(Press Release from American-Canadian Tour)
Notable Names Continue to Sign Up for $10,000-to-Win Showdown
The defending winner of the Midsummer Classic 250 at North Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park is going full-bore for a repeat. New Sharon, ME resident and Waterford, CT native “Thrillin’” Dillon Moltz has filed his entry for the $10,000-to-win American-Canadian Tour (ACT) event on Saturday, July 31.
Moltz joins a field that includes point leader Tom Carey III, 2019 Midsummer Classic winner Wayne Helliwell Jr., defending ACT champion Jimmy Hebert, and eight-time White Mountain champion Quinny Welch. New entries continue to arrive with more top names throwing their hat in the ring. As the longest and richest point-counting ACT Late Model Tour race, Moltz and his RB Performance team know that winning the Midsummer 250 again would be another crown jewel.
“It was super-important (to win) last year,” Moltz said. “That was the biggest race we’ve won as a team. To be able to go back-to-back in it would mean even more to us. So we’re putting a lot of effort into this race just like we did last year, and we’re hoping we can have the same result.”
Moltz and his team are pulling out all the stops in their bid for another Midsummer Classic crown. They will head to White Mountain this Saturday, July 24 for the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup, a 100-lap shootout for the weekly Foley Oil & Propane Late Models.
The Governor’s Cup gives every team in attendance a chance to get tuned up at the bullring. Moltz noted it is also an opportunity to get more information about how the new Hoosier Racing tires will react on a long run at the track.
“We’ve just got to get after it and figure out what (the Hoosier tires) want, how far you can push them, and the characteristics of the tire throughout the race,” Moltz said. “That’s part of what we’re using this coming weekend for. The last Tour race at White Mountain, we got caught up in a wreck on lap 10, so we didn’t get to experience the whole race to figure out what the tires wanted or how they were going to hold up. So we figured we would use this weekend as another test.”
Last year’s triumph was the third ACT win at White Mountain in Moltz’s career. The track has long been one of his favorites, and it is now hugely popular among other Late Model and Super Late Model racers. The 2021 schedule that includes three ACT Late Model Tour events, three Pro All Stars Series (PASS) events, and several other long-distance Late Model shows has made it the unofficial home of pavement Late Model racing in New Hampshire.
“I think it’s a true driver’s track,” Moltz remarked. “It really allows the driver’s talent to come out, and how aggressive you can charge the track, and how aggressive you can be with the dynamic of the race. The setups we’ve had there in the past really fit us as a team and my driving style. With the new tire, we’re lacking a little bit, and hopefully we can tune on that this weekend in preparation for the following weekend. But the whole dynamic of the track and its two grooves — it goes through stages throughout the race where the groove will change, so you have to stay on top of that, and just maintain your car and your tires. I just feel like you can be aggressive at that racetrack and the whole race, and that seems to fit me really well.”
Moltz is the latest in a flurry of notable drivers to enter the Midsummer Classic 250. East Bridgewater, MA’s Ryan Kuhn, a Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalist, wants his first ACT win to come on the biggest stage. An entry has arrived from Stark, NH’s Jamie Swallow Jr., who won a weekly feature at White Mountain earlier this year. Swallow now has wins at three different tracks in 2021, showcasing his talent as a driver.
Thunder Road point leader Jason Corliss, who won the 2020 season opener at White Mountain, is setting his sights on the Midsummer 250. So are Warwick, RI’s Mark Jenison and Derry, NH’s Robby Gordon Douglas. Recent Oxford winner Mike Hopkins and three-time ACT champion Wayne Helliwell Jr. are ready to go at one of their favorite tracks. ACT part-timers like Trenton Goodrow, Dylan Payea, Ryan Olsen, the Lanphear sisters, and Jimmy Linardy have the year’s biggest race circled on the calendar. They’ll have to beat the best of the ACT Tour over 250 intense laps, including Tom Carey III, D.J. Shaw, Ben Rowe, Stephen Donahue, and Jimmy Hebert.
The ACT Late Model Tour returns North Woodstock, NH’s White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, July 31 at 5:30pm for the Midsummer Classic 250. The region’s top Late Model racers will chase a $10,000 winner’s prize and more than $47,000 in total award. They’re joined by the local Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers, Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Mini’s, and Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Trucks plus a fireworks show from Northstar Fireworks. Admission is $25 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and $50 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids).
For more information about ACT, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
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