The American Canadian Tour will reach a milestone when the Late Model Tour rolls into Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. on Sunday, May 17. It will be the 250th point counting event for the ACT Late Models, which began touring back in 1992. Also with the completion of the Airborne event, the American Canadian Tour will have paid out over $5.5 million to the Late Model teams.
Over the past 23 seasons and now 249 events, the Late Models have moved from the shadows of the former ACT Pro Stocks, to the premier stock car touring series in the Northeast.
The first ever ACT Late Model event was held at Sanair Super Speedway in St-Pie, QC on April 26, 1992. Norm Andrews of Northfield, Vt. bested the 26-car field in the 25-lap event. He was the first of what has now become 69 different ACT Late Model feature winners.
Dave Whitcomb won the 1992 ACT Late Model Championship. There have been seven different champions since: Brian Hoar (8), Jean-Paul Cyr (7), Wayne Helliwell, Jr. (2), Lance Ferno, Pete Fecteau , Phil Scott and Patrick Laperle.
Sanair also hosted another milestone event in the 50th ACT Late Model event ever. Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier, Vt. claimed his first career ACT win in the 100-lap event on August 16, 1998.
Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H. hosted the 100th ACT Late Model event on June 23, 2002. Ken Dufour of Bethlehem, N.H. scored his second career win in the event.
The 150th race was claimed by seven-time ACT Champion Jean-Paul Cyr of Milton, Vt. He took the win on April 30, 2006 at Thunder Road in Barre, which has hosted a record 65 of the 249 ACT Late Model Tour events to date.
On May 16, 2010, Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Mass. earned his second career ACT win in the 200th event. His win came at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine.
Over the past 249 events, the ACT Late Models have visited 23 different tracks in 8 different states and provinces. A total of 687 different drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one of the events and 540 of them have taken the green flag in a feature. Of those 540 different drivers, 158 have led at least one lap, 158 have a top five and 244 have a top ten. The 249 events have consisted of 31,891 laps for 11,694 miles and averaged 29.1 starters per event. There have been 1,110 lead changes and 1,647 cautions. The combined time for the 249 events is 10 days, 14 hours, 4 minutes and 57 seconds.
The 250th ACT Late Model event will be held at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y. on Sunday, May 17. It will be the third event of the 2014 ACT schedule. Post time is 5pm.