Waterbury, VT – Noted racing columnist ‘Big’ Bigelow from the Caledonia Record, a daily paper from St. Johnsbury, VT, has won the first round of the ACT Invitational Media Contest. Ironically, Bigelow picked Canadian Patrick Laperle in the final bonus race this past weekend, the Fall Foliage 300, to beat out Toronto, Ontario’s Evan Towle from the CanadianRacingOnLine.com. The five bonus points were the margin of victory for the winner. “People pretty much know me as a ‘stats freak’. I guess this time my fun with facts and figures paid off for me. It has been fun to watch each week to see if I could climb the ladder to the top, and now, I guess my next job will be to pick the winner of the Invitational”, said Bigelow.

 

Bigelow competed against nearly three dozen members of the media who entered the ACT Invitational last April, just prior to the start of the season. Media members had to pick 36 teams from across all of New England and the Quebec and Ontario provinces of Canada. In addition, they were required to pick from 12 ‘bonus’ point events held on the ACT Tour, the Série ACT Castrol, and special events including the Oxford Plains’ TD Bank 250, the Governor’s Cup 150 at Thunder Road, and the Wiscasset Speedway Center of Speed 300. By picking Laperle in the Fall Foliage 300, he broke the tie to sit on top of a crowded score sheet among over two dozen Northeast racing media members.

 

Bigelow has won a week’s family vacation to the Steele Hill Resort in Sanbornton, NH during the next 12 months. Part two of the Invitational becomes a little more difficult. Pick the Winner of the Invitational and win a fully paid trip for two to the Sprint Cup Chase event at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway being held this October. Bigelow and other media members who finished in the top 12 standings now have to pick this Saturday’s inaugural winner of the ACT Invitational. Bigelow will have an ace up his sleeve as any tie breaker will be broken by ‘first round’ standings.

 

The final field of twelve has been expanded as there was a tie in the standings from 12th through 16th. Entry forms will be sent to eligible media members on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. The winner of the Grand Prize trip to Charlotte, NC will be announced immediately following the ACT Invitational Saturday evening at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

 

 

 

 

ACT INVITATIONAL MEDIA STANDINGS (Round I)

 

(eligible to ‘Pick the Winner’ for Grand Prize)

 

  1. Big Bigelow           Caledonia Record                240

  2. Evan Towle           CanadianRacingOnLine         235

  3. Norm Cote            Late Model Digest                        230

  4. Gene Gagne          Outside Groove                   230

  5. Kevin Provencher  NH Union Leader                         230

  6. Jim Carson            Late Model Digest                        225

  7. Lee Elder              Goodyear Public Relations     225

  8. Steve Poulin          Newport Daily Express          225

  9. Mickey Smith                Morrisville New & Citizen       225

10. Mark Thomas                Racin’ Paper                       225

11. Alan Ward             News & Citizen/Racin’ Paper 225

12. Melissa, Betty                St Albans Messenger            220

13. Grearson, Anna      Times Argus                       220

14. Kaufman, Josh       St Albans Messenger            220

15. Michaels, TJ          WORK – FM                                220

16. Lou Modestino       The Enterprise                    220


 

 

The ACT Invitational invited roster:

 

Car#   State  Name             Hometown                Track/Series 

  6        VT    Cris Michaud         Williamstown, VT   ACT/TR

  7        ME    Glen Luce             Turner, ME            ACT

  8        NH    Guy Caron            Goshen, NH          Twin State

  9        ON    Brandon Watson   Stayner, ON          Kawartha Downs

10        NH   Ben Rowe             Turner, ME            ACT

11        VT    Jean Paul Cyr        Milton, VT              Thunder Road

11        RI    Ryan Vanasse        Warwick, RI           Seekonk

14        VT    Phil Scott               Middlesex, VT        Thunder Road

14        ON   Sean Kennedy       Dunrobin, On        Capital City

15        VT   Joey Laquerre        Barre, VT                ACT/TR 

17        MA   Eddie MacDonald    Rowley, MA          ACT

18        VT    Jamie Fisher          Shelburne, VT        ACT/TR

21        QC   Jean Francois Déry Quebec City, QC   ACT Castrol

26        VT    John Donahue        Graniteville, VT     ACT/TR

27        MA   Wayne Helliwell, Jr  Dracut, MA           Lee USA

35        CT    Bruce Thomas       Groton, CT            Waterford

37        VT    Brian Hoar             Williston, VT         ACT

40        VT    Eric Chase             Milton, VT             ACT/TR

44        VT    Dave Pembroke      Montpelier, VT      Thunder Road

47       CT    Tim Jordan            Plainfield, CT          Waterford

48      QC    Karl Allard              Ste Felicien, QC      ACT Castrol

51       ME    Ricky Rolfe            Albany Twnshp, ME  ACT

55      VT     Brent Dragon        Milton, VT                ACT

55      NH    Brad Leighton        Center Harbor, NH   ACT

71      ON    Dan McHattie        Cavan, On               Kawartha Downs

73      ME    Joey Doiron           Berwick, ME             ACT

80      QC    Donald Theetge     Quebec, City, QC     ACT Castrol

88      VT     Nick Sweet             Barre, VT                ACT/TR

89      VT     Scott Payea           Milton, VT                ACT

91      QC    Patrick Laperle       Montreal, QC           ACT Castrol

94      ME    Shawn Martin        Turner, ME              Oxford Plains

97      NH     Joey Polewarczyk   Hudson, NH             ACT

03      ME     Travis Adams         Canton, ME             Oxford Plains

02      NH     Randy Potter                   Groveton, NH          ACT

04      ME     TJ Watson             Cundy’s Harbor, ME Wiscasset

 

The ACT Invitational will take place at 5:30 on Saturday, September 19, 2009. Tickets for NASCAR ‘Chase’ weekend, including the ACT Invitational, can be obtained by logging on to www.nhms.com. For additional information on the ACT Invitational check the American Canadian Tour website at www.acttour.com