Gabe Brown Starts ACT Title Defense With Northeast Classic Triumph

Gabe Brown's Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour title defense is off to an auspicious start, as the Center Conway, New Hampshire driver won the ACT portion of the Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Brown picked up the victory in the season-opening event for the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour, delayed by one week due to inclement weather last weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire.

He was cruising towards his third ACT win before a late caution erased his advantage. However, Brown held off all comers on the ensuing restart, finishing ahead of Brandon Barker for his first career win at "The Magic Mile."

"Once I got back out front there again after the caution, it cleared my head a little bit," said Brown. "I was thinking of everything that could go wrong those last 10 laps. I'm just super thankful for all my guys. We busted ass on this thing all winter long and we put a lot of effort into this for this year."

Brown approached this year's Northeast Classic with a new mindset. The mile-long track can be intimidating for the short track stars who tackle it across multiple divisions each year, but this year he focused on battling for a win instead of merely trying to get through the weekend.

"We just usually come here to survive," said Brown. "I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people to do everything that could help me the most.

"I just wanted to keep the right-front on it, go as hard as I had to go to keep them behind me. Nice to knock Derek down off of winning again. He's had a good run here. Hopefully we can go to Oxford and do the same thing."

Brandon Barker settled for runner-up in the 50-lap feature, left wondering if a better starting position could have led to a different outcome. Brown won the race from pole position, while Barker started seventh on the grid.

"It was hard just starting a little far back," said Barker. "I don't know. We were second all weekend.

"I love coming here. If had started a little bit further forward, I think we would have had a little more right-front tire at the end."

Derek Gluchacki finished third to round out the podium. Along with finishing third in the ACT standings on year ago, Gluchacki placed second in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program in 2024. Gluchacki is once again a KDDP finalist in 2025, and utilized his first "Wild Card" of the season on Saturday to earn double points towards the 2025 Kulwicki Cup with his third-place effort.

The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour heads to Oxford Plains Speedway next Sunday, April 27 for the Pine Tree State 125. The race will be part of a busy doubleheader weekend, including Oxford Championship Series racing on Saturday, April 26 as well as the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models and PASS Modifieds on Sunday.

-Photo credit: American-Canadian Tour