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Rock Bouffard photos
Vallee-Jonction, QC — Following a long-term rain delay throughout the morning and early afternoon at Autodrome Chaudiere, thirty-three American-Canadian Tour teams set their qualifying positions for the Claude Leclerc 150 at the tough and exciting Quebec oval. The popular Quebec speedplant brought a variety of teams to battle for the $5,000 prize of the Claude Leclerc 150 with one popular young star standing victorious at the end!
Jonathan Bouvrette inherited the pole position after carrying over his +3 handicap from his heat with the victory in the second consolation race, but he didn’t keep the lead long. Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif led from the drop of the green flag with a rearview mirror full of New Hampshire’s Gabe Brown as Bouvrette slid back on the outside groove. By lap 17, both Tardif and Brown had to navigate heavy lap traffic to push the young hot-shoes to their limits while Bouvrette would bring out the first caution for a spin in turn three.
Tardif kept the lead on the restart, proving fast on all of Chaudiere’s tricky grooves with Patrick Laperle and Raphael Lessard close behind and battling hard for second. Another caution on lap 42 slowed pace once again as Daniel Verner and Christopher Bedard settled an earlier heat-race squall which relegated both to the pits for the rest of the Claude Leclerc 150.
The restart would prove Tardif’s toughest yet with Lessard all over his rear bumper as the two drove hard and found themselves dicing through lap traffic once again. While the battle was mighty, just behind them another battle raged between D.J. Shaw, Derek Gluchacki and rookie Kasey Beattie. The three Americans drove three wide battling hard for top-five position, each of the three refusing to give an inch!
Shaw would break free to begin battling Laperle for third while Lessard continued to dangerously stalk Tardif at the front before electrical issues saw the #48 Larue machine begin to sputter and fall back, ending his day in the pit area. In the final circuits, it was lights out on the field with Alexendre Tardif becoming the second first-time American-Canadian Tour winner in as many events followed by Laperle in second and Gabe Brown getting the edge on Shaw for third. Rookie Kasey Beattie rounded out the top five.
Chaudiere ace Jeff Cote took home sixth followed by Kulwicki Driver Development finalist Derek Gluchacki in seventh. Jonathan Bouvrette drove back to an eighth place finish followed by William Larue and Patrick Cliché to round out the top ten.
The American-Canadian Tour is back in action on Saturday, June 8 at The Action Track of the East, Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts. The American-Canadian Tour takes over the Concrete Palace for the first of two visits in 2024 with the 49th Spring Green 124, one of the sanctioning body’s marquee cornerstone events first taking place back in 1974. The Seekonk weekly Late Model warriors look to overpower the Touring stars and finally keep the win in Southeast Massachusetts after over 40 years of trying!
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.
The Claude Leclerc 150
Autodrome Chaudiere – Vallee-Jonction, QC
Saturday, May 18, 2024
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
1 21QC Alexendre Tardif Notre-Dame-des-Pins, Canada
2 0NH Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC
3 47NH Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
4 04VT DJ Shaw Center Conway, NH
5 45NH #Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
6 51QC Jeff Cote Beauceville, QC
7 03MA Derek Gluchacki Dartmouth, MA
8 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
9 45QC William Larue Quebec City, QC
10 44QC Patrick Cliché Levis, QC
11 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard, QC
12 72QC Louis-Philippe Lauzier St-Pacome, QC
13 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
14 18VT #Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT
15 77NH Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
16 27NH Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
17 33QC Remi Perrault St. Paul, QC
18 7MA #Jeremy Sorel Westfield, MA
19 33P Philippe Poulin St-Georges, QC
20 33D Laurent Desjardins Mirabel, QC
21 37QC Dany Gariepy Quebec City, QC
22 66QC Simon Roussin Quebec City, QC
23 11QC Claude Leclerc Lanoraie, QC
24 78QC Michael Lavoie Chicoutimi, QC
25 48QC Raphael Lessard St-Joseph, QC
26 25NH Jesse Switser W. Burke, VT
27 17QC Maxime Gauvreau St-Marc de Richelieu, QC
28 01VT Stephen Martin Craftsbury Common, VT
29 65QC Daniel Verner Ste-Genevieve-de-Batiscan, QC
30 15QC Christopher Bedard Levis, QC
31 92QC Jonathan Desbiens Levis, QC
32 69QC Vincent Rivard Quebec City, QC
33 57QC Carl Poulin East Broughton, QC
