By Lou Modestino
Two of the leading short track sanctioning bodies in the United States and Canada, the American Canadian Tour (ACT) located in Waterbury, VT and the Pro All Star Series (PASS) from Naples, Maine have reached an agreement entering the 2015 season.
The first ever “double-header” event to be held between the two groups will take place at the opening event for the 2015 PASS season at the Oxford Plains Speedway(OPS), Oxford, ME on Saturday, April 18, 2015. Both the ACT Late Models and the PASS Super Late Models will compete in 150-lap feature events to open the race season at the historic Oxford Plains Speedway. ACT also has a traditional opening day event at the Lee USA Speedway with the annual New Hampshire Governor’s Cup race on Sunday, April 12, 2015.
“This agreement between PASS and ACT is going to be very good for the New England and Canadian race fans, and certainly for full fender race teams. ACT Late Model teams spent many years racing at Oxford, and they always put on some terrific shows. This will also allow a number of the ACT teams, who also have PASS Super Late Models, to compete with the stars of PASS. We see this as a win-win for teams and fans,” said Tom Mayberry, President of PASS and owner of the Oxford Plains Speedway.
The agreement between the two groups will also include a clearing of the ACT schedule on the weekend of the historic Oxford 250 to be held on August 29-30, 2015. There will be no ACT race or rain date scheduled on the date of the 2015 Oxford 250.
Tom Curley, President of ACT said, “I see this project between ACT and PASS as a work in progress. We expect that other possibilities can result from this initial negotiation, and we are excited about working with Tom (Mayberry) going forward. It certainly should provide for an exciting new era of racing in our region for both the fans and race teams.”
Up until now, for over two decades, both Late Model series have not had the best of relationships. It appears that the poor economic climate around New England in recent years had a lot to do with this new working agreement.