NORTH WOODSTOCK, NH – Stock car driver Brent Dragon of Milton, VT took a hard-fought and emotional victory in the American-Canadian Tour “White Mountain 150” at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday night. Dragon, who dedicated his victory to fallen team member Mark Arsenault, battled a host of drivers during the entire distance before nailing down the eighth ACT win of his career.
Dragon’s Beverage Mart/Furniture World of Vermont Chevrolet started on the outside of the front row next to polesitter Ryan Vanasse of Warwick, RI. Both drivers worked from the rear of their qualifying heat races to earn a “+7” value in the ACT Late Model Tour’s unique “plus/minus” handicap qualifying system. Vanasse lead the first 94 laps, but faced strong challenges from Dragon, Eric Williams, Quinny Welch, Randy Potter, Scott Dragon, and point leader and defending ACT Late Model Tour Champion Jean-Paul Cyr. Heavy lapped traffic forced Vanasse to work the outside lane, where his car began to slip sideways.
Potter dove underneath Vanasse to take the lead on lap 95, but met a similar fate as Brent Dragon drove by to take over on lap 100. Dragon then fended off Potter, Cyr, and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. to grab the victory. With the help of many of friends, Cyr produced the biggest comeback of the season. A hard crash in qualifying with White Mountain Motorsports Park regulars Bernie Lantagne and Rick Thompson left Cyr’s car crippled. Thinking that the damage was too severe to repair, Cyr and car owner Rick Paya were ready to withdraw from the event. To their surprise, volunteers from eight different race teams went to work on Cyr’s Sticks & Stuff/Ehler’s RV Chevrolet, and the Milton, VT driver was able to qualify for the main event through the last-chance “B” feature. From there, he started 27th and flew through the field before finishing in third place. Cyr has now finished on the podium in each of the season’s first five events. No drivers were injured in the qualifying crash. Polewarczyk had an impressive drive from 19th at the start to earn his career-best finish in second, just ahead of Cyr. The 18 year-old Hudson, NH native, who graduated from Alvirne High School just three weeks ago, hung tough
in the outside lane for most of the White Mountain 150. Groveton, NH veteran Randy Potter earned his third top-five finish of the season as he eventually settled for fourth place. Milton, VT’s Scott Dragon finished fifth for his best run of the year. Scott Payea of Milton, VT, who entered the event second in ACT Late Model Tour point standings, finished sixth after starting 24th.
Quinny Welch of Lancaster, NH was the top-finishing White Mountain Motorsports Park regular in seventh. Vanasse faded to eighth place, ahead of Briantree, VT’s Kip Stockwell. Hyde Park, VT driver Eric Williams, who was Vanasse’s first challenger for the early lead, recovered from a lap 26 spin to round out the unofficial top ten finishers. The ACT Late Model Tour will be in action at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday, July 7.
Hometown racers from Oxford Plains Speedway’s Saturday night Late Model division will try to take their fifth victory over the ACT Late Model Tour stars in the Time Warner Cable 100. The race serves as the final tune-up for the $150,000 TD Banknorth 250 on Sunday, July 22. Green flag qualifying action for the Time Warner Cable 100 is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm. For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.acttour.com.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – White Mountain 150
ACT Late Model Tour – White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, NH
Satruday, June 30, 2007
Pos., Driver, Hometown, Laps Complete
1. Brent Dragon, Milton, VT, 150
2. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH, 150
3. Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, VT, 150
4. Randy Potter, Groveton, NH, 150
5. Scott Dragon, Milton, VT, 150
6. Scott Payea, Milton, VT, 150
7. Quinny Welch, Lancaster, NH, 150
8. Ryan Vanasse, Warwick, RI, 150
9. Kip Stockwell, Braintree, VT, 150
10. Eric Williams, Hyde Park, VT, 150
11. A.J. Begin, Merrimac, MA, 150
12. Stacy Cahoon, St. Johnsbury, VT, 150
13. Ron Henry, New Gloucester, ME, 150
14. Kendell Legendre, Danville, VT, 150
15. Mike Lavoie, Chicoutimi, QC, 150
16. Eric Chase, Milton, VT, 150
17. Dean Weber, Weare, NH, 150
18. Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville, VT, 150
19. Brian Hoar, Williston, VT, 150
20. Dan Colby, Lyman, NH, 149
21. Tyler Cahoon, Danville, VT, 149
22. Todd Aldrich, Plymouth, NH, 149
23. Donald Theetge, Boischatel, QC, 149
24. Roger Brown, II, Lancaster, NH, 149
25. Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, VT, 149
26. Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie, QC, 149
27. Marc Curtis, Jr., Worcester, MA, 148
28. Brockton Davis, Whitefield, NH, 125
29. Jeff Labrecque, Jr., Rochester, NH, 122
30. Ryan Nolin, Georgia, VT, 117