Nick Sweet: ACT Late Model Tour
Oxford Plains Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Nick Sweet of Barre, Vt., makes his RPM Motorsports debut as the ACT Late Model Tour competes in the Q 97.9 ACT 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, on Saturday, August 20. Sweet, the reigning Thunder Road International Speedbowl track champion and 2008 ACT Rookie of the Year, will be driving for his third team in 2011. He enters the week on a hot streak of sorts at Oxford after finishing second in this year’s TD Bank Oxford 250 as the runner-up to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch.
THE FACTS
WHO: Nick Sweet, Barre, Vt.
TEAM: RPM Motorsports No. 57 RPM Racing Engines Ford
CREW CHIEF: Andrew Hill, Georgia, Vt.
BEST CAREER OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY FINISH: 2nd (September 2008)
LAST RACE AT OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY: 2nd (September 2008)
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour Q 97.9 ACT 150
WHERE: Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, August 20
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
LAST RACE: August 13, ACT All-Star Challenge, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (1st)
NEXT RACE: August 27, ACT 200, Riverside Speedway, St. Croix, Que. (.625-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
NICK Sweet won the 2010 “King Of The Road” title at Thunder Road International Speedbowl.
RPM Motorsports has seven ACT Late Model Tour championships, and current RPM driver Brian Hoar has 32 career victories – the most by any driver in Tour history.
Nick Sweet won the Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road back in May, the second event of the season for the ACT Late Model Tour while driving for his own team.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
NICK SWEET, Driver of the No. 57 RPM Racing Engines Ford, on joining RPM Motorsports this weekend: “I’m ecstatic. I can’t wait. I just went there (to the RPM shop) to go see the cars and get fitted in the car, and it was all about getting comfortable. Comfort’s key. (Team owner Rick Paya) is super-detail oriented. Hopefully we can give them a good run.”
On heading to Oxford Plains Speedway this weekend: “I have a knack for that place. It’s a place where you feel like you’re going slow when you’re going fast. There’s a lot of guys that haven’t figured that out yet. Every time I get there, I get better about not over-driving the entry to the corners, and it’s a really, really hard thing to do.
“I’m very confident about going to Oxford. It’s a place that I’ve got some experience.”
On his goals for the weekend at Oxford: “I’ve never really thought about it. People ask about goals, and you give the cookie-cutter answers – the first goal is make the race, the second goal is to finish wherever. But really, when you get into the feature, you know what you have for a car.
“Yeah, obviously, your goal is to go out and win the race. I think we’re capable of that here. That’s realistic. The biggest thing is comfort – and if we have that, look out.”
BRIAN HOAR, Driver of the No. 37 GossCars.com Dodge, On having Nick Sweet as a teammate at RPM Motorsports this weekend: “I’m excited. Nick gets around Oxford really well. I think his feedback will be really good for the team. It just seems like in the last three years when he’s shown up for the (Oxford) 250, he’s been really fast.”
RICK PAYA, Owner of the No. 57 RPM Racing Engines Ford, On having Nick Sweet drive the car this weekend: “I watched him come up through the ranks, from Street Stocks through (Sportsman cars) and Late Models the last few years. He’s an excellent driver. He was our first candidate. I have a lot of respect for him. He takes care of equipment, and he gets the most out of it, too. That’s the part I like about him – I like how aggressive he is when he needs to be.
“He and his whole family are just super people. It’s a perfect fit for us, it really is.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads north to Riverside Speedway in St. Croix, Que., for the ACT 200 on Saturday, August 27… RPM Motorsports is the defending champions of an event that was marred by cautions last season and eventually shortened to 171 laps by a local curfew.
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