Shaw Fights Field, Cautions to Take First Stafford ACT Event Since 1985
The American-Canadian Tour broke a 38-year drought by entering the Stafford Motor Speedway complex on Friday, the first time the series had raced the iconic 1/2-mile since 1985.
The American-Canadian Tour broke a 38-year drought by entering the Stafford Motor Speedway complex on Friday, the first time the series had raced the iconic 1/2-mile since 1985. Thirty-four teams from across New England and Quebec made the trip to kick off the Brookside Equipment Sales Southern New England Triple Crown and, for many, take their first laps at the Connecticut oval. While the ACT Spring Sizzler 75 was a rowdy and, at times, rough affair, the top stars of the international touring series put on a worthy show at the front to wow the crowd at hand and those at home on FloRacing.
Following qualifying to start Friday’s events, the American-Canadian Tour was the last to take the field to wrap up night one of the two-day NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler weekend. Stout in their qualifying efforts, Jimmy Renfrew, Jr., Dillon Moltz, Woody Pitkat and Bryan Wall, Jr. all brought +4 plus/minus handicaps to fill the front two rows of the starting field. Moltz was down and out immediately with rear-end suspension issues forcing him pit-side under pace laps leaving Renfrew and Wall to start the event.
The rough and rowdy came out from the beginning with minor spins and major wall-slaps combining to bring out the caution flag repeatedly. Through it all, members of the top-ten showed their strength in car control and stamina to continue pacing the field. The most spectacular portion of the race involved a three-way battle for the lead between Renfrew, D.J. Shaw and Derek Gluchacki as the three, nose-to-tail, faced lap traffic with 25-laps remaining. With Renfrew falling back on his bid for the outside groove, both Shaw and Gluchacki dive-bombed into turn three and fought hard over three laps until Shaw came out with the lead.
Through it all, the three leaders kept pace at the front and made it interesting at the end. D.J. Shaw took down the win in the ACT Spring Sizzler 75 to join the ACT winners list that includes the legendary Robbie Crouch and Jean-Paul Cabana. Derek Gluchacki made close moves throughout the event but settled for second with Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. putting on a great race to stay third. Derry, New Hampshire’s Erick Sands had a career-defining day by staying in the top-five throughout the come home fourth with rookie Bryan Wall, Jr. also looking stout to come home fifth.
Thompson Speedway regular Matt Lowinksi-Low took down sixth with top-three ACT point chaser Gabe Brown taking seventh after a late-race wreck forced him pit-side for damage control. Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette came down eighth, rookie Andrew Molleur took ninth and eight-time ACT champion Brian Hoar rounded out the top-10 in his first race since 2015.
The American-Canadian Tour returns to action at the Lee USA Speedway in just seven short days for the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 on Sunday, May 21st. The ACT Tour returns to the Granite State coastline oval 2023 season opener complete with Open Pro Stock competition, Black Flagged Podcast Ridge Runners, O’Reilly Auto Parts Six Shooters and MLM Diagnostic Service Pure Stocks. The entry list is already ballooning with talent with the popular circuit returning to the ACT schedule in 2023 bringing new and old to take on the rough and worn surface of Lee USA Speedway!
The Brookside Equipment Sales Southern New England Triple Crown returns on Saturday, June 3rd with the American-Canadian Tour stars invading Seekonk Speedway for the 48th running of the Spring Green 123! This will be the iconic event’s first time at Seekonk with the hometown heroes of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series set to battle against the ACT heavy weights at the Cement Palace!
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: Alan Ward
Stafford Motor Speedway – Stafford Springs, CT
ACT Spring Sizzler 75
Friday, May 12, 2023
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
1 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH
2 03MA Derek Gluchacki North Dartmouth, MA
3 00NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH
4 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH
5 77NH #Bryan Wall Jr. E. Kingston, NH
6 17CT Matt Lowinski-Low Thompson, CT
7 60ME Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH
8 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC
9 31CT #Andrew Molleur Woodbridge, CT
10 45NY Brian Hoar Williston, VT
11 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA
12 68VT Brooks Clark Fayston, VT
13 61NH Ryan Olsen N. Haverhill, NH
14 0NH Quinten Welch Groveton, NH
15 9MA Brian Tagg Oxford, MA
16 27NH Cam Huntress Rochester, NH
17 91CT Woody Pitkat Bellingham, MA
18 92MA Tom Fearn E Longmeadow, MA
19 97NH Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. Hudson, NH
20 67MA Jaret Curtis Leicester, MA
21 19CT Michael Bennett Willington, CT
22 37CT Jordan Hadley Quaker Hill, CT
23 73MA Cole Littlewood Orange, MA
24 5CT Dillon Moltz New Sharon, ME
25 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT
26 73CT Jared Materas Westfield, MA
27 7NH Cody Leblanc Berlin, NH
28 6CT Corey DiMatteo Farmington, CT
29 97MA Adam Gray Granby, MA
30 12CT #PJ Evans Uncasville, CT
31 27RI Rich Staskowski Hope Valley, RI
32 9CT Robert Stirk III Naugatuck, CT
DNS 68NH #Tanner Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
DNS 38RI Connor Souza E. Providence, RI