{"id":14709,"date":"2015-05-04T21:17:53","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T01:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maineracing.com\/wp\/?p=14709"},"modified":"2015-05-04T21:17:53","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T01:17:53","slug":"babb-scores-emotional-first-act-win-in-merchants-bank-150","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/2015\/05\/babb-scores-emotional-first-act-win-in-merchants-bank-150\/","title":{"rendered":"Babb Scores Emotional First ACT Win in Merchants Bank 150"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alan

Alan Ward photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Barre, VT<\/em>\u2014Brad Babb came into the season looking for his first career American-Canadian Tour victory. He and his Joey Laquerre\u2013owned team earned it in perhaps the most dramatic way possible on Sunday, May 3.<\/p>\n

Babb took the lead from Scott Dragon with 18 laps to go and went on to win the Merchants Bank 150 at Barre, VT\u2019s Thunder Road. The win came following a pre-race tribute to Laquerre\u2019s late grandson Joey M. Laquerre, leading to an emotional celebration in Victory Lane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t believe we won at Thunder Road,\u201d Windham, ME\u2019s Babb said. \u201cIt means the world to me. I can\u2019t even describe it. This is 100% for Lil Joey. I couldn\u2019t do it without Big Joey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond words,\u201d the elder Laquerre added. \u201cWe\u2019re so excited about it. It\u2019s duly needed. If Lil Joey was here, he\u2019d be very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time defending \u201cKing of the Road\u201d Derrick O\u2019Donnell starting on the pole and lead 25 of the first 26 laps, with ACT Tour point Leader Wayne Helliwell Jr. nosing ahead for a single circuit following a lap 5 restart. However, O\u2019Donnell fell off the pace following the race\u2019s second and final restart on lap 26 with an apparent suspension problem and retired soon after.<\/p>\n

Milton, VT\u2019s Dragon came to life on the same restart and swung around Helliwell\u2019s outside to take the lead on lap 33, only to see Graniteville, VT\u2019s Chip Grenier perform the same move on him seven laps later. Grenier darted out to a big lead, but lapped traffic helped to make it a four car race between Grenier, Dragon, Helliwell, and Babb.<\/p>\n

Grenier, who had been rim-riding the outside, slipped up in turns 1 and 2 on lap 108 and allowed Dragon to retake the lead. Babb followed through soon after and methodically tracked down Dragon, eventually getting underneath him for the win. Babb also became the first driver to claim the Bond Auto Parts New Champions \u201cBreakout Award\u201d for winning an event and unofficially took the lead in the New Champions point standings.<\/p>\n

Helliwell caught Dragon in the final laps for second, while Dragon settled for third. Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Grenier, Emily Packard, Brandon Atkins, Travis Stearns, Tyler Cahoon, and Cody Blake rounded out the top-10.<\/p>\n

Christopher Pelkey scored a dominating victory in the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsman feature. The S. Barre, VT driver started on the pole and was never seriously challenged in the 35-lap event en route to his fifth career Tiger win.<\/p>\n

Former Champion \u201cDouble-O\u201d Joe Steffen finished second, with Mike Martin in third. Doug Crownshield inherited the fourth spot after Camoron Ouellette was disqualified for a suspension violation. Caleb Nelson, Dylan Payea, Eric Johnson, Jason Woodard, Stephen Donahue, and Jeffrey Bousquet completed the top-10.<\/p>\n

Tyler Austin scored his second career victory in the 25-lap Allen Lumber Street Stock feature. Austin, sporting a paint scheme in tribute to Joey M. Laquerre, took the lead early and drove away to the win. Patrick Tibbetts finished second, followed by Gary Mullen, Jamon Perry, Brandon Gray, Jaden Perry, Donny Yates, David Whitcomb, Chris LaForest, and Alan Maynard.<\/p>\n

The ACT Tour has a week off before heading to Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY on Saturday, May 16<\/span><\/span> for the Spring Green 115. Post time is 5:00pm<\/span><\/span>. Thunder Road returns to action on Sunday, May 24<\/span><\/span> for the 53rd<\/sup> Annual Mekkelsen RV Memorial Day Classic, featuring a 100-lap event for the Thunder Road Late Models and a 150-lap event for the Pro All Star Series Super Late Models. Post time that day will be 1:30pm<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

MERCHANTS BANK 150 \u2013 MAY 3, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pos, Start Pos, <\/strong>Driver, Hometown, Laps <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. ( 4 ) Brad Babb , Windham, ME , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  2. ( 2 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. , Dover, NH , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  3. ( 8 ) Scott Dragon , Milton, VT , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  4. ( 3 ) Joey Polewarczyk Jr. , Hudson, NH , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  5. ( 9 ) Chip Grenier , Graniteville, VT , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  6. ( 23 ) Emily Packard , E. Montpelier, VT , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  7. ( 6 ) Brandon Atkins , AuSable Forks, NY , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  8. ( 16 ) Travis Stearns , Auburn, ME , 150 Laps<\/li>\n
  9. ( 17 ) Tyler Cahoon , St. Johnsbury, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  10. ( 28 ) Cody Blake , Barre, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  11. ( 7 ) Jeff White , Winthrop, ME , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  12. ( 10 ) Trampas Demers , S. Burlington, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  13. ( 21 ) Matt White , Northfield, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  14. ( 5 ) Brooks Clark , Fayston, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  15. ( 12 ) Boomer Morris , Barre, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  16. ( 11 ) Shawn Fleury , Middlesex, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  17. ( 22 ) Eddie MacDonald , Rowley, MA , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  18. ( 19 ) Mike Ziter , Barre Town, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  19. ( 27 ) Joey Laquerre , E. Montpelier, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  20. ( 26 ) Jason Corliss , Barre, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  21. ( 29 ) Jimmy Hebert , Williamstown, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  22. ( 20 ) Phil Scott , Middlesex, VT , 149 Laps<\/li>\n
  23. ( 13 ) Kyle Welch , Newport, NH , 148 Laps<\/li>\n
  24. ( 15 ) Mike Bailey , S. Barre, VT , 148 Laps<\/li>\n
  25. ( 30 ) Rowland Robinson, Jr. , Steuben, ME , 144 Laps<\/li>\n
  26. ( 18 ) Eric Williams , Hyde Park, VT , 98 Laps<\/li>\n
  27. ( 14 ) Eric Badore , Milton, VT , 74 Laps<\/li>\n
  28. ( 1 ) Derrick O’Donnell , N. Haverhill, NH , 33 Laps<\/li>\n
  29. ( 25 ) Jason Allen , Barre, VT , 26 Laps<\/li>\n
  30. ( 24 ) Dave Pembroke , Middlesex, VT , 10 Laps<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Lap Leaders: Derrick O’Donnell, 1-5; Wayne Helliwell Jr., 6; O’Donnell, 7-26; Helliwell, 27-33; Scott Dragon, 34-39; Chip Grenier, 40-107; Dragon, 108-132; Brad Babb, 133-150. 7 Lead changes among 5 drivers.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Time of Race: 49:36 Margin of Victory: 1.605 seconds<\/p>\n

    Cautions: 2 (laps 5, 26)<\/p>\n

    Heat Winners: Wayne Helliwell Jr., Brooks Clark, Brandon Atkins, Jeff White<\/p>\n

    Consi Winners: Phil Scott, Trampas Demers\u00a0\u00a0 B-Feature Winner: Jason Allen<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    BOND AUTO TIGER SPORTSMEN UNOFFICIAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    POS., DRIVER (CAR #), HOMETOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Christopher Pelkey (64), S. Barre, VT<\/li>\n
    2. Joe Steffen (00), Grand Isle, VT<\/li>\n
    3. Mike Martin (01), Craftsbury, VT<\/li>\n
    4. Doug Crowningshield (14), Barre, VT<\/li>\n
    5. Caleb Nelson (07), Moretown, VT<\/li>\n
    6. Dylan Payea (7), Milton, VT<\/li>\n
    7. Eric Johnson (20), Randolph, VT<\/li>\n
    8. Jason Woodard (68), Waterbury Ctr., VT<\/li>\n
    9. #Stephen Donahue (26), Graniteville, VT<\/li>\n
    10. Jeffrey Bousquet (44), Worcester, VT<\/li>\n
    11. Travis Calkins (5), Danville, VT<\/li>\n
    12. #Derek Barker (15), Post Mills, VT<\/li>\n
    13. Derrick Calkins (4), Milton, VT<\/li>\n
    14. Mike Billado (8), Essex, VT<\/li>\n
    15. Tommy Smith (50), Williamstown, VT<\/li>\n
    16. Bert Gallison (30), Graniteville, VT<\/li>\n
    17. Brian Delphia (27), Duxbury, VT<\/li>\n
    18. Brendan Moodie (94), Wolcott, VT<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      DSQ Cameron Ouellette (90), Barre, VT<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      ALLEN LUMBER STREET STOCKS UNOFFICIAL RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

      POS., DRIVER (CAR #), HOMETOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Tyler Austin (5), E. Calais, VT<\/li>\n
      2. Patrick Tibbetts (48), Plainfield, VT<\/li>\n
      3. Gary Mullen (29), Tunbridge, VT<\/li>\n
      4. Jamon Perry (62), Hardwick, VT<\/li>\n
      5. Brandon Gray (00), E. Thetford, VT<\/li>\n
      6. Jaden Perry (92), Hardwick, VT<\/li>\n
      7. Donny Yates (05), N. Montpelier, VT<\/li>\n
      8. David Whitcomb (77), Elmore, VT<\/li>\n
      9. Chris LaForest (56), Barre, VT<\/li>\n
      10. Alan Maynard (10), Fairfax, VT<\/li>\n
      11. Kyle Streeter (37), Waitsfield, VT<\/li>\n
      12. Jamie Davis (43), Wolcott, VT<\/li>\n
      13. Thomas Merchant (38), Eden Mills, VT<\/li>\n
      14. Jennifer Getty (25), Cambridge, VT<\/li>\n
      15. Marcel J. Gravel (86), Wolcott, VT<\/li>\n
      16. Ken Stridsberg (6), Berlin, VT<\/li>\n
      17. Travis Streeter (61), Waitsfield, VT<\/li>\n
      18. Garry Bashaw (4), Lincoln, VT<\/li>\n
      19. Justin Blakely (17), Barre, VT<\/li>\n
      20. Chris Cardarelli (9), St. George, VT<\/li>\n
      21. Kelly Miller Jr. (0), Johnson, VT<\/li>\n
      22. Jeremy Colson (44), S. Royalton, VT<\/li>\n
      23. Matthew Smith (04), Essex Jct., VT<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        DNS Bunker Hodgdon (83), Hardwick, VT<\/p>\n

        DNS Justin Town (53), E. Barre, VT<\/p>\n

        DNS Hunter Garduno (13), W. Fairlee, VT<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Barre, VT\u2014Brad Babb came into the season looking for his first career American-Canadian Tour victory. He and his Joey Laquerre\u2013owned team earned it in perhaps the most dramatic way possible on Sunday, May 3. Babb took the lead from Scott Dragon with 18 laps to go and went on to win the Merchants Bank 150 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[42,961],"class_list":["post-14709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-canadian-tour","category-latest-touring-news","tag-act","tag-brad-babb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14709","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=14709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14711,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14709\/revisions\/14711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maineracing.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}