Английская Википедия:American Canadian Tour

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox motorsport championship The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is an independent regional stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Eastern Canada. The American-Canadian Tour was founded in 1979, conducts professional races across New England and Quebec. After starting with a pair of non-point events at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the ACT Tour will open its 45th season in April 2023 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

History

In 1979, television and radio journalist Ken Squier and his business partner Tom Curley formed the North Tour sanctioned by NASCAR for late-model Sportsman-type cars. With sponsorship from companies like Coors, Molson, Skoal, STP, Valvoline and General Motors, the 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 in Saint-Pie, Quebec, Cayuga Speedway in Ontario, and Dover Downs International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Southern stars Butch Lindley, Bill Dennis, Harry Gant, Tommy Ellis, and L.D. Ottinger were frequent visitors to NASCAR North Tour events, along with national icons Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker and Dale Earnhardt.

As a means of transitioning toward a more modern type of race car, Curley formed the independent American-Canadian Tour in 1986, making a total changeover from the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman to the Super Late Model and Pro Stock cars used throughout the country. In 1987, Curley’s ACT aligned with Rex Robbins’ American Speed Association (ASA) of the Midwest and Bob Harmon’s All-Pro Series of the southeast, forming the Stock Car Connection. The SCC visited high-profile tracks in Cincinnati, OH; Milwaukee, WI; Nazareth, PA; and Nashville, TN; and saw visitors that included Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Bobby and Davey Allison, and Rusty and Kenny Wallace, along with short track legends Dick Trickle, Butch Miller, Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker, Steve Grissom, and Bobby Gill.

With General Motors stepping up its commitment to ACT in 1989, the GM Motorsport National Stock Car Series was formed in Canada, offering large purses, even larger point funds, and coast-to-coast television coverage. Budweiser created the Bud Triple Crown as part of the GM Series, and paid Ontario’s Junior Hanley over $50,000 in 1991 and again in ’92 for sweeping the series. During Hanley’s ACT Championship years from 1991-93, the legendary Ontario driver earned more than $700,000 in winnings!

Файл:Stecroix depart.png

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

The current American-Canadian Tour Late Models utilize a modern, cost-effective program that creates thrilling side-by-side action and has built one of the leading short track series in North America. Beginning in 1992 and taking center stage in 1996, the Late Models have introduced many innovative concepts used in several disciplines of short track racing.

ACT developed one of the first “spec” engine programs in 1999 as a cost-saving option for local and regional racers. After successful testing in the early 2000s, most teams, tracks and promoters both regionally and nationally have made the switch. The “spec” engine program expanded to include a Ford option in 2010 and added the popular GM ‘602’ in 2018. A similar cost-saving “spec” program exists with Koni and QA1 shock absorbers as well as a uniform Hoosier Racing Tire utilized by the Tour and its partner tracks and series.

Modern Day

For their efforts in the growth of stock car racing, both Squier and Curley have been inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame and the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. In 2004, ACT founder Tom Curley was voted by more than 1,000 race promoters across the continent as the Auto Racing Promoter of the Year. In 2018 Ken Squier was ceremoniously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC for his contributions to the growth of the sport on a national, and international, level.

While Squier continues to visit Thunder Road, ACT lost its visionary leader in May of 2017 when a decades-long battle with COPD claimed Tom Curley. In November that year the American-Canadian Tour changed ownership for the first time in its storied history. Former racer Cris Michaud and Vermont businessman Pat Malone took charge of the sanctioning body after partnering to purchase Vermont’s Thunder Road earlier that season. The partnership would go on to purchase New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park in 2019.

In recent years the American-Canadian Tour has competed at tracks across New England, Quebec, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Partnering with the Maine-based Pro All Stars Series (PASS), the two sanctioning bodies have been co-promoting events at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (CT) since 2020.

Competitors, officials, and fans alike are eagerly awaiting the 2023 season to begin. In its 45th consecutive year, the American-Canadian Tour schedule features thirteen point-counting events in New England and Quebec with highlights that include the return to Stafford Speedway, at least seven events worth $5,000-or-more to win and joining the region’s biggest weekends, including the 51st Spring Sizzler, the 50th Oxford 250 and the 61st Vermont Milk Bowl.

The American-Canadian Tour also returns as a permanent fixture in Quebec, Canada with the 10-race Serie ACT Quebec series in 2023. ACT-sanctioned weekly racing can also be found at Thunder Road International Speedbowl (VT), White Mountain Motorsports Park (NH) and Thompson Speedway (CT).

American-Canadian Tour Champions (1979-2022)

Year	Champion	Hometown	Tour Name	Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1979	Harmon 'Beaver' Dragon	Milton, VT	North Tour	27	9	23	24
1980	Harmon 'Beaver' Dragon	Milton, VT	North Tour	25	3	18	21
1981	Dick McCabe	Kennebunkport, ME	Molson Tour	27	7	19	23
1982	Dick McCabe	Kennebunkport, ME	Molson Tour	33	8	25	31
1983	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	Stroh's Tour	27	8	17	19
1984	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	Stroh's Tour	29	5	13	21
1985	Randy LaJoie	Norwalk, CT	Coors Tour	30	5	21	25
1986	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	ACT Coors Tour	27	10	20	22
1987	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	ACT Coors Tour	20	5	13	14
1988	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	ACT Coors Tour	21	11	14	15
1989	Russ Urlin	London, ON	ACT Coors Tour	21	7	19	21
1990	Robbie Crouch	Tampa, FL	ACT Coors Tour	22	4	14	17
1991	Junior Hanley	Oakville, ON	American-Canadian Tour	21	7	12	16
1992	Junior Hanley	Oakville, ON	American-Canadian Tour	23	10	16	19
	Dave Whitcomb	Essex Junction, VT	ACT LMS Series	8	1	4	5
1993	Junior Hanley	Oakville, ON	ACT GM Goodwrench Tour	21	12	16	17
	Brian Hoar	Willison, VT	ACT LMS Series	6	3	4	6
1994	Mike Rowe	Turner, ME	American-Canadian Tour	16	4	10	13
	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	ACT LMS Series	6	1	3	5
1995	Brad Leighton	Center Harbor, NH	American-Canadian Tour	17	7	8	14
	Lance Ferno	Williamstown, VT	ACT LMS Series	7	1	4	7
1996	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	8	2	5	5
1997	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	ACT Texaco-Havoline Series	8	2	6	6
1998	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	ACT Texaco-Havoline Series	9	4	6	7
1999	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	American-Canadian Tour	13	5	8	10
2000	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	American-Canadian Tour	12	3	8	11
2001	Pete Fecteau	Morrisville, VT	ACT Dodge Tour	13	2	7	9
2002	Phil Scott	Montpelier, VT	ACT Dodge Tour	16	0	9	14
2003	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	ACT Dodge Tour	16	4	11	12
2004	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	ACT Dodge Tour	14	2	8	10
2005	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	10	4	6	9
2006	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	11	2	6	8
2007	Jean-Paul Cyr	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	13	0	9	11
2008	Patrick Laperle	St-Denis, QC	American-Canadian Tour	12	3	8	10
2009	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	American-Canadian Tour	13	2	8	11
2010	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	American-Canadian Tour	13	3	10	13
2011	Brian Hoar	Williston, VT	American-Canadian Tour	12	5	9	11
2012	Wayne Helliwell, Jr	Dover, NH	American-Canadian Tour	10	4	7	9
2013	Wayne Helliwell, Jr	Dover, NH	American-Canadian Tour	14	2	10	13
2014	Joey Polewarczyk	Hudson, NH	American-Canadian Tour	9	2	9	9
2015	Wayne Helliwell, Jr	Dover, NH	American-Canadian Tour	13	4	10	13
2016	Nick Sweet	Barre, VT	American-Canadian Tour	13	3	9	11
2017	Scott Payea	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	9	5	8	9
2018	Scott Payea	Milton, VT	American-Canadian Tour	10	2	8	10
2019	Rich Dubeau	Plainfield, NH	American-Canadian Tour	10	2	8	9
2020	Jimmy Hebert	Williamstown, VT	American-Canadian Tour	9	2	7	9
2021	Ben Rowe	Turner, ME	American-Canadian Tour	12	1	6	11
2022	D.J. Shaw	Center Conway, NH	American-Canadian Tour	13	3	11	13

Série ACT Quebec

After a five year hiatus, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent international border closure, the Serie ACT Quebec series returns in 2023 for a 10-race schedule. Split evenly between Quebec bullrings Autodrome Chaudiere and Autodrome Montmagny, Serie ACT Quebec brings a permanent presence back to Canada for the ACT sanctioning body.

Year	Champion	Hometown	Races
2007	Patrick Laperle	St-Denis, QC	12
2008	Alexandre Gingras	Val-Belair, QC	8
2009	Donald Theetge	Boischatel, QC	9
2010	Karl Allard	Levis, QC	11
2011	Patrick Laperle	St-Denis, QC	12
2012	Patrick Laperle	St-Denis, QC	12
2013	Jean-François Déry	Quebec City, QC	11
2014	Alex Labbé	St-Albert, QC	8
2015	Dany Trepanier	St-Edouard, QC	12
2016	Patrick Laperle	St-Denis, QC	8
2017	Jonathan Bouvrette	Blainville, QC	6

See also

• Pro All Star Series
• NASCAR
• K&N Pro Series East
• CASCAR Super Series
• NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
• List of NASCAR series

External links

• American Canadian Tour official website
• The Third Turn Database