May 13, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Nick Sweet celebrates his wins in victory lane at the 18th Annual Merchants Bank 150 – (Alan Ward photo)
Waterbury, VT – Nick Sweet from Barre, VT has two “King of the Road” titles at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl. The hometown hero has also won 19 races, which ties him with newly appointed Thunder Road Race Director Cris Michaud. Michaud had three track championship titles during his career in the highly competitive Late Model division.
“There is not much question that Nick is as good as there is at Thunder Road. I am sure he will win some more titles, and certainly a lot more major races. Doing what he did last Sunday is really unusual at T-Road. He won the Merchant’s Bank 150 with a ‘perfect’ score, winning his heat, leading a lap, leading the most laps, and winning the race. He received every point available at an ACT touring event. The Malone Property team jumped from 10th place to 2nd in the standings after three races,” said Michaud.
He goes into the Airborne Spring Green just twelve (12) points out of the American Canadian Tour point lead held by Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg, VT. After three races, the top teams span only a total of 59 points from first to tenth.
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May 10, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News
photo by RPM 360
By Dick Casey
Eddie MacDonald battled a tight race car on Sunday, May 8 in the 18th Annual Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vermont to post an eighth place finish in the American Canadian tour’s race at the famed speedway. The event originally scheduled for last weekend but postponed due to rain, was again delayed by morning rain and blustery cold weather prevailed throughout the day.
“I don’t really know what happened to the car during the race,” said Eddie Mac. “We were really happy with it in practice and in the heat. Even during last Saturday’s practice here, we felt like the car was going good and we would have solid shot at the win. I don’t know if it was the cold or something else but the car was tight right from the start of the race and just didn’t have any speed.”
Eddie Mac drew the sixth starting position in the second heat but actually started second when cars in front of the Rowley, Mass. veteran dropped out. The Exit Realty/Hancock Electric Chevy easily won the heat earning a plus one rating forcing a 12th place start in the feature with Eddie Mac saying, “We started on the outside and there were a number of cars in front of us that just couldn’t run out there. I fell back in the pack and with the car not handling, it just kept getting worse. It was a struggle during the race to get the car going.”
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May 10, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – With a week delay and Mother Nature not wanting to play nice, Emily Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team braved the cold temperatures and some back luck at Thunder Road on Sunday afternoon, bringing the car home in twenty-second. “We were unsure for a while if we were even going to get the show in or not,” said Packard. “The car was handling great for the first half of the race, but we just had some bad luck towards the end. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the finish we hoped for and it doesn’t show how good the car really was.”
Waiting out the rain, the American Canadian Tour late models finally hit the track about 2pm for the first of 2 practices. “We were able to get a little bit of practice in so we could make adjustments, but it was so cold and miserable today,” Packard said. “The car wasn’t initially handling very good in practice, but it was progressively getting better. On the last run of practice the car was awesome, but we came in for a tire change and the car just went bad again.”
With weather continuing to threaten, Emily would start in the first heat from the seventh position. “The heat race was a little brutal,” said Packard, “we just really didn’t have anything out there.” Halfway through the race the East Montpelier native has lost a position and would finish the 15 lap race in the eighth position forcing her to run the consolation race to try to get into the feature.
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May 10, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News
Race began in 1974 at Catamount Stadium
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will travel to Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY for the annual Spring Green Championship Stock Car race this Saturday night, May 14. The race began at Catamount Stadium in Milton, VT back in 1974 with 74 laps, and each year has added a lap. Upon the closing of Catamount in 1987, the race was moved to SANAIR Super Speedway in Ste Pie, Quebec for the 1988 edition. Robbie Crouch won his only Spring Green at SANAIR. 1989 was the only year there was no Spring Green race run. Returning in 1990, the race was moved to Airborne Speedway, which holds a record for most Spring Green events, with a total of twenty-two (22). The only other location of the event was three events held at Devil’s Bowl Speedway from its asphalt opening in 2012 thru 2014.
The Spring Green was an Open Competition for Late Models for the first 5 years when it was held at Catamount from 1974-1978. When the NASCAR North Tour was created in 1979, as the opening event of one of just a handful of touring series in the US and Canada at the time, the traditional season opener was the Spring Green at Catamount, until its closing in 1986.
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May 9, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Touring Series News
duels with Jimmy Hebert (58VT) and Scott Payea (37VT) on his way to victory in the Merchants Bank 150. (Alan Ward photo)
Barre, VT – Local racer Nick Sweet fended off Williamstown’s Jimmy Hebert on a trio of late restarts to win the 18th American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Merchants Bank 150 at Barre’s Thunder Road on Sunday, May 8.
Sweet, driving the #40VT Mad Dog Motorsports Chevrolet in place of his familiar #88VT Buick, first took the lead from Brook Clark on lap 14 and dominated the middle stages of the race. But a series of late spins allowed Hebert to draw alongside, and the former Tiger Sportsman track champion nosed ahead following restarts on laps 133 and 143.
But the two-time Thunder Road “King of the Road” was able to come back each time, and he easily cleared Hebert on the race’s final restart with three laps to go. Sweet became the second three-time winner of the Merchants Bank 150.
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May 4, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, GSPSS, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Touring Series News
Local Stars Looking to Make Noise at Thunder Road on Sunday. (Alan Ward Photo)
Barre, VT—With the 18th running of the Merchants Bank 150 rescheduled for Sunday May 8, there are plenty of local race teams with hopes of carrying the checkered flag around the high banked ¼ mile oval. The American Canadian Tour (ACT) race is expecting well over 40 Late Models trying to qualify for just 26 starting spots at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement”.
Hinesburg, VT’s Bobby Therrien currently holds the top spot in the ACT Points Championship race, with defending three-time Champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. just 2 points behind. Barre’s Nick Sweet, Emily Packard of Berlin, VT and Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown, VT are all regular Competitors on the ACT Tour who started their racing careers at Thunder Road. Of this group, Sweet has had the most success earning the “King of the Road“ title in 2010, 2012, and finishing as the runner-up in 2015, to go along with his four feature victories last season. The 21 year-old Hebert has also won a track Championship on the high banks, claiming the Flying Tiger Sportsman Division in 2009, and the 19 year-old Packard who finished fourth in the ACT Points Championship last season would love to get her first ACT win at her home track.
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