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Mark A. Cote photo
Thompson, CT — Out-of-character weather greeted the American-Canadian Tour faithful with clear skies and plenty of sunshine on Sunoco World Series Saturday at Thompson Speedway. Windham, Maine’s Brandon Barker earned the pole position in the Chad Sullivan-owned Epping Express with New Salem, Massachusetts-driver Tom Carey III bringing Roger McHugh’s Brookside Ride an outside pole starting spot in Plus/Minus heat race qualifying. Drama sparked pit-side following qualifying action with both Erick Sands and Derek Gluchacki disqualified from their heat race results with both deemed too wide in post-heat tech inspection.
The lone caution in the Sunoco World Series 75 occurred as the field flew underneath the initial green flag with former Thompson Speedway champion Brian Tagg sliding through the infield grass, the nose of his J.V. Mechanical Chevy Camaro taking a shot on the infield wall before returning to the tail of the field. With the Sunoco World Series 75 under green, Carey quickly led from the dominant outside groove over Barker as former Seekonk Speedway champion Ryan Kuhn followed suit.
As the field strung out, the latter-half of the top ten went to work on each other. The top five runners of the American-Canadian Tour, DJ Shaw, Gabe Brown, Derek Gluchacki, Kasey Beattie and Alexendre Tardif swapped paint and battled hard for position as they attempted to move up the chain in the early goings. Both the American-Canadian Tour championship and the Brookside Equipment Sales Southern New England Triple Crown heavy on their minds, Shaw, Gluchacki and Brown fought hard to enter the top ten runners as Carey began to make space at the head of the field.
Unfortunately for Tardif, the ‘Fireball’ went up in smoke with power-steering fluid creating constant dark grey smoke that prompted officials to send him pit side for evaluation. Tardif was not the only one facing mechanical woes in the long green flag run on the tough Thompson 0.625-mile oval. Rookie hopeful and Thunder Road track champion Kaiden Fisher dropped out after 35 laps with a broken sway bar while Bryan Wall Jr. limped pit side nineteen laps later with broken left-rear suspension.
Meanwhile Tom Carey III set sail out front with Ryan Kuhn keeping him honest just a car-length behind. With ten laps remaining Kuhn began to gain on Carey in the corners but Carey’s confidence kept him on an even keel. Tom Carey III took down the Sunoco World Series 75 win by less than half a second over Ryan Kuhn with Brandon Barker holding on for third in the 75-lap sprint. Saturday’s victory would be Carey’s fourth career American-Canadian Tour victory, his second on Sunoco World Series weekend at Thompson Speedway.
Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette, also a former World Series champion, came home fourth overall with DJ Shaw rounding out the top five. Gabe Brown was hot on Shaw’s heels for sixth followed by a hard-charging Derek Gluchacki, rookie Jeremy Sorel, Oxford winner Jesse Switser and former Thompson Speedway champion Ryan Morgan rounding out the top ten.
The American-Canadian Tour finishes off the 2024 season at the Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts on Saturday, November 2 with the Haunted Hundred. Both the American-Canadian Tour champion and the Brookside Equipment Sales Triple Crown champion will be crowned at the Concrete Palace alongside the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series and the Street Stock Open for a rip-roaring end to the 2024 season!
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.
The ACT Sunoco World Series 75
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, CT
Saturday, October 12, 2024
OFFICIAL RESULTS
American-Canadian Tour – (75 Laps)
1. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
2. 72MA Ryan Kuhn East Bridgewater, MA
3. 0NH Brandon Barker Windham, ME
4. 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
5. 04VT DJ Shaw Center Conway, NH
6. 47NH Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
7. 03MA Derek Gluchacki Dartmouth, MA
8. 7MA #Jeremy Sorel Westfield, MA
9. 25NH Jesse Switser W. Burke, VT
10. 31CT Ryan Morgan North Franklin, CT
11. 27NH Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
12. 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
13. 45NH #Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT
14. 9MA Brian Tagg Oxford, MA
15. 33QC Remi Perreault St. Paul, QC
16. 31VT Stephen Donahue Graniteville, VT
17. 15QC Christopher Bedard Levis, QC
18. 77NH Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
19. 21QC Alexendre Tardif Notre Dame des Pins, QC
20. 18VT #Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT
