately, we have pictures posted on the ACT website at www.acttour.com. Fourteen ACT Late Model Tour teams took part in the “Test and Tune” activities at Lee USA Speedway, and reportedly ran quite well… but so did the Lee USA regulars. Defending champion Ricky Wolf was among the fastest, as was teenager Jeff Labrecque, Jr. Keep your eyes on those two at the Seacoast Late Model Challenge 100 this weekend. We’re not sure if they saw our website poll or not, but B.J. Piekarski, Cooper MacRitchie, and Trampas Demers led the way for the ACT crowd. In this week’s fan poll, Piekarski, MacRitchie, and Demers are three of the top four vote leaders regarding the question “Who do you think could be the sle! eper at Lee USA and earn his first career ACT victory?” It seems their chances may have just increased a bit. In the true spirit of an “open” test day, one practice session saw the ACT and Lee USA Late Models on the track with a pair of cars from the Busch North Series. MacRitchie ran against former North champion Mike Olsen, and the two turned nearly identical lap times. In a bit of a fun and ironic twist, MacRitchie “raced” against Olsen in the same Ron Bevins-owned Late Model chassis that Olsen drove at Thunder Road in the 2003-04 seasons. Three NAPA Sportsman teams also made the trip to Lee USA. The inaugural ACT Tiger Sportsman Series will hold its season closer at the fast 3/8-mile oval on Sunday, Sept. 25, and the teams of Doug Murphy, Joe Steffen, and Chris Curtis went to shake their cars down. Murphy reports that with “almost no changes at all” from his Thunder Road setup, his car felt very competitive. Curtis looked promising in his ex-Ryan Nolin car. The young Massachusetts native will have veteran driver Blair Bessett turning wrenches on his car this season, and the pair seems to have clicked already. A half-dozen ACT Late Models hauled to Canaan Fair Speedway for an open test session, and praise for the new Goodyear tire was through the roof. Joe Becker thinks that unlike previous Late Model tires, flats will be almost a non-issue, and the cars will be more consistent during long distance races, rather than trailing off after the midway point like in years past. Jamie Fisher’s crew members sang the same tune as Becker, and were happy with the size, growth, and overall feel of the new Goodyears. Of the six cars in attendance, each was within one-tenth of a second of the others, which should likely provide some excellent side-by-side racing. In his typical right-to-the-point styl! e, Becker summed it up pretty well: “These tires are a lot better.” Did you know…? In a R&D move of sorts, Jamie Fisher and Pro Stock racer Ben Rowe agreed to run identical setups in their race cars over the weekend, and Rowe took a 150-lap victory at White Mountain Motorsports Park. If it worked for one driver, it just might work for another. Better keep your eyes on the S.D. Ireland #18 car this weekend, too. The NAPA Tiger Sportsman “King of the Road” crown has developed into a pattern recently. Ricky Dennis won in 1996, then Jimmy Young took back-to-back crowns. Dave Pembroke cashed in in 1999, then John Donahue went two-for-two. Joe Steffen was The Man in 2002, followed by Reno Gervais in the past two seasons. Notice the trend? Should Gervais repeat in 2005, he’ll become the first-ever three-time Tiger Sportsman champion, and only the second three-peat champion in Thunder Road history (Chuck Beede was the 1992, ’93, and ‘94 Late Model champ). In its first 45 seasons, Thunder Road has never seen a driver from Burlington, the largest city in Vermont, win a track championship in any division. South Burlington, however, can lay claim to 1970 and 1972 champion Bobby Giroux, and is currently represented by 2003 “Most Improved” Late Model driver Trampas Demers. Folks, it’s finally here, this weekend, the Seacoast Late Model Challenge 100 at Lee USA Speedway, Saturday and Sunday, April 23 and 24! The gloves will be off, and the Lee USA drivers will try to defend their home turf against the Tour cars. New clutches, new tires, new bodies, wild new qualifying and handicap systems, and yes, even a few unhappy drivers. We can’t think of a season opener that has created more controversy BEFORE the green flag falls than any other, can you? We’ve posted travel and lodging information on our website, and for any other questions, you can give us a call at (802) 244-6963 or send an e-mail to justin@acttour.com. __________________

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