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Brown, Swanson, Varney and Woodard Visit Winner’s Circle
N. Woodstock, NH — Through the skirting winds that whistled down through the Pemigewasset Valley on Saturday, a powerful collection of Northeast racing talent gathered at the White Mountain Motorsports Park for one of its most hallowed events. Celebrating the 45t Fall Foliage 200 for the American-Canadian Tour showcased a no-holds, white-knuckle battlefield lap after lap, the same could be said for all five divisions as everyone looked for glory with the season winding down.
Zach Nicholson got the jump on Alex Ricker at the start of the PASS Modified 50-lap feature event with Spencer Morse in hot pursuit in the opening laps. After patiently stalking from behind, Morse looked to the outside of Nicholson before a lap 12 caution for Kevin Oliver and Evan Roy on the frontstretch. The Nicholson and Morse battle continued as Brandon Varney drove up through the field to claim third and the Weston’s Automotive Challenge Series. Varney would slide under Morse to claim second just after the halfway point.
With fifteen laps remaining, the top six raced under a blanket as Ryan Hewins, Ryan Ripley and Spencer Vaughn moved into the top-three mix in the front before the final caution on lap 37. After a fierce side-by-side battle at the restart, Brandon Varney would pace the field to the very end while a wild battle behind him saw Zach Nicholson claim second and Spencer Morse jump up to third on the final lap.
Matt Swanson took the fast lane against Dave Duggan under the green flag in the New England Supermodified Series 50-lap trophy dash. Rob Summers immediately nabbed second from his third-place starting spot as Duggan settled in for third. After Swanson had worked up a half-track lead on Summers, mayhem ensued on lap 42 as NESS point leader Ben Seitz slid backward into the turn four wall with Danny Lane spinning to the infield. Matt Swanson would again make short work under the return to green to take the Supermodified win over Rob Summers and Dave Duggan on Fall Foliage Saturday.
D.J. Shaw and Gabe Brown led the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model 150 to the initial green flag with Patrick Laperle and Joey Doiron in tow. With Brown ahead early, Shaw was left with a mirror full of Doiron in the opening, pace-setting laps. The first caution would fly on lap 15 with Andy Shaw spinning off the bumper of Austin Teras in turn two. Brown kept the lead under the restart green as Jimmy Hebert flew to the outside of D.J. Shaw before Laperle’s halted machine in turn four called another caution on lap 20. Slowly but surely Hebert worked his way closer to Brown’s lead each lap around the White Mountain highbanks with Shaw seeming content to bide his time in third.
Hebert’s strong run would fade with the hissing steam erupting from his overflow with an overheating engine leaving Brown with a half-track lead over Shaw and young-gun Austin Teras. The field re-racked following a lap 64 caution for the inverted J.P. Josiasse in turn two with Brown getting the jump once again. Although slowed again on lap 90 and 92 to face off with Johnny Clark, Gabe Brown would take down the win to break Johnny Clark’s 2023 win-streak at White Mountain. Clark would take second with Max Cookson in third.
Former Beech Ridge Motor Speedway hot-shoe David Vaughn led the field before outside polesitter Dave Baron got loose on the start and went slamming into the frontstretch wall. John Donahue grabbed alongside Vaughn on the restart but found the outside a bit slippery before powering back with Colin Cornell on his tail. The five-way battle for third saw a gaggle of competitors vying to join the podium throughout the 35-lap main event. With just three laps remaining, second-place runner Colin Cornell blew a right front tire in turn four to bring out the late race caution. Donahue went to battle with Jason Woodard at the front before Luke Peters and Frankie Sweeney tangled and hooked together as they slid across the frontstretch. In the final restart, a firefight between Donahue and Woodard, with plenty of action behind them, Jason Woodard claimed his first White Mountain win of the season followed by John Donahue and Matt Potter.
After each earning a +5 in the second qualifying heat, 2023 White Mountain track champion Kasey Beattie and current ACT rookie of the year leader Tanner Woodard brought the 45th Fall Foliage 200 to green to wrap up the evening’s scheduled events. Woodard quickly took control at the front, looking to grab up the lap-leader bonus points with the championship event right around the corner. A short series of quick spins re-racked the field in the opening laps with Woodard staying consistent out ahead of Beattie at the front.
Woodard lost control off turn two with a flat left front on lap 25 to lose the lead and bring out the lap 27 caution. Now under the control of Keegan Lamson at the front, Beattie faced heavy pressure from top ACT hunters Alexendre Tardif, Derek Gluchacki and Gabe Brown. With the first fifty laps in the books, Lamson continued his reign atop the 29-car field with Beattie and Tardif battling behind him.
Following the competition stop for fuel, many teams returned to take on their right-side change tires and settle in for the remaining 148 laps. Lamson muscled his way back to lead lap 54 with Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250 winner Jesse Switser working his way up into second around Tardif. After a red flag caution for Peyton Lanphear, Switser overtook the lead from Lamson on the restart with Tarif swooping under to claim second. Jason Corliss entered the top-5 mix with Joey Pole after recovering from an early melee in turn two as Switser and Tardif paced the field.
Shaw and Lamson got physical for third with Shaw prevailing as championship rival Gabe Brown and Joey Pole fought side-by-side for fourth. Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif stole away the lead from Switser on lap 85 and dug deep to stretch his lead. While Tardif used lap traffic to his advantage, so did Shaw as he crept closer to Switser’s hold on second-place. After contact with Dillon Moltz in turn one, Remi Perreault went around across the corner and brought out the yellow on lap 122.
Tardif and Switser restarted ahead of championship stalemate Shaw and Brown with a field of wild cards behind them. A dogfight for the two continued as Shaw overcame a loose Gabe Brown for third and Switser powered back to the front ahead of Tardif. With fifty laps remaining, the four ran nose-to-tail with Joey Pole tagging on to make it five in line around the bullring.
Calamity struck Jesse Switser with just fourteen laps remaining as his right rear tire let go after several very loose laps for the West Burke driver gifting Tardif the lead but a hell-fire restart to come. Hoping for a fast lane on the outside, Tardif made a bold statement that saw Gabe Brown take the restart lead. Back under the 60ME with ten to go, Tardif went for broke with Joey Pole bearing down before a huge pile-up in turns three and four that took out several runners.
The restart saw Tardif get shuffled out of the lead with Brown and Pole at the helm. Brown worked the outside groove while Pole was suctioned to the bottom before Shawn Swallow made contact with Shaw on lap 194. Brown and Pole again at it on the front row before one final restart with two to go. Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. led the way by just 0.305-seconds over Gabe Brown to claim his third Fall Foliage victory with Jonathan Bouvrette rounding out the podium. Andrew Molleur would take the top rookie spot with a fourth place finish with Erick Sands following in fifth.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr. and Brandon Barker finished sixth and seventh with Alexendre Tardif, Tanner Woodard and D.J. Shaw all bouncing back from trouble to round out the top-10.
The American-Canadian Tour regulars return to Thunder Road International Speedbowl for the 61st running of the Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank on Saturday, September 30th and Sunday, October 1st. Along with having their name etched in Barre Granite for all time, the winner of the iconic event will also pocket the $12,000 grand prize along with qualifying, lap money and other bonuses in excess of $100,000 on the line! Following the non-point affair, the American-Canadian Tour wraps up its 45th season of Championship Stock Car Racing at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday, October 21st with the Haunted Hundred.
The Pro All Stars Series continues a busy September with a visit to Caribou, Maine’s Spud Speedway for the Feed the County 150 next Saturday before ending the month on Booth Bros/Hood Saturday as part of the 61st Vermont Milk Bowl on September 30th. White Mountain Motorsports Park wraps up the 2023 season next Saturday, September 23rd with Championship Night for all six divisions.
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.
White Mountain Motorsports Park – N. Woodstock, NH
Saturday, September 16, 2023
45th Fall Foliage 200
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
American-Canadian Tour – Fall Foliage 200
1 97NH Joey Polewarczyk Hudson, NH
2 60ME Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
3 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
4 31CT #Andrew Molleur Shelton, CT
5 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
6 00NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
7 0NH Brandon Barker Windham, ME
8 21QC Alexendre Tardif Notre Dame des Pins, QC
9 68NH #Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
10 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
11 04NH Shawn Swallow Groveton, NH
12 7NH Cody Leblanc Berlin, NH
13 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
14 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
15 25NH Jesse Switser West Burke, VT
16 21VT Reilly Lanphear Waterbury, VT
17 61NH Ryan Olsen N. Haverhill, NH
18 49CT Anthony Bello Newtown, CT
19 49NH Matt Anderson Franklin, NH
20 5ME #Dominic Curit Saco, ME
21 33QC Remi Perreault Joliette, QC
22 5CT Dillon Moltz New Sharon, ME
23 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC
24 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
25 45NH Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
26 78NH Quinten Welch Groveton, NH
27 55VT Keegan Lamson Berlin, VT
28 22VT Peyton Lanphear Waterbury, VT
29 27NH Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
PASS Super Late Models – (150 Laps)
1. 47B Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
2. 54 Johnny Clark Hallowell, ME
3. 39 Max Cookson Pittsfield, ME
4. 02 Brian Whalley Laconia, NH
5. 73D Joey Doiron Berwick, ME
6. 12 Dennis Spencer Jr. Oxford, ME
7. 29 Austin Teras Gray, ME
8. 60 D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
9. 50 Andy Shaw Center Conway, NH
10. 32 Tom Abele, Jr.
11. 99ME Ben Ashline Palmyra, ME
12. 24J JP Josiasse Ennismore, ON
13. 44 Trevor Sanborn E. Parsonsfield, ME
14. 18E Miller Buzzell
15. 25 Shawn Knight S. Paris, ME
16. 1VT Evan Hallstrom Northfield, VT
17. 77A Jeremy Sorel
18. 91 Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
19. 58VT Jimmy Hebert Williamstown, VT
20. 09 Jeremy Davis Tamworth, NH
21. 63 Kyle Salemi
New England Supermodified Series – (50 Laps)
1. 97 Matt Swanson Acton, MA
2. 5 Rob Summers Manchester, CT
3. 51 Dave Duggan Mason, NH
4. 52 Vern Romanowski
5. 9 Danny Lane
6. 25 Dan Bowles Epping, NH
7. 41 Russ Wood Pelham, NH
8. 11 Ben Seitz
9. 45 Mike Mayberry Naples, ME
PASS Modifieds – (40 Laps)
1. 1 Brandon Varney Canton, ME
2. 21 Zach Nicholson Ctr. Ossipee, NH
3. 34 Spencer Morse Naples, ME
4. 09 Ryan Ripley Thomaston, ME
5. 70 Ryan Hewins Oxford, ME
6. 85 Chanler Harrison Freeport, ME
7. 66 Jacoby Maines Buxton, ME
8. 9 Alex Ricker Tamworth, NH
9. 1x Kevin Varney Mechanic Falls, ME
10. 7 Spencer Vaughn Canton, ME
11. 13 Evan Roy Turner, ME
12. 28 Kevin Oliver Gray, ME
13. 33 Billy Dixon N. Waterboro, ME
14. 6 Zach Bowie Greene, ME
Fisher Auto Parts Flying Tigers – (35 Laps)
1 68VT Jason Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
2 26NH John Donahue Graniteville, VT
3 23VT Matthew Potter Marshfield, VT
4 34ME David Vaughn Naples, ME
5 00VT Brandon Gray E. Thetford, VT
6 54VT Colin Cornell E. Burke, VT
7 23NH Michael Potter Plainfield, VT
8 82NH Frank Sweeney Belmont, NH
9 26VT #Luke Peters Groton, VT
10 15NH Joey Laquerre E. Montpelier, VT
11 3NH David Baron Nashua, NH
