Ten Year Wait; Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour Back in Ste-Croix Saturday

A trip ten years in the making, the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour returns to the banks of the St. Lawrence River this Saturday, July 5 for the Yvon Bedard 149 at Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Quebec. Long touted as Quebec’s fastest oval, the 5/8-mile, moderately banked Speedway has returned to the schedule with new pavement laid down in preparation for the celebration of one of Quebec’s fan-favorites.

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Yvon Bedard has been a figure in the Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour for over forty years, his first official start coming at the long-gone Autodrome Mont Laurier back in 1982. Over the years, Yvon has been a figure in ACT-sanctioned racing both during the fabled Pro Stock era, the birth of the modern Late Models and the early days of Serie ACT Quebec.

Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Quebec has also had a longstanding history among Quebec’s race fans and teams. Opened in 1971, Circuit Ste-Croix really hit its stride with a string of visits from the ACT Pro Stock Tour during the GM Motorsports era, hosting Budweiser Triple Crown events won by Junior Hanley and being the first track to showcase the Late Models as the headline class of the American-Canadian Tour in 1996. The last Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour event at Circuit Riverside Speedway was back in 2015 and a lot has changed in those ten years.

A new and growing roster of both US and Canadian teams, along with a roster of veterans who know the Riverside oval well, are ready to take on the newly paved Circuit. Raphael Lessard leads the standings, looking to become just the second Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour champion to hail from Quebec and fourth ever Canadian champion of the international Tour. After a rough Seekonk outing last Wednesday, defending champion Gabe Brown has slipped back to fourth overall with two-time champ D.J. Shaw now resting fourteen points behind Lessard and Jesse Switser twelve points behind Shaw.

Ste-Croix is expected to shake up the standings as well with only Jonthan Bouvrette and Remi Perreault among the top Touring teams to have the most recent experience at Riverside, both running the non-point Jean-Paul Cabana 125 back in 2019. Other invaders, however, have certainly racked-up the experience. Patrick Laperle and Claude Leclerc have officially entered while fellow veterans Dany Trepanier, Karl Allard and Donald Theetge are expected to make the trip as well in attempt to be the first to win on the new pavement.

The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour returns to racing action at the newly refurbished Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, Quebec for the Yvon Bedard 149 on Saturday, July 5. The $7,500-to-win, $700-to-start showdown will once again pit New England’s best against Quebec’s all-star cast on the new pavement of the beloved 5/8-mile oval on the coast of the St. Lawrence River for a can’t-miss title fight!

The Yvon Bedard 149 also serves at Round #2 in the $5,000 Quebec Challenge Series before the Series champion is crowned on Saturday, July 19 at Autodrome Montmagny.

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.

For more information about Milton CAT, visit their website at www.miltoncat.com or get updates from their Instagram account at @milton_cat.

-ACT Media Press Release
-ACT File Photo