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Photos Eric Tavares
Hickory, NC — Although rain dampened the Easter Bunny Weekend of Speed on Friday, Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials created a new plan for an epic Saturday doubleheader that saw both the St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Bunny programs go off without a hitch for the American-Canadian Tour. Teams saw both highs and lows in one of the busiest days on record, several drivers earning much-needed redemption to cap off the busy Saturday schedule and started their 2023 season on solid ground.
The St. Patrick’s Day 125 was led to point by 2022 rivals D.J. Shaw and Derek Gluchacki. New Hampshire’s Shaw and Massachusetts’ Gluchacki battled hard, often side-by-side, over two caution periods and across 80 laps before the big one struck on lap 81. Quebec’s Dany Trepanier, Vermont’s Marcel Gravel, among others collided in turn two to bring out a large clean up and slowed the field. The battle between the two black-and-blue Ford Mustangs of Shaw and Gluchacki would resume until the red flag flew on lap 111 out of respect for a funeral at the cemetery adjacent to the speedway, a common occurrence at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Following the 30-minute red flag period, battles returned to fiery levels with two previous ACT Tour winners edging each other at the line each lap until Gluchacki gained the upper hand. The recently announced Kulwicki Driver Development semi-finalist, Derek Gluchacki earned his first Hickory Motor Speedway win followed by D.J. Shaw and Jimmy Renfrew Jr. who hard-charged from a 19th-place starting position to come home third.
The Easter Bunny 125 for the American-Canadian Tour was just as thrilling with teams taking the gloves off in hopes of finding victory lane. Brought to green by the Port City Racecar power of Mike Hopkins and Patrick Laperle, the iconic orange 91QC led the opening laps over Hopkins as a repaired Marcel Gravel kept in step for third. Behind the leaders in the top-10 Jimmy Renfrew Jr. and Tom Carey III ran out of racing room and tangled on the backstretch. Renfrew’s left front Hoosier Racing Tire went down as Carey’s right front blew, shooting Carey up into the turn three wall and ending another strong Hickory run for the Brookside Equipment team.
D.J. Shaw moved into third place to begin mixing it up with Gravel and Laperle before taking over the lead on lap 47. With Shaw checking out at the front of the field, Gravel and Laperle began taking heat from New Hampshire’s Jamie Swallow Jr. The 4NH team was plagued with overheating issues that forced an end to his strong run in the St. Patrick’s Day event, but Swallow was showing no signs of quitting the Easter Bunny showdown. Swallow and Laperle would battle ferociously side-by-side over forty laps while Shaw continued to gain ground until he flew under the checkered flag. Defending ACT champion D.J. Shaw would take the Easter Bunny 125 to redeem his day at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jason Corliss and Jamie Swallow Jr. also tasted redemption after poor showing and rough luck in the first event.
The ACT Mighty Mini Stock Series debut at Hickory was also a success with a mix of southern turf defenders and northern invaders making the trek to battle it out for the North/South King of the Mini Stocks challenge. During the first 50 lap event, local racer Michael Tucker stomped the field to take the St. Patrick’s Day win while mechanical failure ended a strong run for New Hampshire’s Cody LeBlanc during a top-5 run. Round two would see another local, Tim Canipe in his beautifully prepared 10 machine, put on another stomping to lead from flag to flag. AJ Sanders took two second-place finishes to combine for the low 4-point total score and was crowned King of the Mini Stocks, taking home the prize courtesy of Kids Only Daycare and Cody LeBlanc Racing.
Spirited battles also filled the Pro All Stars Series twin-150 lap events on Saturday. Several drivers took off and put on excellent side-by-side racing, but they could not hold back Cole Butcher. The Nova Scotia-native and defending Oxford 250 champion swept both PASS Super Late Model events on Saturday while defending Oxford Plains Speedway champion Max Cookson swept both second-place podiums. Ryan Kuhn took bronze in the St. Patrick’s Day 150 while Hopkins powered up to take third in the Easter Bunny 150.
The American-Canadian Tour starts the 2023 point-counting season in earnest on Saturday, April 15th with the 3rdannual Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Both the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models and ACT Tour are heading for twin 50-lap events, both worth $5,500 to the winner while the Open Tour-type Modifieds shoot for the $7,000 grand prize in their 50-lap main event at the Magic Mile. The Mighty Mini Stocks and the R&R Raceparts NH Open Street Stocks are also on tap.
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ACTTour.
Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory, NC
St. Patrick’s Day/Easter Bunny Doubleheader Saturday!
Saturday, March 18, 2023
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
ACT St. Patrick’s Day 125
1. 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
2. 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
3. 00NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
4. 45NH Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
5. 18QC Jean-Philippe Bergeron Terrebonne, QC
6. 0NH Quinten Welch Groveton, NH
7. 31CT #Andrew Molleur Woodbridge, CT
8. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
9. 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
10. 6MA Nicholas Johnson Rehoboth, MA
11. 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
12. 42QC Eric St-Gelais St-Amie-des-Lac, QC
13. 28NH Ricky Bly Sunapee, NH
14. 10ME Christian LaFlamme Whitefield, NH
15. 37CT Jordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT
16. 55VT Keegan Lamson Berlin, VT
17. 15ME Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
18. 91QC Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
19. 30RI Jacob Burns E. Greenwich, RI
20. 1MA Austin Erickson Ashland, MA
21. 91CT Jake Johnson Reheboth, MA
22. 86VT Marcel Gravel Wolcott, VT
23. 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC
24. 5ME #Dominic Curit Saco, ME
25. 73MA Cole Littlewood Orange, MA
26. 4NH Jamie Swallow Jr. Stark, NH
DNS 82MA Mark Hudson Norton, MA
PASS National St. Patrick’s Day 150
1. 53 Cole Butcher Hantsport, NS
2. 39 Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME
3. 72 Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA
4. 88 Brandon Barker Westbrook, ME
5. 60 D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
6. 7D Joey Doiron Berwick, ME
7. 94 Garrett Hall Scarborough, ME
8. 18 Michael Scorzelli Feura Bush, NY
9. 50 Andy Shaw Center Conway, NH
10. 25 Shawn Knight S. Paris, ME
11. 15MA Jake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
12. 42 Kyle Reid Antigonish, NS
13. 24J J.P. Josiasse Ennismore, ON
14. 15 Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
15. 5 Ben Rowe Turner, ME
16. 74 Ryan Moore Scarborough, ME
17. 21 Joshua King Vernon, VT
18. 12 Dennis Spencer, Jr. Oxford, ME
19. 44 Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME
20. 32 Nick Jenkins Brownville, ME
21. 09 Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH
22. 96 Wyatt Alexander Ellsworth, ME
ACT Mighty Mini Series St. Patrick’s Day 50
1. 16 Michael Tucker
2. 24 AJ Sanders
3. 18NC Chuck Wall
4. 1 Shane Canipe
5. 10NC Tim Canipe
6. 85 Mike Viens
7. 12 Christopher Sontag
8. 33 Erin Aiken
9. 18NH Jake Rheaume
10. 7MI Matt LeBlanc
11. 13 Cameron Sontag
12. 88NH Emerson Cayer
13. 7SC Kevin Willey
14. 7NH Cody LeBlanc
15. 26 Aiden Gauthier
16. 41 Robert Williams
17. 09NC Randy Canipe
18. 17 Nick Miller
19. 12 Christopher Sontag
America-Canadian Tour Easter Bunny 125
1. 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
2. 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
3. 4NH Jamie Swallow Jr. Stark, NH
4. 86VT Marcel J. Gravel Wolcott, VT
5. 00NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
6. 91CT Jake Johnson Reheboth, MA
7. 91QC Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
8. 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
9. 0NH Quinten Welch Groveton, NH
10. 45NH Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
11. 18QC Jean-Philippe Bergeron Terrebonne, QC
12. 6MA Nick Johnson Reheboth, MA
13. 31CT #Andrew Molleur Woodbridge, CT
14. 30RI Jacob Burns E. Greenwich, RI
15. 1MA Austin Erickson Ashland, MA
16. 37CT Jordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT
17. 55VT Keegan Lamson Berlin, VT
18. 10ME Christian LaFlamme Whitefield, NH
19. 5ME #Dominic Curit Saco, ME
20. 42QC Eric St-Gelais St-Aime-des-Lac, QC
21. 73MA Cole Littlewood Orange, MA
22. 15ME Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
23. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
24. 28NH Ricky Bly Sunapee, NH
DNS 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC
DNS 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
DNS 82MA Mark Hudson Norton, MA
PASS Easter Bunny 150
1. 53 Cole Butcher Hantsport, NS
2. 39 Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME
3. 15 Mike Hopkins Herman, ME
4. 88 Brandon Barker Westbrook, ME
5. 94 Garrett Hall Scarborough, ME
6. 72 Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA
7. 42 Kyle Reid Antigonish, NS
8. 15MA Jake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
9. 44 Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME
10. 50 Andy Shaw Center Conway, NH
11. 7D Joey Doiron Berwick, ME
12. 60 D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
13. 96 Wyatt Alexander Ellsworth, ME
14. 18 Michael Scorzelli Feura Bush, NY
15. 24J J.P. Josiasse Ennismore, ON
16. 25 Shawn Knight S. Paris, ME
17. 09 Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH
18. 5 Ben Rowe Turner, ME
DNS 12 Dennis Spencer, Jr. Oxford, ME
DNS 74 Ryan Moore Scarborough, ME
DNS 21 Joshua King Vernon, VT
DNS 32 Nick Jenkins Brownville, ME
ACT Mighty Mini Series Easter Bunny 50
1. 10NC Tim Canipe
2. 24 AJ Sanders
3. 18NC Chuck Wall
4. 88NH Emerson Cayer
5. 1 Shane Canipe
6. 12 Christopher Sontag
7. 09NC Randy Canpie
8. 13 Cameron Sontag
9. 16 Michael Tucker
10. 7MI Matt LeBlanc
11. 85 Mike Viens
12. 12NC Jesse York
13. 41 Robert Williams
14. 7SC Kevin Willey
15. 17 Nick Miller
16. 18NH Jake Rheaume
17. 33 Erin Aiken
18. 26 Aiden Gauthier
