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Here's where you'll find all the updates and information for this website.  Every now and then I'll post a "Justin's Take", too, with some of the current news and stories from around the region, along with what you really came for - my big-mouthed opinion!

LATEST SITE UPDATES:
 
1/05/14 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour, Modified Racing Series, and some Major Event pages.  Looking into full site redesign, since this one is starting to malfunction pretty hard on the back end.  Sorry for any abrupt changes in font type or size.
 
3/03/13 - Updated WMMP Late Model page.
 
10/30/12 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour, Bear Ridge Sportsman Modifieds, all current Thunder Road divisions, and Milk Bowl and T-Road Renegade/Strictly page.
 
9/24/12 - Lots of updates: ACT Late Model Tour, ACT Castrol, Devil's Bowl Modifieds, all Thunder Road divisions and special events.  Added T-Road Rough Rider page.  More coming soon, and will be working with Nicholas Teto to add updates from southern New England tracks over the winter.
 
1/03/12 - Updated a PILE of stuff, since it's been more than a year.  Look for updated winners and champions on ACT Late Model Tour, ACT Castrol, ACT Tiger Tour, Modified Racing Series, Bear Ridge, Devil's Bowl, Thunder Road, WMMP Late Model, and elsewhere.  Will try to not go 15 months before the next update.  All these additions done with the late Cho Lee in mind.  Miss ya, buddy.
 
10/29/10 - Updated Bear Ridge, Devil's Bowl, Thunder Road, ACT, Castrol, Tiger Tour, and Modified Racing Series winners/champions
 
9/03/10 - Updated Bear Ridge, Devil's Bowl, Thunder Road, ACT, Castrol, and Tiger Tour winners
 
6/28/10 - Updated Bear Ridge, Thunder Road, and ACT winners
 
6/07/10 - Updated Bear Ridge Sportsman Modified and ACT Tiger Tour winners
 
6/05/10 - Updated Série ACT-Castrol and Thunder Road winners, Memorial Day Classic winners, Merchants Bank 150 winners, VT Governor's Cup winners, Thunder Road Mid-Season Championship winners, Labor Day Classic winners, Thunder Road ACT Late Model Tour event winners. Started groundwork for Bear Ridge Speedway and Devil's Bowl Speedway Index pages.  Whew...
 
5/17/10 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour winners and plus/minus pole winners
 
5/02/10 - Happy racing season!  Updated ACT Late Model Tour winners and plus/minus pole winners, updated Thunder Road winners.  Bear Ridge Speedway page to be added soon (I think).
 
10/16/09 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour winners, champions, and plus/minus pole winners - CONGRATS! to Brian Hoar on his ACT Late Model Tour championship!
 
10/05/09 - Updated Thunder Road and Vermont Milk Bowl winners and champions - CONGRATS! to Jean-Paul Cyr, Jimmy Hebert, Gary Mullen, and Donny Yates on their championships, and to John Donahue on his Milk Bowl win!
 
10/01/09 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour and Série ACT-Castrol winners
 
9/10/09 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour, Série ACT-Castrol, and Thunder Road winners
 
8/22/09 - Updated Thunder Road winners
 
8/19/09 - Updated Thunder Road, WMMP Late Model, and ACT Tiger Sportsman Series winners and champions
 
8/12/09 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour, Série ACT-Castrol, ACT Tiger Sportsman Series, and Thunder Road winners, and updated the 1987 All American 400 page in the Stock Car Connection index, thanks to Richard Bohms and Elgin Traylor
 
7/28/09 - Updated ACT winners and all-time stats
 
7/25/09 - Updated Thunder Road winners and Major Events
 
7/17/09 - Updated ACT and Thunder Road winners
 
7/10/09 - Updated White Mountain Late Model winners
 
7/09/09 - Updated Thunder Road winners
 
7/08/09 - Updated ACT and Thunder Road winners
 
6/22/09 - Updated Série ACT-Castrol and Thunder Road winners
 
6/12/09 - Updated Série ACT-Castrol and Thunder Road winners 
 
5/27/09 - Updated ACT, Série ACT-Castrol, and Thunder Road winners 
 
5/04/09 - Updated ACT and Thunder Road winners 
 
4/07/09 - Added/corrected Northeastern info.  Thanks to the unending work by Paul Bellefeuille, the Class A and Class B research is virtually complete.  There are some special event winners (Powder Puff, Businessman's Races) I've tracked down that I will add in time.  Can't wait for the reunion on July 18!
 
3/26/09 - Paul Bellefeuille is at it again!  Added 1961, '64, and '65 Class A champions at Northeastern Speedway.  More info coming soon...
 
3/18/09 - Added 1966 Class B/Semi-Late Model results at Northeastern Speedway.  Thanks to Big Bigelow and Paul Bellefeuille!
 
3/17/09 - Added/corrected some information on the Class A/Coupe and Class B/Semi-Late Model divisions at Northeastern Speedway - thanks to Big Bigelow!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!
 
2/18/09 - Added all available information on the Class A/Coupe and Class B/Semi-Late Model divisions at Northeastern Speedway.
 
2/09/09 - Began work on the Northeastern Speedway index, LOTS more to come.  Also, we're pretty sure Thunder Road's 1978 stuff in LMS, Grand American, and Mini Stock is now complete.
 
11/15/08 - Updated a lot of various Thunder Road stuff from 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1976 seasons
 
11/10/08 - Added 1976 T-Road winners in LMS and Mini Stock divisions, added 1976 Limited Sportsman page with winners, added Strictly Street page with winners, still tweaking stuff in random places
 
10/29/08 - Added/corrected 1975 winners for Thunder Road LMS, Hurricane, and Mini Stock, added some long-lost stuff on the 1978 season (the year Tommy Kalomiris ran the place into the ground), tweaked some other things here and there
 
10/20/08 - Added the ACT Overall Championship page, fixed the Twin 50 Series page
 
10/16/08 - Added some stuff to the Classic Vermont page (1969-72 point standings, etc.), added the 1971 Sanair Int'l Raceway Top 10 LMS standings to the Classic Québec/Ontario page, added 1993 season winners to Thunder Road Street Stock page
 
10/02/08 - Updated all ACT and Thunder Road stats, update Milk Bowl page, more to come
 
9/11/08 - Updated all ACT and Thunder Road stats, updated/corrected some Major Events and Driver Profiles, updated WMMP Late Model winners through current date
 
8/04/08 - Updated ACT and Thunder Road stats
 
6/06/08 - Added Thunder Road stats: 1973 Late Model Sportsman, Hurricane, and Mini Stock.  Enjoy the Frank Kuhlman victory!  Added/Updated LOTS of stuff in the "Classic Québec/Ontario" section - Thanks to MAG and Ti-Gaz!
 
5/28/08 - Okay, so it's been a while.  I'll try to get better about that, but can't promise anything.  Updated all ACT and Thunder Road stuff.
 
1/16/08 - Updated WMMP Late Model and Kids Truck winners and champions, updated Don MacTavish and Ed Carroll award winners, corrected some SCC info, added some stuff to "Classic Vermont" page. 
 
12/04/07 - Updated ACT Late Model Tour, Série ACT Castrol, Thunder Road 2007 winners and champions.  Also, added 1982 Thunder Road Tiger Sportsman and 1966 Thunder Road Flying Tiger winners and made corrections to 1960 Thunder Road Sportsman Coupe winners.
 
I received a huge amount of good information from Christian "Ti-Gaz" Genest (a super-fan from Québec) during the season, and I plan to get that up in the proper place over the next few weeks.  Found some interesting records for the old Bayside Raceway in Malletts Bay, VT from the late 1950s, planning a page for that, as well.  Let's see... Could probably add some Catamount and Thunder Road stuff, update White Mountain, Airborne, PASS, TVMRS... holy crap, I've got some work to do!
 
NASCAR Busch East and Whelen Modified pages are gone. 
 
7/01/07 - Updated ACT, Airborne, Thunder Road, PASS winners
 
6/22/07 - Updated ACT, Airborne, Thunder Road, PASS winners 
 
6/08/07 - Updated ACT (all), Airborne, Thunder Road, PASS (all), TVMRS winners 
 
5/15/07 - Updated ACT, Airborne, Thunder Road winners 
 
5/07/07 - Updated ACT, Thunder Road, PASS, TVMRS winners 
 
5/03/07 - ALL NEW Classic Québec/Ontario page is up!  Thanks to Magella Berube!
 
4/29/07 - Updated ACT winners and ACT +/- pole winners.  Added a lot of stuff to Airborne and WMMP pages last week, forgot to post an update.  My bad!
 
4/21/07 - Added some stuff to the Classic Vermont page
 
4/18/07 - Added three 1988 events to Stock Car Connection page, created Classic Vermont page, added Spring Green to Major Events page, added Rookie of the Year winners to NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Tour and ACT Late Model Tour pages
 
4/14/07 - Updated PASS South
 
11/24/06 - Added Thunder Road stats: 1994-2003 Tiger Sportsmen
 
11/22/06 - Added Thunder Road stats: 1977 Grand American, 1980 and 1988 Street Stocks
 
11/12/06 - Added new Features page and posted Top 25 list
 
11/09/06 - Added LOTS of stuff the Milk Bowl page, started adding Driver Profiles
 
10/15/06 - Updated PASS North winners; started PRO Tour page
 
10/04/06 - New "Take" posted; Updated Airborne, Thunder Road, PASS North, BES winners and champions
 
9/17/06 - Updated PASS North, WMT, BES winners
 
9/16/06 - New "Take" posted
 
9/12/06 - Added lots of stuff to Stock Car Connection page!
 
9/10/06 - Updated Airborne, TVMRS, PASS North winners, ACT +/- pole page
 
9/04/06 - Updated Airborne, Thunder Road, ACT, TVMRS, PASS Outlaw, PASS Mods winners
 
8/27/06 - Updated Airborne, TVMRS, PASS South winners, started Thunder Road Hurricanes page, added 1977 season to Thunder Road LMS winners list
 
8/24/06 - Updated Thunder Road winners - CONGRATS TO CHAD WHEELER!
 
8/22/06 - Added some new baby pictures!
 
8/19/06 - Added Classic Quebec Series page
 
8/17/06 - Created IPSC and NEPSA pages
 
8/14/06 - Created News and Updates page, added 1987 Sanair event to Stock Car Connection page
 
8/13/06 - Updated Airborne, Thunder Road, ACT, PASS (all four divisions), and TVMRS winners
 
8/05/06 - Added Serie Nationale Castrol page and Catamount Tiger Sportsman page; updated Airborne, ACT, and TVMRS winners, started White Mountain Motorsports Park pages.  PRO Truck Tour page to be added soon, many thanks to Norm Marx!
 
8/01/06 - Airborne and Thunder Road winners updated, Major Events page updated a little bit, TVMRS page updated, Catamount page template started
 
7/31/06 - "Justin's Stories/Photos" page started - inclduing pics from the TD Banknorth 250 on 7/30!  Click here to see them!
 
7/20/06 - 2006 winners updated, Ed Carroll Award page added, Street Stock and Tiger Sportsman winners updated, ACT Pro Stock page started

JUSTIN'S TAKE

10/03/06 - With ACT releasing its (very confusing) 2007 schedules this week and Oxford Plains Speedway announcing its new Oxford Late Model Challenge program a few weeks ago, I've pasted together a schedule of special events that as many as 160 or more American Late Model teams are eligble to run.  Add in Canadian teams and others from southern New England that could make changes to their cars, and the number approaces 230.  Bear with me as this is all speculation and certainly not official, and I guessed on some dates based on this year's schedule.  But check this out:
 

Date       Track                                      Location                                 Laps       Series

4/29        Oxford Plains                        Oxford, ME                             150         ACT/OLMC

5/06        Thunder Road                      Barre, VT                               150         ACT

5/13        Lee USA                                Lee, NH                                 100         Lee

5/27        Thunder Road                      Barre, VT                               100         TR

6/02        Circuit Ste-Croix                   Ste-Croix, QC                       100         ACT

6/09        Oxford Plains                        Oxford, ME                             100         OLMC

6/16        Airborne Speedway             Plattsburgh, NY                    100         ACT

6/24        Circuit Ste-Croix                   Ste-Croix, QC                       200         Super Series

6/30        White Mountain                    No. Woodstock, NH            100         ACT

7/08        Sanair Super Spdwy           St-Pie, QC                             150         Super Series

7/12        Thunder Road                      Barre, VT                               100         TR

7/22        Oxford Plains                        Oxford, ME                             250         OLMC

8/04        Seekonk Speedway            Seekonk, MA                         100         ACT

8/11        Oxford Plains                        Oxford, ME                             100         OLMC

8/18        White Mountain                    No. Woodstock, NH            150         ACT

9/02        Thunder Road                      Barre, VT                               200         Super Series

9/22        White Mountain                    No. Woodstock, NH            100         Open Comp

9/23        Lee USA                                Lee, NH                                 100         Lee

9/30        Thunder Road                      Barre, VT                               150         Super Series

10/06      Oxford Plains                        Oxford, ME                             150         ACT/OLMC

10/21      Lee USA                                Lee, NH                                 100         Open Comp

 

ACT = ACT Late Model Tour

Super Series = ACT Super Series

OLMC = Oxford Late Model Challenge Series

Lee = Lee USA Speedway weekly series

TR = Thunder Road weekly series

Open Comp = Unsanctioned open competition event

 

That is some serious racing right there, and you can bet that some big names from other areas will show up for a lot of them.

 

I am really confused about the whole Tour schedule vs. Super Series schedule thing.  I mean, I get it, I understand what's going on, but it's too much work to figure out.  The deal is this: the 2007 ACT Late Model Tour championship will be based on the 8-race schedule (races listed as "ACT" above) and each driver's two best performances in the Super Series, so long as they're not the Oxford 250.  The 250 will not count toward the championship, yet teams will receive 100 points for filing an entry and competing in the event.

 

All together now... "What?"

 

I hate it when championships are based on only the best races you turn in, too.  It should be based on every race, no matter what.  Basically, it allows you to skip two races and win the championship, and it's just not right.

 

If there is going to be an ACT Tour, crown an ACT champion.  If there's going to be a Super Series, crown a Super Series champion.  But for god's sake, don't combine them, then drop two races.  PASS did that last year with the Unity race, and all did it was leave you wondering who was really leading the points from mid-June to the end of the year.  Now, fans and teams are likely going to leave Oxford next October not knowing who won the title until they read it somewhere a day or two later.

 

It also disallows any on-track championship celebration following the final event, which is a shame.  Fans honoring their champion is a huge tradition in motorsports, and all the required math following the final checkered flag is just going to put a damper on that part of the program.

 
But all complaining about points aside, the 2007 schedule is jam-packed with awesome races.  I am surprised the Lee is not on the ACT schedule.  The openers at Lee the last two or three years have pulled in 60 cars, even for a dinky purse that only paid like $2,500 to win.
 
***
 
I hope that Airborne's race goes off without a hitch in 2007, because I realy feel that ACT has sort of kicked that place to the curb.  I understand that rain happens and everything, but it seems like there was very little effort made to reschedule.  I also understand that ACT may not totally be at fault for that, but it's a crime when the Fall Foliage (which has become less and less prestigious almost every year since 1995) is a.) scheduled to be run as a Tiger race, and b.) cancelled altogether, even when the next day's weather forecast looks good.  Add to that the fact that the Tour race was wiped out, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  I bet that if someone was to redesign the infield pits and advertise a Super Series-type event there with a big purse, you'd get the 40, 50, 60 cars Airborne used to bring in.  I guess I'm in no place to complain, since I didn't drag my sorry butt over to Plattsburgh this year, but I wish it got treated better by the family that raised it.
 
***
 
I won't be able to attend the second half of the Milk Bowl this coming weekend (and boy do I hate iParty for that), but I'd like to congratulate everyone in advance, and cross my fingers the Joey Polewarczyk can back up his time trial with a segment win or something.  That kid deserves a good run at Thunder Road, and the Milk Bowl is a great pace for it to happen.  Ryan Nolin needs it, too.
 
***
 
Ryan Vanasse is absolutely the hard luck poster boy for ACT.  People don't consider him a threat, and it's a shame.  The kid is a wheelman, he just has THE WORST luck.  At least he had some good runs in mid-summer, and he got a Saturday night win at Seekonk a few weeks back.  All I can say to the Team V guys is to hang your heads high.  You actually had a great year, just not on paper.  Things will get better because they have to.
 
***
Keep watch on the brand new VermontSportsMagazine.com, I'll be covering Vermont motorsports for them.  Pich' got me turned on to the site, and they asked me to join them.  I'll definitely be doing Thunder Road and ACT stuff, and I'll likely keep tabs on Vermont drivers in other series (PASS, Busch East, TVMRS, etc.).  Hopefully I can get to Bear Ridge and Devil's Bowl a couple times in 2007, as well.  Who knows, maybe I could take in some SCCV and snowmobile stuff, too!  Stay tuned!
 
 
 
9/16/06 - I just read some news from Lee USA Speedway that's both exciting and disappointing to me.  Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Phil Baril, Jr. (aka J.R.) are two of my favorite drivers from the seacoast area, and I've always enjoyed watching them race.  They battled tooth and nail for the Late Model title at Lee this season, and Helliwell was crowned champion after his win in the final points race of the year last week.  The win was his fifth of the season, and Baril had won four to that point.  But here's the fun part - when Lee tech officials heard early in the night that bot teams were planning on protesting each other's spec engines, they decided that both engines would be pulled and sent for a full teardown at Butler/MacMaster (the ACT/New England Late Model spec motor builder) in Maine.  Simply put, Helliwell's motor was found to be illegal, while Baril's was in compliance of the rulebook.   This is from the official Lee USA release:
 
"In what shaped up to be a much hyped season long battle that thrilled fans right down to the final night of competition, second generation drivers Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Phil Baril, Jr. both found when the checkered flag dropped on the final point race last Friday night, it was not the end of their weekly showdowns, but the beginning of a tumlutuous week ... that would impact the 2006 season and bring an end to what manager Peter Watson called "A week I'd like to forget."
 
The end result found Helliwell disqualified as last week's winner and the 2006 championship taken away from him.  Baril was awarded the track title for the Late Model division.
 
Watson disclosed the decision to impound both engine was made in advance of the season championship night by track officials.  "We heard there might be cross protests by both teams, so we made the decision for them."  He continued, "The engines were taken to Butler/MacMaster on Tuesday, September 12, and their findings showed the Helliwell engine was in violation ... in more than one area and the Baril engine complied.  We had no choice but to take the action we did, taking a championship away from a race team is not an easy thing to do."
 
Watson summed up the announcement by stating, "There is talk ... that Baril had his small motor in the cat on the last night of the season with the championship on the line.  Our tech department checked engine seal numbers during the season and he always had the same engine number and seals in the car.  The engine we tested was the same engine that tech saw in the car every time."
 
It seems pretty black and white to me, and it was nice of Peter Watson to add that final statement on Baril's behalf.  The ability to check an engine using that system is another great reason why the "spec motor" concept should be adopted universally in my opinion.  It's unfortunate that Helliwell was disqualified and lost a championship, but on the other hand, he was cheating and got what he deserved.
 
I have enjoyed watching both drivers in everything from Supermodifieds to Street Stocks, and wish that both would give ACT racing a whole-hearted try some day.
 
Congratulations to the J.R. Baril team on the championship, they worked their tails off this year.
 
***
 
The recently-announced Oxford Late Model Challenge for 2007 is nothing short of RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME!  A five-race series that will pay out over $300,000 is good for absolutley everyone involved in the Late Model division throughout New England.  There will be drivers and cars from Oxford, Lee, Thunder Road, Seekonk, White Mountain, ACT, the Castrol Series, and likely other venues that compete under similar rules.  The veteran fans of New England are calling it a revival of the old Oxford Open Series of the 1970s and '80s.  From what I've read and heard, those were some exciting races, and helped shape the face of racing throughout our region AND the country.  Hopefully the attention this high-dollar series will bring will really help spread the spec motor fire to places beyond our neck of the woods, and maybe, MAYBE, some day, there can be a national spec motor series.  The 2007 season will be very important for the Late Model division as a whole, and I hope it's as successful as I think it will be.
 
 
8/14/06 - I am floored by the announcement that the Oxford 250 will be a Late Model race using ACT rules next year, although I've known it was coming for over a year.  I'm not mad, but I don't know if I'm happy, either.  I guess I'm skeptical and anxious to see what happens.  Who's going to explain the change to the Whorff guys and SP2, the teams that have really spent all the money and time and energy getting the 250 back to national prominence?  There must be a lot of disappointed people in Maine right now, but probably not nearly as many as all the happy folks in Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire.  When you look at it, there will be 100-120 cars in the pits next July, and that can't be bad, they'll just all be different.  I'll miss Jeff Taylor and Cassius Clark and Rollie MacDonald and all those guys, but it'd be so cool to see a kid like Ryan Nolin pull off a win like Jeremie Whorff did this year.  I dunno, I can't wait until 2007... I think.

DISCLAIMER: Many of the photos on this website have been used without prior permission, and for that, we're sorry.  For the ones we did ask to use, thanks a ton!  Proper credit is due every photographer, but since tagging every single shot would take a really long time, and we've forgotten a lot of who took what, let's just thank everyone who has "helped" out now: Alan Ward, Eric LaFleche/VLFPhotos.com, Gene Gagne/OutsideGroove.com, Leif Tillotson, Brian McCullough (RACEGOD), the late David Heath, Dave Brown, Cindy Weed, John Sullivan, Norm Marx, Bethany Bell, vintagemodifieds.com, the late Bob Doyle, Ron Pittsley, David Paris, Jim DuPont, Tom Herzig, and myriad others.  A huge thanks goes out to contributors Andy Boright, the late Cho Lee, and Christian "Ti Gaz" Genest, all treasurers of racing history.  You're all awesome and very much appreciated!!!
 
--- Website updated and maintained in memory of Cho Lee ---