VALLÉE-JONCTION, QC – The field of 22 all-star Late Model stock car drivers has been set for the first-ever Coors Light 200 “Showdown at Chaudière” at Vallée-Jonction, QC’s Autodrome Chaudière on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 6:30pm. The $5,000-to-win, non-points invitational race will feature the best 11 drivers from the U.S.-based American-Canadian Tour Late Model series and the top 11 drivers from Canada’s Série ACT-Castrol.
Fronting “Team Canada” will be Série ACT-Castrol point leader Alexandre Gingras of Val-Bélair, QC.
Gingras was a main event winner at Autodrome Chaudière in 2007, and was the runner-up at the track’s Luminaire Napert 150 last month. Leading “Team USA” will be Scott Payea of Milton, VT, the ACT Late Model Tour point leader. Payea has multiple victories on American tracks at Thunder Road and White Mountain Motorsports Park, both very similar to Autodrome Chaudière.
Karl Allard of St-Félicien, QC won the Luminaire Napert 150 in August and ranks second in Série ACT-Castrol standings for Team Canada. Ironically, a Canadian driver, Montréal’s Patrick Laperle, ranks second in the ACT Late Model Tour and will represent the USA in the Coors Light 200. In six previous starts while running with the Castrol cars, Laperle has three top-five finishes at Chaudière.
The balance of Team Canada’s 11 drivers will be comprised of veterans Yvon Bédard and Claude Leclerc, Autodrome St-Félicien winner Jean-François Déry, Capital City Speedway winner Martin Lacombe, top rookie Patrick Hamel, consistent top-five threat Dany Ouellet, sophomore drivers Jonathan Desbiens and Stéphane Durand, and rookie Spencer MacPherson of Carleton Place, ON.
Team USA’s roster is filled by seven-time ACT Late Model Tour champion Jean-Paul Cyr, and fellow Vermont drivers John Donahue, Brent Dragon, Scott Dragon, rookie Nick Sweet, and Pete Potvin, New Hampshire racers Randy Potter and young Joey “Pole” Polewarczyk, Jr., and another Québec driver, Donald Theetge. Theetge, 12th in ACT Late Model Tour points and a Série ACT-Castrol event winner at Autodrome Chaudière in June, is on the team as the first alternate. Maine’s Glen Luce, currently eighth in ACT Late Model Tour standings, has withdrawn his entry for the event.
The Coors Light 200 “Showdown at Chaudière” will pay $5,000 to the race winner and $1,000 to the last-place (22nd) finisher. In addition, Goodyear Tire has posted a “team” prize of four free ACT-legal race tires to each driver on the winning team. A scoring system will be in place, with the winner receiving one point for his team, the second place finisher receiving two points for his team, and so on. The 11-man team with the lowest combined total will win the Goodyear award, valued at more than $5,000.
General admission for the Coors Light 200 “Showdown at Chaudière” is $30 (CAN) for adults, $15 for students (13-17), and $5 for children (5-12). Racing action begins at 6:30pm on Saturday, Sept. 6. Autodrome Chaudière is located on Route 122 Ouest (West) in Vallée-Jonction, QC, just minutes from Thetford Mines. For more information, call ACT at (802) 244-6963 or visit www.acttour.com or www.laserieactcastrol.com. For lodging,
directions, and other information, visit www.autodromechaudiere.com/showdown2008/.