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Erik Tavares photo
Barre, VT — A goal seven years in the making has come to fruition. Since purchasing the American-Canadian Tour at the end of the 2017 season, Cris Michaud and Pat Malone have worked diligently over the past six seasons to finalize one goal above all others: building up event purses and rewarding the racers. Now, that time has come. ACT Officials announced today that starting in 2024 all American-Canadian Tour purses will be at least $5,000 to win and $500 to start.
The American-Canadian Tour, since adapting to the current Late Model program, saw regular purses of $2,000 to win and $400 to start over the past decades leading to Michaud and Malone’s purchase of the Tour from iconic founder Tom Curley. The duo immediately increased the ACT championship point fund by $10,000 for full-time competitors and Rookie of the Year chasers, setting a path for increasing monetary rewards for the traveling international stars.
In the past several years the two have steadily increased ACT base purses, most recently moving to a $3,000 to win and $450 to start base that has been increased to the new $5,000 to win and $500 to start initiative. On the touring side, racers also have the Brookside Equipment Sales Southern New England Triple Crown with a separate point fund, the $100,000 Vermont Milk Bowl purse and $10,000 to win events on both sides of the US/Canadian border.
ACT-sanctioned tracks have also seen increased options in the last several seasons. Michaud and Malone created the Flying Tiger Triple Crown at Thunder Road in 2017, bringing the same program to White Mountain in 2019. The successful Wall’s Ford Platinum Late Model Series at White Mountain in turn has led to a similar separate-point-fund Late Model Triple Crown at Thunder Road this upcoming season. Thunder Road Street Stocks got a first taste of Triple Crown action last season while the White Mountain Strictly Minis annually compete a $500 to win, 50-lap spectacular; this season a Father’s Day special!
Since 2017, the increases in the base American-Canadian Tour event purses, ACT point fund, the Vermont Milk Bowl guaranteed purse and both Thunder Road and White Mountain track championship point funds have increased by a combined 156%.
“It was one of my biggest goals to build up these purses for the racer,” said ACT managing partner Cris Michaud. “I can remember those long hauls, two or three nights of racing a week. It’s a blast, but it’s also an economic commitment. I’m very proud that we’ve built back up to this point and I hope our racers feel just as proud because they’re worth it, they’ve earned it.”
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, Instagram and Twitter at @ACTTour.
