{"id":1419,"date":"2010-04-28T01:21:42","date_gmt":"2010-04-28T01:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maineracer.com\/wp\/?p=1419"},"modified":"2010-04-28T01:21:42","modified_gmt":"2010-04-28T01:21:42","slug":"ford-blue-oval-challenge-winners-share-bumps-up-to-5000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2010\/04\/ford-blue-oval-challenge-winners-share-bumps-up-to-5000\/","title":{"rendered":"FORD BLUE OVAL CHALLENGE WINNERS SHARE BUMPS UP TO $5000"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> Waterbury, VT<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> \u2013 The American Canadian  Tour (ACT) announced today that the highly anticipated Ford Blue Oval  Challenge winner\u2019s share of the overall point fund has been increased from $3,000 up to $5,000 to win.\u00a0 A lucrative Ford contingency program was announced late last fall for the teams on both the ACT US and Castrol programs.  Also, all Ford teams running at approved affiliate ACT tracks will be eligible to  receive bonus money in the Blue Oval Challenge Cup portion of the overall  program. Mike Delahanty, the Program Manager-Sportsman Circle Track Racing for the  Ford Racing Technology Division of Ford Racing, announced last February the  program for ACT Ford competitors. It is one of the richest contingency programs  in the history of ACT with over $35,000 up for grabs among the region\u2019s Ford crate teams.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\" \/><br \/>\n<br \/><!--more--><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u201cI know all the Ford teams that are associated with ACT are very appreciative of the support  Ford Racing has given those teams that are supporting them,\u201d said ACT President Tom Curley. \u201cWe have at least 10 teams that will be receiving  points for this program in the 2010 season in both Tour racing and weekly  racing. The jump from $3,000 to win the inaugural Blue Oval Challenge Cup to $5,000 certainly speaks to Ford\u2019s commitment to short track racing in our region,\u201d finished Curley.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Over the past couple  of years, the Ford-powered S347JR was researched and developed by Ford  racing with assistance from Butler &#038; MacMaster Engines from Hallowell, ME. \u201cWe are excited to be part of the ACT Ford racing program,\u201d said Dave MacMaster, the chief architect and the single individual most  responsible for the 10-year success of the ACT GM type crate revolution, which has now  become popular across the entire country. \u201cWhen you look at the high caliber  ACT teams that have taken on the Ford crates going into 2010, I think that  is a very healthy sign for short track racing in our neck of the woods,\u201d concluded MacMaster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">High profile teams  like three-time Thunder Road Speedbowl Champion Cris Michaud from  Williamstown, VT and fellow Vermonter, 50-year veteran Joey Laquerre from Barre, VT, will  be joined by young superstar Joey Polewarczyk from Hudson, NH, and Lee USA defending track champion Wayne Helliwell, Jr. from Dracut MA. Also  making the switch to Ford in 2010 are two former Maine champions, Glen Luce from  Turner and noted car builder and nine-time Oxford Plains Champion Jeff Taylor from Norridgewock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">This Sunday the 12th  Annual Merchants Bank 150 opens the ACT and Thunder Road 2010 seasons. The Ford  teams will get their first chance to pick up a $500 dollar Ford bonus with a  win, and they can make history as the first Ford ever to win an ACT Tour event&#8212;  <em>(Michaud won the first ever ACT Ford crate feature race at Thunder Road during  the 2009 season). <\/em>Posted awards total over $27,000 and over 60 teams from  throughout the northeast and provinces of Ontario and Quebec are expected to  attempt to qualify for thirty starting spots. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The winner will also  be the first of the year to earn an invitation to compete at the New Hampshire  Motor Speedway in the second ACT Invitational over the NASCAR Cup Chase  weekend in September. Class day begins at 1:00 with post time scheduled for 1:30.<em> <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For additional  information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.acttour.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.acttour.com<\/a>, or <a href=\"mailto:media@acttour.com\" target=\"_blank\">media@acttour.com<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Waterbury, VT \u2013 The American Canadian Tour (ACT) announced today that the highly anticipated Ford Blue Oval Challenge winner\u2019s share of the overall point fund has been increased from $3,000 up to $5,000 to win.\u00a0 A lucrative Ford contingency program was announced late last fall for the teams on both the ACT US and Castrol [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-canadian-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}