Michaud Returns to Glory, Sweet Crowned King

43 ACT Competitors Prepare for Labor Day Classic

Multi-time Thunder Road Champion Cris Michaud returned to the winner’s circle in the Aubuchon Hardware Late Model 100 for the third time in 2012 after a high-flying duel with 2012 King of the Road Nick Sweet.  Sweet closed out his remarkable championship campaign with a second place finish, and Essex Junction’s Dave Whitcomb rounded out the podium with third.

Jeffersonville’s Joey Becker and Whitcomb set the tone of the race early, which started on lap 17 after a rain delay last Thursday.  The pair battled side by side until lap 26 when Becker assumed the point on the inside lane.  Not ten laps later, Whitcomb was back in the hunt, swinging to the outside lane and reclaiming the lead on lap 40.  While the pair was battling, Michaud, Sweet, and three-time track Champion Phil Scott worked their way through the field to catch the leaders.   Michaud found himself in a three-car battle for the lead with Becker and Whitcomb on lap 63, before Becker fell to a determined Sweet. 

Hoar Closes Point Gap, Heads for Thunder Road

Labor Day Classic Kicks off $300,000 Fall Winnings

The championship battle for the American Canadian Tour’s biggest stars will be in town for a critical points event this Sunday, September 2 at the 34^th Annual Bond Auto Labor Day Classic at Barre’s Thunder Road. Point leader Wayne Helliwell, Jr. will have to defend his slim 22-point lead from eight-time ACT Champion Brian Hoar, hot off his win at Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix, QC last weekend.

With two races remaining for the Championship to be decided, a familiar two-horse battle has re-emerged. Dover, NH’s Helliwell leads Williston, VT’s Hoar by 22 points coming into the Labor Day Classic, a track where Hoar owns 12 victories. The pair has combined for 13 top tens in 16 starts, vaulting them into a championship scrap that is now coming down to the wire.

Rain Postpones Late Model 100

Lambert, Pilotte Claim Late-Season Wins

A powerful rainstorm swept through the region and claimed the Late Model 100 lap special on Thursday, August 23 at Barre’s Thunder Road presented by Aubuchon Hardware, but not before the Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen and Allen Lumber Street Stocks were able to run their feature events.  The 100-lap Late Model event, which was cut off at lap 17, will be run after the Saturday, September 1 practice for the Bond Auto Labor Day Classic with a post time of 5:00pm. 

Essex veteran Dave Whitcomb was leading when the rains came, with Joey Becker and Ricky Roberts hot on his tail for the lead.   “Hurricane” Jamie Fisher and three-time Champion Cris Michaud rounded out the unofficial top five.