By Lou Modestino
It was day one of the two day affair at Oxford Plains Speedway, known as P.A.S.S. Championship Weekend. On this night, the Oxford Acceleration Series took center stage with four divisions in action on Ripley and Fletcher Ford night. Winners included Kyle Hewins, Nate Dubuc, Chad Binette, and Rachel Dubois.
The premiere division of the night was the 50 lap Outlaw feature event. By virtue of the heads-up start format Kyle Hewins started on the pole and never wavered the entire event. Hewins was dogged for more than 30 laps by Troy Jordan and Jonah Farrington. With five laps to go Jordan dove underneath Hewins in turn three and looked to make the pass, but unfortunately a lapped car spun directly in front of the leaders, and Jordan, with nowhere to go, crashed his mount out of the feature event. On the restart, Hewins got the jump and never looked back. Chris Burgess raced home second ahead of Kyle Treadwell, Farrington and Matt Dufault. Heat checkers flew for Hewins and Farrington.
The Runnin’ Rebels also put on a nail biter of a show as three cars came under the checkers nose to tail. Nate Dubuc held off all challengers to score the win over Jamie Heath, Jeff Walker, Robert Landers and Dustin Sally. Unfortunately for Heath, he was DQ’d for a ride height infraction, thus moving everyone up a spot, and Mike Carver was awarded fifth place. Preliminary rounds were won by Dubuc and Heath.
The Sport Trucks had a wild finish, as with five laps remaining, a lapped truck pulled out of the pits in front of the leaders sending Corey Williams over the top of turn three. As he got sideways, the truck flipped a couple of times ending William’s chance for the win. Chad Binette picked up the victory over Brian Darling, Matt Curtis, Christopher Knox and Ryan Farrar. Heat wins went to Cassi Martin and Brian Darling.
The Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Ladies division feature event was dominated by Rachel Dubois. She survived a couple of restarts for minor spins to score the impressive victory. Missy Morgan slipped by Ladies champion, Dottie Patria with four laps remaining to nail down the runner-up spot. Deanna Bisbee and Kaley Boucher completed the top five. Bisbee won the lone qualifier.
Alex Labbe of St. Albert, Quebec won the 39th annual American Canadian Fall Foliage 200 at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY on Sunday, September 28, 2013. Labbe became the spoiler in the season-long championship title bout between defending Champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. of Dover, NH and contender Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH.
Polewarczyk took the lead on lap 34 and led the most laps, held off numerous challenges from Labbe until lap 186 when the fourth and final caution of the day flew for a major wreck involving Helliwell, Jonathan Bouvrette, and shuffled many cars, including Polewarczyk.
Labbe led the final 16 laps, while Polewarczyk had to contend with a hard-charging Brian Hoar for 2nd place. Helliwell pitted after the 186 damage, and nursed his car to finish as the last car on the lead lap, finishing ninth (9th), and his pre-race 41-point lead ended up unofficially at 16 points securing his second ACT Championship.
Brian Hoar finished 3rd, 3-time Airborne Champion Brent Dragon finished 4th, and Steuben, Maine’s Rowland Robinson, Jr. had a career-best finish, rounding out the top 5.
ACT competitors will next return for the 51st running of the People’s United Bank Milk Bowl which will take place next weekend, October 5th and 6th, 2013 at the home track of the American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, in Barre, VT.
Unofficial finishing order:
1. 48QC Alex Labbe 200 laps
2. 97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. 200 laps
3. 37VT Brian Hoar 200 laps
4. 55VT Brent Dragon 200 laps
5. 28ME Rowland Robinson, Jr. 200 laps
6. 5VT Bobby Therrien 200 laps
7. 17RI Ray Parent 200 laps
8. 7NC Ben Lynch 200 laps
9. 27NH Wayne Helliwell, Jr. 200 laps
10. 27VT David Pembroke 199 laps
11. 9ME Emily Packard 199 laps
12. 4NY Brandon Atkins 199 laps
13. 40VT Eric Chase 199 laps
14. 32 VT Jean Cyr 198 laps
15. 11NY Josh Masterson 198 laps
16. 7NY Nick Lagoy 197 laps
17. 34NH Todd Davis 197 laps
18. 16VT Joey Becker 197 laps
19. 78QC Stephane Descoste 197 laps
20. 18VT Jamie Fisher 196 laps
21. 1NY Greg Atkins 196 laps
22. 77MA Jimmy Linardy 196 laps
23. 21NY Dave Rabtoy 194 laps
24. 25NY Kevin Boutin, Jr. 194 laps
25. 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette 181 laps
26. 11QC Claude Leclerc 173 laps
27. 16ME Travis Stearns 134 laps
28. 58VT Jimmy Hebert 113 laps
Eddie Brehio III and Ed Lofland capped their championship seasons with feature wins Saturday, Sept. 28, at Monadnock Speedway. Brehio, in fact won twice at the high-banked speedplant’s season finale, topping the other four NASCAR Weekly Racing Series track champions in the traditional season-ending Great School Bus Race.
Other winners on the night included Sportsman Modified strongman Adam Norton; Mini Stock ace Mike Stebbins; Young Guns whiz Chris Lawrence; and Lightning Stock rocket Josh Houle.
Rob Richardi completed his perfect Monadnock season in the visiting Pro-4 Modifieds, sweeping all four events this summer on the high banks. Former Monadnock racer Ben Byrne thrilled the huge crowd as he won the Spectator Race in his souped-up 40-something pickup, and Paul Laplante topped the Vintage Outlaw 20-lapper.
Adam Norton, from the pole, led all the way in the Sportsman Modified 50-lapper, with rookie Alyssa Rivera chasing him around the track at a furious pace for the first seven laps, until 2013 track champ Bill Kimball rocketed into the deuce spot on lap eight.
For the next 42 laps, the two would battle, often bumper-to-bumper, until they clanged heavily on the final go-round, with Norton holding on to claim his sixth win of the season. Dan Stebbins was solid all night to claim a strong third-place finish, with Nathan Johnson and Steve Fifield coming home fourth and fifth.
Dave Striebel set the pace for the first eight laps of the Super Stock feature, giving up the point to Eddie Brehio III on a lap-nine restart. Brehio immediately pulled away from the field, with Striebel holding the deuce spot until Tom Carey III muscled past him on lap 26.
Striebel was a strong third until getting booted along the backchute on lap 29, with Geoff Rollins charging into second on the ensuing restart. With Rollins trying to reel Brehio in, Carey and John Lavoie battled wheel-to-wheel the final two laps, with Carey prevailing for third.
The win was Brehio’s second in as many events, and the third of his championship season. With Rollins and Carey rounding out the top three, Lavoie came home fourth, and Dennis Stange claimed the five-spot.
Mike Stebbins wired the caution-free Mini Stock 35-lapper, earning his fifth victory of the summer, and second in as many weeks. And like the previous one, he had track champion Beth Adams glued to his bumper much of the way. Adams and Stebbins soared under the flags in a dead heat on lap 27, with Stebbins able to again gain a small advantage and hold Adams in his shadow the rest of the way. Eric Pomasko raced in the top three all night, claiming his second trophy in as many weeks in third. Julia Raymond and Kim Rivet rounded out the top five.
Chris Lawrence and Matt Kimball raced tight all the way in the Young Guns event, with Lawrence prevailing by half a length to claim his fourth win of the season. Cameron Sontag completed his good night’s work in third, with Joel Monahan and Dylan Stebbins rounding out the top five.
Dickie Houle led lap one of the Lightning Stock feature, then watching his nephew Josh rocket past him and check out on the field. The younger Houle won by half a lap, winning the only two events he entered this season. Tim O’Shea outran the rest of the 24-car field to come home second, followed under the flags by Dickie Houle, Craig Chaffee, and Matt Somerville.
Ed Lofland punctuated his Thunder Stock championship season by taking command on lap four and dominating the rest of the way to claim his sixth victory of the year. Newcomer Scott Vien was strong all night to claim second, with Bryan Town third, Joe Ethier fourth, and Paul Barnard fifth.
Rob Richardi wired the Pro-4 Modified feature. Andy Major and Robin Berghman were second and third on the night, with Derek Robbie taking the checkers first in the club’s Limited division.
Saturday’s event concluded the speedway’s 2013 oval track racing season. Monadnock Speedway’s final Mud Bog event of the year, the Mudslinger Spooktacular, will be held on October 20, with action beginning at noon.
Quebec’s Patrick Laperle and the “Outlaw” Eddie MacDonald from Rowley, MA are the latest entries in the 51st Peoples United Bank Milk Bowl, to be held at Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6, 2013.
Newly crowned ACT Champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. from Dover, NH and his Bruce Bernhardt team have withdrawn their entry from the event. “Our sponsor backed out so we don’t have the money to make the Milk Bowl weekend,” the 2013 Champion said.
Laperle is a three-time winner of the ‘toughest short track’ race in North America and will seek his 4th win in the fall classic on Sunday, October 6, 2013. When the hard charging three time Série ACT and 2008 ACT US Champion was asked why he was coming to this year’s Milk Bowl, Laperle said, “The money! Ten Thousand ($10,000.00) to win is a lot of money. I am excited to try out the new American Racer tire too.”
MacDonald, fresh off his third Bond Auto ACT Invitational win at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway two weeks ago, will look for his first win when he tackles the high banks at the ‘Nations Site of Excitement’.
The Booth Bros. /Hood qualifying day is Saturday, October 5, 2013. All teams will qualify under the clock for starting positions in the traditional triple 50 lap qualifying races to be held Saturday. Thunder Road’s Bond Auto Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stocks will also have the unique experience of time trial qualifying for the ‘mini Milk Bowls’ to be held on Sunday, October 6, 2013.
Thirty teams will make up the starting grid on the tricky quarter mile on top of Quarry Hill and will compete in three 50-lap dashes, with the final two segments inverted. Combined lowest scores of the three segments will win over $10,000.00 and hoist the milk can trophy before kissing the ‘beauty queen’, a genuine Vermont Ayrshire dairy cow.
Gates will open both days at 10am. Post time each day is 1:00. Adult tickets for the Peoples United Milk Bowl are $30 for two days and $25 for Sunday only. Kids 12 and under are admitted free of charge.
The Peoples United Bank Milk Bowl at Thunder Road on Sunday, October 6, 2013 will welcome back nine (9) former champions of the prestigious event, billed as the ‘toughest short track race in North America’. Between the nine former champions who will compete in the 51st running of the Milk Bowl is a group of champions who have earned the right to lift the legendary milk can 15 times.
Eight (8) time ACT Champion Brian Hoar from Williston, VT and four (4) time ACT Champion Patrick Laperle (three Série ACT and one US title) each have won the race three (3) times and will be looking to tie Robbie Crouch’s record of four (4) Milk Bowl victories. “It really is unique in racing. First, it’s not 150 or 200 laps of straight racing. Next, it is Thunder Road, which is a challenge in any race, and finally, there are going to be 20-plus ‘regular weekly’ Thunder Road teams who race 50-lap segments every Thursday night. All these factors make it a very tough race. I love it. It is old-fashioned, get-up-on-the-wheel, hold-your-breath and hang on,” said Hoar.
When Laperle was asked why he put the Peoples United Bank Milk Bowl on his reduced schedule this year, Laperle answered, “Well, to be sure, I want to try out the new American Racer tires; also, my fans and team really enjoy camping at Thunder Road. The Milk Bowl is very, very tough to win. It takes a lot of luck, but the best part is it pays $10,000!”
Vermont favorites Phil Scott and David Pembroke are two long-time regular Thunder Road racers who will be there. Scott has won three Thunder Road championships and Pembroke has two “King of the Road” titles. They both have two Milk Bowl championships to their credit. Jean-Paul Cyr is another favorite with both a Thunder Road track title and a Milk Bowl win.
Tour regulars Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. from Hudson, NH and Brent Dragon from Milton, VT will each look for a second win. John Donahue from Graniteville, VT and three-time Thunder Road Champion Cris Michaud have each won the honor to kiss the cow in the Milk Bowl victory lane.
Post time is 1:00 Saturday for Booth Bros./Hood Qualifying with time trials, followed by triple 50-lap qualifying races. Bond Auto Tigers and Allen Lumber Street Stock divisions will also have mini Milk Bowl qualifying and first segments on Saturday. Sunday the action begins at 1:00pm. Tickets can be purchased for just $30 for two days and General Admission is just $25 for an adult ticket on Sunday. Kids 12 and under are free.6