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The short-lived Stock Car Connection only ran two seasons for a total of eight races. The series combined
the American Speed Association (ASA) of the midwest, the All-Pro Series of the south, and the all-new American-Canadian Tour
(ACT) of the northeast. The cars were fast, high-tech, fiberglass-bodied machines, and displayed North America's best
short-track racers.
The Stock Car Connection (SCC), the brainchild of ACT promoter Tom Curley, was designed to hold six events
around the US and Canada in 1987, each boasting a purse of over $100,000. The series would attract present and future
household names - NASCAR stars Rusty Wallace, Bobby and Davey Allison, Mark Martin, and Darrell Waltrip; short-track
legends Dick Trickle, Junior Hanley, Butch Miller, Bobby Gill, Robbie Crouch, and Beaver Dragon; and regional heroes
like Steve Grissom, Claude Leclerc, Kenny Wallace, and myriad others. The races would give fans more than their money's
worth - time trials, qualifying heats, and extra-distance feature events, all on a grandstand ticket averaging just
$17. The series seemed like a guaranteed success in the making.
After the inaugural event, the Molson 400 at Sanair Super Speedway in St-Pie, Quebec, however, things were
quickly reevaluated.
While upwards of 20,000 race fans were expected for the opener, less than 9,000 showed. Curley's ACT,
the "host" series, fared poorly with only two drivers finishing in the Top 10. ASA drivers - especially Butch
Miller of Coopersville, Michigan - dominated the race, and continued to do so throughout the season. After losing
money at the Sanair event, All-Pro pulled the plug on its race at Birmingham, Alabama, cutting the schedule to five races.
Miller later took additional wins at Cincinnatti, OH and Milwaukee, WI. An event at Roger Penske's brand
new Pennsylvania Int'l Raceway (later known as Nazareth Speedway) was cancelled due to rain, leaving only four events to make
up the championship. Three-time NASCAR Champion Darrell Waltrip won a highly controversial All-American 400 at
Nashville, TN to end the season. Miller finised fourth and easily clinched the SCC title.
The 1988 schedule consisted of four events - Sanair, Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire, Cayuga Speedway
in Ontario, and the All-American 400 at Nashville. A bonus "champions shootout" at Thunder Road in Vermont brought
Miller, Trickle, Gill, Crouch, Paul Richardson and Ricky Craven in for a 20-lap, $5,000-to-win brawl. Miller, of course,
won the race. He also won at Sanair and Nashville, while Ted Musgrave won at Lee USA and Dick Trickle won at Cayuga.
1987 Round #1 - Molson 400 @ Sanair Super Speedway - St-Pie, Quebec
1987 Round #2 - Cincinnati 300 @ Queen City Speedway - West Chester, Ohio
1987 Round #3 - Milwaukee 250 @ Wisconsin State Fair Park - West Allis, Wisconsin
1987 Round #4 (cancelled) - Nazareth 250 @ Pennsylvania International Raceway - Nazareth, Pennsylvania
1987 Round #4 - TNN All-American 400 @ Nashville Motor Raceway - Nashville, Tennessee
1988 Coors Silver Bullet Shootout @ Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl - Barre, Vermont
1988 Round #1 - Molson 400 @ Sanair Super Speedway - St-Pie, Quebec
1988 Round #2 - ACTion 300 @ Lee USA Speedway - Lee, New Hampshire
1988 - Nashville - Butch Miller / Harold Fair pole winner
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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 ---
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