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Alan Ward photo
Waterford, CT — The 2022 American-Canadian Tour was finalized Saturday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl for the return of the Shoreline 150. Thirty-six teams attempted to qualify for twenty-six spots in the season-ending event with the Southern New England Triple Crown championship in the minds of several teams looking to ride out the year with a little extra change in their pockets.
Following three rounds of qualifying, the twenty-six car field added two provisional starting positions for Jonathan Bouvrette and Remi Perreault, the only two top-ten point teams that had not qualified in. Led to green by Jimmy Renfrew Jr., once again piloting the Sullivan Construction 0NH Chevy Camaro, after earning a +5 in his qualifying heat. Renfrew quickly faced Speedbowl regular Glen Thomas Jr. before calamity struck the early stages of the event.
A quick spin for Bouvrette and fellow top-ten point man Erick Sands in turn three restacked the field with less than stellar results under the restart green. Thomas came to speed off turn four sideways, collecting Cory DiMatteo on the frontstretch and bringing the yellow lights back to life. Restarting alongside 2022 Thompson Speedway champion Ryan Morgan, Renfrew pulled hard under the green before the caution returned once more for leaking fluid from the RP Enterprises machine of Perreault on lap 4.
Under the return to green flag racing, Ryan Morgan would best Renfrew on the outside lane using his many years of Speedbowl experience around the New Hampshire hot-shoe. As the field settled in, Haunted Hundred hero Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns slapped the backstretch wall and brought his 30RI to a stop high in turn four prompting Race Control to throw the caution and issue Burns a one-lap penalty for the intentional yellow.
Morgan would once again pull away from Renfrew under the green flag as D.J. Shaw, Gabe Brown, Alexendre Tardif and Jordan Hadley stalked from behind. Speedbowl regular Hadley and 2022 ACT Rookie of the Year Tardif would begin to get into it at the tail-end of the top-five before the two of them would go spinning in turns one and two to call out the fifth caution of the event. Steering issues would end Tardif’s day after two strong Southern New England runs to end his 2022 season.
Morgan would now match up with Gabe Brown for the first time with Brown leading lap 28 in the Coparts.com Ford Mustang normally piloted by Kentucky’s Isaac Bevins. With Morgan and Shaw settled in to follow Brown for the time being, White Mountain Rookie of the Year Bryan Wall Jr. and New Hampshire’s Cody LeBlanc began mixing it up in the back of the top-ten. Overzealousness between the two sent them spinning in turn four to bring back the caution lights over the field.
On the restart Brown would choose the outside of Renfrew and powered off quickly allowing Morgan to follow through from fourth on the grid. With Morgan and Renfrew battling hard for second-place, Brown began to grow his lead at the head of the field. Derek Gluchacki entered the mix to make it a three-way battle for second until the final caution would fly on lap 50 for the spinning Tom Carey III in turn two, showcasing an off day for the Brookside Equipment team.
Brown, now choosing the bottom lane, took off from Morgan once again with Gluchacki in tow. As Gluchacki and Shaw remained content to stalk Brown, Morgan began to feel the heat from White Mountain Motorsports Park standout Kasey Beattie and a hard-charging Erick Sands. Coming from the 23rd starting position, Sands motored under and around both Beattie and Morgan to begin chasing down the leaders.
Using lap traffic in the final stages, Gluchacki and Shaw battled inside and outside each other while keeping Brown merely a car length away out front. As Brown’s Ford Mustang began getting tighter and tighter, Gluchacki would get the upper hand, rounding the longtime leader on lap 112 followed by Shaw and Sands.
Running to the end, Derek Gluchacki would take his third American-Canadian Tour victory of the 2022 season with the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Shoreline 150. 2022 ACT Tour Champion D.J. Shaw came home second followed by career-best-matching Erick Sands to round out the podium. Shaw’s run also guaranteed him the top prize in the Southern New England Triple Crown Series with Gluchacki besting Tom Carey III by one-point to claim second.
After leading the most Shoreline 150 laps, Gabe Brown came home fourth followed by Kasey Beattie in fifth. Young Tanner Woodard would outduel multi-time Waterford Late Model champion Jason Palmer for sixth followed by Jordan Hadley, Andrew Molleur and Bryan Wall Jr. to round out the top-ten.
The 2022 American-Canadian Tour season has come to a stellar close. The Stars of the ACT Tour will be honored Saturday, November 5th at the 2022 Banquet of Champions before preparing their teams for the 2023 season of Championship Stock Car Racing. More information will be released in the coming weeks and months with Officials preparing the 2023 schedule and more exciting news to come!
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
New London-Waterford Speedbowl – Waterford, CT
The ACT Shoreline 150
Saturday, October 29, 2022
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
American-Canadian Tour – Shoreline 150
1. 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
2. 04VT D.J. Shaw Ctr. Conway, NH
3. 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
4. 27KY Gabe Brown Ctr. Conway, NH
5. 45NH Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
6. 68NH Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
7. 17CT Jason Palmer Berlin, CT
8. 37CT Jordan Hadley Waterford, CT
9. 35CT Andrew Molleur Shelton, CT
10. 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
11. 7ME Dylan Payea Milton, VT
12. 7NH #Cody Leblanc Berlin, NH
13. 0NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
14. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
15. 02NH Randy Potter Groveton, NH
16. 4CT Reese Bogue Groton, CT
17. 27NH #Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
18. 04NH Shawn Swallow Groveton, NH
19. 68VT Brooks Clark Fayston, VT
20. 31CT Ryan Morgan Franklin, CT
21. 73ME Dave Farrington, Jr. Sabattus, ME
22. 30RI Jacob Rowdy Burns E. Greenwich, RI
23. 21QC Alexandre Tardif Notre Dame des Pins, QC
24. 53MA Glen Thomas W. Bridewater, MA
25. 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
26. 33QC Remi Perreault Joliette, QC
27. 6CT Corey DiMatteo Farmington, CT
28. 2CT Derryck Anderson Jr. Plainfield, CT
DNQ 50RI Mike Benevides Westerly, RI
DNQ 49NH Matt Anderson Franklin, NH
DNQ 7CT PJ Evans Uncasville, CT
DNQ 38RI Connor Souza Riverside, RI
DNQ 78NH Quinten Welch Groveton, NH
DNQ 19NH Camdyn Curtis Baltimore, VT
DNQ 93CT Ray Christian III Uncasville, CT
DNQ 39VT Mike Foster Williston, VT
