Quebec’s Patrick Leperle cleaned up and took home the lion’s share of the International 300 ACT Tour race at the Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY. (Credit: :ACT Tour photo)
By Lou Modestino
Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, Quebec has won nearly every big event the American Canadian Tour sanctions, but none match his $26,800 ACT International win at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, New York on Saturday, July 20. The former ACT and Serie ACT Champion battled by Nick Sweet over the final 20 laps of the third segment to claim the segment and overall win with finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 1st for a combined winning score of 6.
Barre’s Nick Sweet started sixth in the first 50 lap segment and took home the win followed closely by Laperle and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. The trio then flew through the field in the 75 lap second segment using all three lanes around the ½-mile speedway. Polewarczyk claimed second followed by Laperle in third and Sweet in fourth setting up a three way tie with five combined points each for the trio heading into the final segment.
When the green flag flew on the third and final segment of 75 laps Sweet and Laperle began their march to the front, while Polewarczyk was held up in the heavy traffic. Polewarczyk suffered minor front end damage during the early stages of the event allowing Sweet and Laperle to duke it out.
Laperle followed Sweet through the field again taking advantage of Airborne’s three lanes. Sweet got to the point on lap 46, while Laperle moved into second following a lap 49 restart. Laperle hung tight to his bumper until Sweet slid up the track, giving Laperle the hole he needed. The pair remained side-by-side swapping the lead several times over the final 20 laps, while Sweet managed to lead at the start/finish line nearly every time in the outside lane. With just under five laps to go, Sweet slipped back giving Laperle the lead and the win.
The Quebecer rode to the $26,800 win over the final laps. Sweet and Polewarczyk completed the top three overall, while Brian Hoar used a second segment win and a third segment third to claim fourth. Three more Quebec drivers in Jean-François Déry, Alex Labbe and Jonathan Bouvrette took the fourth through seventh positions. Ben Lynch, rookie Brandon Atkins and Emily Packard completed the overall top ten.
On top of the $25,000 purse check, Laperle adds another $1,000 for the Bond ACT Invitational bonus and a qualifying spot in the event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH on Saturday, September 20. He also pocketed the $500 Ford Blue Oval bonus and $300 in lap money to bring his total unofficially to $26,800.
The three segment 200 total lap event was completed in just over an hour and a half with nine total cautions.
The ACT U.S. Tour heads next to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME on Saturday, August 9 for their 7th point counting event of the season. The Quebec-based Serie ACT has their 6th point counting event at Circuit Riverside Speedway in St-Croix, QC on Saturday, August 2.
ACT International 300 Unofficial Results
American Canadian Tour Late Models
Airborne Speedway – Plattsburgh, NY
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Pos. Driver, Hometown, Seg. 1, Seg. 2, Seg. 3, TOTAL
1. Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, QC, 2, 3, 1, 6
2. Nick Sweet, Barre, VT, 1, 4, 2, 7
3. Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, NH, 3, 2, 6, 11
4. Brian Hoar, Williston, VT, 13, 1, 3, 17
5. Jean-Francois Dery, Quebec, QC, 4, 12, 5, 21
6. Alex Labbe, St-Albert, QC, 5, 6, 10, 21
7. Jonathan Bouvrette, Blainville, QC, 11, 7, 4, 22
8. Ben Lynch, Huntersville, NC, 6, 13, 7, 26
9. #Brandon Atkins, AuSable Forks, NY, 7, 10, 12, 29
10. Emily Packard, E. Montpelier, VT, 12, 11, 8, 31
11. Jeff White, Winthrop, ME, 9, 5, 23, 37
12. Todd Davis, Claremont, NH, 10, 15, 14, 39
13. Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, MA, 8, 9, 24, 41
14. Eric Chase, Milton, VT, 14, 18, 11, 43
15. Rowland Robinson Jr., Steuben, ME, 17, 19, 9, 45
16. Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, VT, 15, 14, 16, 45
17. #Lance Allen, Barre, VT, 16, 17, 13, 46
18. Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT, 23, 8, 17, 48
19. Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, VT, 19, 16, 15, 50
20. Jason Corliss, Barre, VT, 20, 20, 21, 61
21. #Matt Anderson, Franklin, NH, 22, 22, 20, 64
22. Boomer Morris, Barre, VT, 18, 21, 25, 64
23. Rejean Plante, St-Hyacinthe, QC, 25, 23, 19, 67
24. #Mike Ziter, Williamstown, VT, 28, 24, 18, 70
25. Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, NY, 24, 25, 22, 71
26. #John Falconi, Oakham, MA, 21, 26, 25, 72
27. Kyle Welch, Newport, NH, 26, 27, 25, 78
28. Nick Lagoy, Plattsburgh, NY, 27, 27, 25, 79
Lap Leaders:
Segment #1 -Bobby Therrien, 1-2; Brian Hoar, 3-19; Nick Sweet, 20-22; Hoar, 23; Sweet, 24-50; Segment #2 – Bobby Therrien, 1-40; Brian Hoar, 41-50;
Segment #3 – Rowland Robinson, Jr., 1-3; Eric Chase, 4-11; Robinson, 12-13; Chase, 14; Robinson, 15-45; Nick Sweet, 46-63; Patrick Laperle, 64; Sweet, 65-70, Laperle 71-75.
Time of Race: 1:32:12 – Segment #1: 31:30; Segment #2: 31:40; Segment #3: 29:02.
Cautions: 9 (Segment #1 – 5: Laps 2, 19, 22, 23, 28) (Segment #2 – 2: Laps 2, 40) (Segment #3 – 2: Laps 39, 49)
