American Canadian Tour

American Canadian Tour
Category	Stock car racing
Country	Northeast United States, Quebec, Canada
Inaugural season	1986
Drivers' champion	ACT Late Model Tour – Scott Payea (2017); Série ACT – Jonathan Bouvrette (2017)
Official website	ACT Tour
	Current season

The American Canadian Tour (ACT) is a late model stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Quebec, Canada. The American Canadian Tour has two different late model divisions: the ACT Late Model Tour, founded in 1986 conducts races in New England, and the Série ACT (formerly known as Série ACT Castrol Tour), founded in 2005 runs in Quebec, Canada.

History

In 1979, television and radio journalist Ken Squier and business partner Tom Curley formed the NASCAR North Tour for late-model Sportsman-type cars. With sponsorship from companies like Coors, Molson, Skoal, STP, Valvoline, and General Motors, the NASCAR North Tour visited the short track showplaces of the northeastern United States and Canada: Thunder Road in Vermont, Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine, Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut Sanair Super Speedway near Montreal, Cayuga Speedway in Ontario, and Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Southern stars Butch Lindley, Bill Dennis, Harry Gant, Tommy Ellis, Gene Glover, L.D. Ottinger, and Bosco Lowe were frequent visitors to NASCAR North Tour events, along with national icons Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt.^[1]

1980 saw more sponsorship support for the tour. Molson was signed as the major sponsor and car counts kept growing. 1982 was a banner year for the tour as they made their first appearance at Dover Downs Speedway as the support division for the Winston Cup race. Purses and point funds kept growing to levels over $1 million by 1985. However, several lawsuits filed by various competitors had soured NASCAR on the tour and NASCAR dropped its sanction of the tour at the end of the 1985 season.^[2]

Following the decision by NASCAR to cease sanctioning the Coors Tour following the 1985 season, Curley formed the independent American-Canadian Tour in 1986, continuing the series as the ACT Pro Stock Tour.^[3] In 1992, a second series was added, the ACT Late Model Sportsman International Series; with the closing of the Pro Stock Tour after the 1995 season, this series, currently known as the ACT Late Model Tour, became the ACT's premier circuit. Two years after its inception in 2005, the ACT took over the Canadian-based Serie Nationale Castrol LMS Quebec, renaming it as the Séries ACT and casting it as a Canadian sister series to the New England centered Late Model Tour.

All-Time Drivers and Guest Appearances

Can-AM 200, Circuit Riverside Speedway Ste-Croix 2011

Brian Hoar, possibly the greatest ACT Late Model driver of all time and the winningest driver of the series, started collecting his ACT points Championships early, winning his first in 1993. He was later able to win the ACT points Championship 4 years in a row from 1997–2000 and later 3 years in a row from 2009-2011. Hoar also holds the record for the number of wins in the ACT racing league with 42 wins. Outside of Hoar's 8 championships, he has finished in the top 3 in the points standings 4 times.^[4]

Jean-Paul Cyr, another of the great ACT Late Model drivers, was also able to start his successes early, winning his first and second ACT points Championship in 1994 and 1996, respectfully. Cyr was then able to win a record 5 straight ACT points Championships from 2003–2007 bringing his all time ACT championship total to 7. Jean-Paul also holds third place on the all time ACT wins list with 19 career wins.

Patrick Laperle is the only driver in the history of the American Canadian Tour to win both the ACT Tour Championship and also the ACT Castrol Series Championship, doing it in back to back years (2007, 2008). Patrick is also forth on the all-time wins list for the ACT Late Models with 18 wins, behind Brian Hoar's 42 wins and Jean-Paul Cyr's and Joey Polewarczyk Jr.'s tied for second all time, each with 19 wins. In 2009 Laperle lost the ACT Castrol series championship by one point to 2 time champ Donald Theetge in a controversial final race that saw Donald Theetge get involved in a crash and also saw Laperle go a lap down to a flat tire and also get a one lap penalty for a pit infraction. Laperle would go on to win Serie ACT points Championships in 2011, 2012, and 2016.

NASCAR star Kevin Harvick took on the ACT regulars on July 21, 2008 at the New England Dodge Dealers TD Banknorth Oxford 250 in Oxford, Maine. Harvick ended up winning the race, showing that he is able to take home wins even on small town short tracks.^[5]

Tony Stewart, one of NASCAR's best, and now a driver owner in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, took part in the CarQuest Vt Governors Cup on June 25, 2009, at Thunder Road International Speedbowl. Stewart was able to get a 16th-place start for the race, but finished in the 16th-place spot. He later said that Thunder Road beat him. Young star Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. from Hudson, New Hampshire, went on to win the non-points event.^[6]

David Ragan, a young and up-and-coming star in the NASCAR series at the time, took part in the August 27, 2009 race at Thunder Road International Speedway. It was Thunder Road's 50th year and as Ragan raced in the final evening program during its 50th season celebrations.^[7]^[8]

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and Pinty's Series driver D. J. Kennington is the only driver in ACT Late Model Tour history with a win in his only career start with the Tour. Kennington won the New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Lee USA Speedway on September 26, 2004.^[9]

ACT Late Model Tour Champions

#45/37VT Brian Hoar – 8 Championships (1993, 1997–2000, 2009–2011)
#32VT Jean-Paul Cyr – 7 Championships (1994, 1996, 2003–2007)
#27NH Wayne Helliwell, Jr. – 3 Championships (2012–2013, 2015)
#25VT Dave Whitcomb – 1 Championship (1992)
#31VT Lance Ferno – 1 Championship (1995)
#75VT Pete Fecteau – 1 Championship (2001)
#14VT Phil Scott – 1 Championship (2002)
#91QC Patrick Laperle – 1 Championship (2008)
#97NH Joey Polewarczyk Jr. – 1 Championship (2014)
#40VT Nick Sweet – 1 Championship (2016)
#37VT Scott Payea - 1 Championship (2017)

Série ACT Champions

#91QC Patrick Laperle – 4 Championships (2007, 2011, 2012, 2016)
#80QC Donald Theetge – 2 Championships (2006, 2009)
#3QC Sylvain Lacombe – 1 Championship (2005)
#27QC Alexandre Gingras – 1 Championship (2008)
#48QC Karl Allard – 1 Championship (2010)
#21QC Jean-François Déry – 1 Championship (2013)
#48QC Alex Labbé – 1 Championship (2014)
#19QC Dany Trepanier - 1 Championship (2015)
#41QC Jonathan Bouvrette - 1 Championship (2017)

NASCAR North (1979-1985) and ACT Pro Stock Tour (1986-1995) Champions

Robbie Crouch – 6 Championship (1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990)
Junior Hanley – 3 Championships (1991, 1992, 1993)
Beaver Dragon – 2 Championships (1979, 1980)
Dick McCabe – 2 Championships (1981, 1982)
Randy LaJoie – 1 Championship (1985)
Russ Urlin – 1 Championship (1989)
Mike Rowe – 1 Championship (1994)
Brad Leighton – 1 Championship (1995)