After rain forced the postponement of the original June date, the American-Canadian Tour returned to Seekonk, Massachusetts for the 48th Spring Green 123. With a powerhouse group of drivers flooding the pit area, and the season entering its apex, the on track action kept fans on the edge of their seats at the Concrete Palace as these Northeast pilots put on a show that proves once again that Seekonk Speedway is the Action Track of the East.
After powering through from the back of heat three to claim a +5 handicap, Hudson, New Hampshire’s Joey Polewarczyk was wedged between rookies Andrew Molleur, on his outside, and Tanner Woodard at his rear under the initial green flag start. While Pole was quick on the inside, it was the Shelton, Connecticut rookie-of-the-year leader who put the hammer down to lead lap two from his outside starting spot with Connor Souza and Woodard in tow.
The first caution flag would fly on lap 19 for the spinning Mike Brightman with an ill-handling machine to close up the field. Molleur chose the outside restart lane above Pole and again rocketed away with the lead before Pole took the hint and jumped to the outside fast-lane and overtook Molleur to lead with 100 laps left ahead. Derek Gluchacki kept up a lightning pace at the onset, methodically moving himself into third by lap 35 from his tenth-place starting spot and set himself up to battle Molleur for second before a crossed-up mess in turn two saw Seekonk Speedway regulars Ryan Vanasse, Richie Murray and Vinny Arrenegado slam-bang across the racetrack and head pit-side for the night.
Pole again took the lead over Molleur on the lap 45 restart but as the field stretched out and settled in, the real battle was for 8th. Seekonk top dogs Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns and Mark Jenison fought nose-to-tail and side-by-side with top touring pilots Tom Carey III and Gabe Brown. Over twenty circuits the four battled all across the Seekonk quarter-mile, often three-wide in a thrilling showdown of gutsy skill and near misses.
Two more quick-spin cautions set up continued drag races between Pole and Molleur as Gluchacki kept up the pace in third with Woodard also staying within striking distance. A hard wreck for Tom Carey III against the frontstretch wall on lap 102 ruined an up and down day for the Brookside Equipment team. For the first time of the night Gluchacki paced a strong-enough restart to clear Molleur and set his sights on Pole. Waiting for the opportune time to strike, Molleur and Woodard raced side-by-side behind waiting for a lucky break.
One final caution with three-to-go set up a final showdown among the top four. While the 03MA and 97NH remained side-by-side at the onset, Pole put the Ford power down and took the 0.631-second lead to claim his second Spring Green victory to join Scott Payea as the only repeat American-Canadian Tour winners at Seekonk Speedway. Derek Gluchacki held on for second with Tanner Woodard getting the nine-one-thousands of a second edge over Andrew Molleur at the line to take third. Gabe Brown completed the top-five.
After battling each other hard through the second half of the event, Erick Sands finished sixth above D.J. Shaw followed by Cam Huntress in eighth, 2022 Seekonk Speedway champion Mark Jenison in ninth and Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns taking tenth.
The American-Canadian Tour continues a three-in-a-row stretch next Saturday night at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway to headline the annual Saturday Night before the Oxford 250 program. The venerable oval will be celebrating the 50th annual Oxford 250 presented by Spencer Paving Group on Sunday, August 27th with the American-Canadian Tour headlining an action-packed, eight-division program on Saturday, August 26th before taking off to Vermont’s Thunder Road for the 45th Labor Day Classic 200 presented by New England Federal Credit Union on Sunday, September 3rd.
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ACTTour.
-ACT Media Press Release
-Photo credit: Erik Tavares / Tavares Arts
Seekonk Speedway – Seekonk, MA
Saturday, August 19, 2023
48th Spring Green 123
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
American-Canadian Tour Spring Green – (123 Laps)
1. 97NH Joey Polewarczyk Hudson, NH
2. 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
3. 68NH #Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
4. 31CT #Andrew Molleur Shelton, CT
5. 60ME Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
6. 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
7. 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
8. 27NH Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
9. 22RI Mark Jenison Cranston, RI
10. 30RI Jacob Rowdy Burns E. Greenwich, RI
11. 12CT #PJ Evans Uncasville, CT
12. 17MA Matt Lowinski-Loh Milford, MA
13. 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
14. 27MA Luke LeBrun Hudson, MA
15. 00NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
16. 41QC Ryan Kuhn E. Bridgewater, MA
17. 5ME #Dominic Curit Saco, ME
18. 38RI Connor Souza Providence, RI
19. 49CT Brian Whalley Laconia, NH
20. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
21. 6MA Nick Johnson Reheboth, MA
22. 77MA James Linardy Somerville, MA
23. 11RI Ryan Vanasse Warwick, RI
24. 08RI Richard Murray Tiverton, RI
25. 17RI Vinny Arrenegado Jr. Warren, RI
26. 02MA Mike Brightman Norwood, MA
DNS 78CT Walter Suttcliffe E. Haven, CT
