The American Canadian Tour Season Has Come to an End

Jeff Brown Photo

The American-Canadian Tour celebrated the 32nd season of its flagship ACT Late Model Tour in 2023. And while the season ended with a familiar face in the winner’s circle, the year featured plenty of novelty to spice up the most competitive championship battle in the Northeast.

A thirteen-race slate spanning the Connecticut coastline to the St. Lawrence River promised once again to test New England and Quebec’s best Late Model racers in the pursuit of a new champion.

D.J. Shaw, the Center Conway, N.H. Super Late Model ace who returned to the ACT Tour in 2020, won three times in 2022 en route to his first ACT championship with car owner Arnie Hill. Shaw and Hill were primed for another title run in 2023, but they would have plenty of challengers for the crown.

At the top of the list was Derek Gluchacki, who matched Shaw’s three wins but was unable to follow the Tour on its two trips to Canada. With border restrictions relaxed, the North Dartmouth, Mass. native had eyes on a full-out title assault. Three-time Thunder Road International Speedbowl “King of the Road” Jason Corliss hinted at plans to run full-time for the first time since 2017. Gabe Brown, Shaw’s protégé behind the wheel and at the chassis shop, made his plans known to run full-time for his family team, complete with a throwback car honoring Shaw’s father Dale. Jimmy Renfrew, Jr., another disciple of the Dale Shaw Race Cars operation, was preparing for a regular presence with ACT as well.

The rookie race was one to watch as well, with White Mountain Motorsports Park graduates Tanner Woodard and Bryan Wall, Jr. making the move to touring racing full-time. Connecticut Modified wheelman Andrew Molleur threw his hat into the ring too; Thompson Speedway champion car owner Jason Glaude signed the “High Roller” for his first full effort on the Tour.

As if to reinforce expectations, Shaw and Gluchacki split the season’s opening rounds, a non-points double feature in March at the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway in conjunction with the Pro All Stars Series. The two-day schedule was condensed into one when rain dampened the North Carolina oval on Friday. Gluchacki won the St. Patrick’s Day 125 to open the afternoon, while Shaw closed out the road trip with the Easter Bunny 125 checkers.

The championship schedule did not start in earnest until April’s Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Momentum was still rolling for Gluchacki, who had closed the 2022 season in victory lane and was en route to opening 2023 the same way. Tom Carey III made a late charge that got as far as Gluchacki’s door, with Gluchacki edging out the veteran for his second straight NHMS trophy. Shaw, 2020 champion Jimmy Hebert and Renfrew rounded out the top five.

Stafford Motor Speedway had rolled out the red carpet for the Tour, with the year’s second event to be held in conjunction with the Connecticut half-mile’s Spring Sizzler. ACT had not visited Stafford since the early 1980s, when it was still a NASCAR-sanctioned operation. But in a sign of things to come all year, rain washed out the weekend, postponing that highly-anticipated return.

Instead, the annual Community Bank, N.A. 150 at Thunder Road became the second round of the title chase. Corliss rebounded from early troubles to win his sixth ACT Tour feature and his fifth at the “Nation’s Site of Excitement.” Hebert and local favorite Marcel Gravel joined Corliss on the podium. The other Tour titans were not so fortunate; Brown finished eighth, while Shaw was 10th and Gluchacki retired early with electrical issues.

The rain-delayed Spring Sizzler 75 at Stafford was a week later. On a chilly and challenging Friday night for the Tour, Shaw slipped by Renfrew for the lead with 25 laps to go as the race settled into a green-flag rhythm. Gluchacki’s car came to life in the final stretch, but he was unable to unseat Shaw, who captured his first points-paying win of the year. Renfrew held on for third, while Brown battled back from a wreck to finish seventh.

A tough stretch with three Tour dates in 15 days wrapped up at Lee USA Speedway, where Brandon Barker stunned the field in his first ACT appearance. The reigning Lee Pro Stock champion wheeled Sullivan Family Motorsports’ familiar #0NH entry to victory over Brown and Corliss, with Shaw lurking in fourth. Renfrew, who had been in contention for the win all afternoon, slipped and spun while making a bid for the lead, finishing 13th. The grueling stretch proved troubling for Gluchacki, who lost an engine just before halfway and finished dead last.

Seekonk Speedway was primed to host ACT’s historic Spring Green for the first time in early June, but the skies opened up just as heat races hit the track, forcing the Tour to pack up and head home early. It was the second race of 2023 to be postponed for weather, and the next opportunity for a visit to the “Cement Palace” would not be until later in the summer.

Looming large on the calendar was the Claude Leclerc 150 at Autodrome Chaudière, named for ACT’s octogenarian “Ironman.” Relaxed border restrictions promised a strong Tour appearance in their first of two 2023 visits to La Belle Province, and indeed, nine Americans were on hand to challenge 21 of the province’s finest. Renfrew, fueled by his near-miss at Lee a few weeks before, outdueled Quebec’s Dany Trepanier at Chaudière for his first ACT Tour win since 2021. Shaw was third while Gluchacki nipped Brown for 11th. Leclerc, the race’s namesake, was 19th at the finish, one lap in arrears.

Five races and a rainout into the season, the points race was taking shape, with Shaw leading chassismates Renfrew and Brown over fourth-place Gluchacki and fifth-place Corliss. Ten teams had made the trip to every race so far, with nine drivers starting every race.

Corliss, though, was absent at the next race, July’s Pine Tree State 125 at Oxford Plains Speedway. Brown led early and seemed poised to claim his first career ACT Tour win, but veteran Carey caught the Granite Stater in traffic and kept Brown at bay on a late restart to win his first Tour race since last fall. Gluchacki and Brown were not far behind in fifth and sixth.

Next up on the calendar was the $10,000-to-win CAN-AM 200 at Autodrome Montmagny. Missing the two Canadian dates last year kept Gluchacki from a proper title bid, and he made a statement this time around, holding off Mathieu Kingsbury and Chaudière winner Renfrew to take the checkers. Gluchacki’s success made him the first repeat winner on the Tour schedule in 2023, inching him closer to Shaw and Brown in the standings.

Back-to-back big-dollar events were in store, with the Tour kicking off August at White Mountain Motorsports Park for the annual Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250. As pit strategy in the long-distance race played out, Gluchacki emerged in the lead, but contact with Brown put both the race leaders in the back with just over fifty laps to go. Shaw spent some time at the front, but a flat tire caught him a lap down after a pit stop. Jesse Switser, who won the B-feature just to make the grid, took over and held off former winner Dillon Moltz for his first-ever Tour victory and the first ACT Tour win at WMMP for a track regular. Brown and Gluchacki raced their way back to third and fourth, while Shaw finished eighth.

June’s rescheduled Spring Green at Seekonk was up next, and veteran Joey Polewarczyk took the young guard to school. Polewarczyk outdueled Gluchacki at the “Cement Palace” for his first ACT Tour win since 2019. Rookies Tanner Woodard and Andrew Molleur turned in career-best finishes with Brown rounding out the top five. Seekonk alum Ryan Kuhn collected points for Jonathan Bouvrette’s team due to a schedule conflict, but could only finish 16th.

A week later, the Tour was back in Maine for the Oxford Plains 125, the centerpiece of the Saturday evening before the track’s famed Oxford 250. A deep 38-car field, six of them from Quebec, took the green for the prelude to New England’s richest short track race. After coming up short in July’s Pine Tree State 125, Brown would not be denied, putting his home-track experience on display as he held off mentor Shaw to take his first career ACT Tour win. Polewarczyk rounded out the podium in a tough 38-car field, one of the deepest of the season so far.

With three races to go, Shaw held a slim five-point edge over Brown in the standings, with Gluchacki lurking in third.

ACT’s second trip to Thunder Road for the 45th Labor Day Classic, though, threw the title race into disarray. A consi crash left Gluchacki’s car with terminal damage, dealing a crushing blow to his championship hopes. Thunder Road, meanwhile, proved punishing to the Tour titans. Bobby Therrien, sporting Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s car number on his ride, raced to his first ACT Tour win since 2020, with T-Road regulars Marcel Gravel and Kaiden Fisher joining him on the podium. Woodard was a best-in-class fifth. Brown and Shaw managed top ten finishes, with Brown closing the gap to two markers behind Shaw.

WMMP set the stage for the championship battle with the season’s penultimate race, the 45th Fall Foliage 200. A rough-and-tumble romp around the quarter-mile ended with Polewarczyk out front for the final three circuits, taking his third Fall Foliage win and his second win of 2023. Brown edged out Bouvrette for second. With Shaw sneaking back into the top ten after late contact, Brown took over the championship lead by 21 points over his chassis builder and mentor.

ACT’s full-time touring teams had one more stop before the season finale, with Thunder Road’s 61st Vermont Milk Bowl looming on the first of October. Shaw, fourth in last year’s Milk Bowl, was best among the touring regulars with a fifth-place score, while Stephen Donahue edged out four-time winner Nick Sweet for the overall victory.

But for a second-straight season, the ACT Tour schedule ended in coastal Connecticut, with the New London-Waterford Speedbowl hosting this year’s edition of the Haunted Hundred.

Once again, rain factored into the finale, washing out Saturday action at the Speedbowl. Brown’s rain-delay recreation threw a wrench into his plans, as a go-karting crash left him on crutches Sunday. A poor draw before the heat races only made Brown’s mountain to climb that much higher, with a season-high 49 cars in the pits to qualify.

Brown started from the rear of the field, chipping away at Shaw’s newfound advantage as the race wore on. Shaw found his way to the lead in the second half of the race, battling Alexendre Tardif door-to-door over the final 20 laps as Brown broke into the top ten. Shaw outlasted Tardif for the victory, making the most of the last race of the year. Brown’s last-ditch push for positions, meanwhile, earned him a post-race penalty, dropping him to the end of the lead lap.

And with that, Shaw clinched his second straight ACT Tour title, also locking up the Brookside Equipment Southern New England Triple Crown. Since partnering with Arnie Hill on the Tour in 2020, Shaw’s consistency has been remarkable; the veteran racer and five-time PASS North champion has finished in the top ten in 37 straight ACT Tour features, missing only one top-ten finish since his full-time return to Tour competition.

Brown ended the season second in points, handing Shaw the biggest final-race point swing in ACT Tour history. In his first full year with the Tour, Brown managed top-ten finishes in all but two races, including the finale. Renfrew was a distant third, while late-race issues for Gluchacki relegated him to fourth in the points race. Gluchacki’s year was one of feast or famine, with his two wins and seven top-five finishes offset by five finishes outside the top ten, plus the Thunder Road debacle in September.

Woodard finished the year fifth in points, officially sealing up Rookie of the Year honors for the young Vermonter. Woodard earned two top-five and six top-ten finishes in his first full season. Mechanical issues kept Woodard from taking the green flag at Stafford, but he still edged out Molleur and Wall, who struggled through his rookie experience.

The 2023 season was a competitive year for ACT overall, with eight drivers entering all 13 points races and ten different drivers taking feature wins. A visit to a new track, reinforced relations with the Tour’s partners across the border, and a few new names in full-time contention are all building blocks toward the 2024 ACT Late Model Tour season.

From all of us at VT&NH Racing News, we appreciate your support and patronage as we look forward to details on the season ahead!

Jeff Brown Release.