(Press Release from American-Canadian Tour)
Purse Increases, Addition of MRS Highlight 2022 Edition
American-Canadian Tour (ACT) and Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials have announced the division line-up for the 2nd Annual Northeast Classic at Loudon’s New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) on Saturday, April 16. Seven of the top series and open competition classes in the region will do battle on the “Magic Mile”.
The ACT Late Model Tour and PASS Super Late Models again headline the card with a pair of 50-lap shootouts. For ACT, it is the opening event of their 2022 campaign. The PASS feature is part of both the National Championship and North Series schedules.
Both the ACT and PASS events have received a purse increase for the second edition of the Northeast Classic. The winner of each feature is taking home $5,500, up from $5,000 in 2021. Second place will receive $3,000 with $2,000 for third. All drivers who start the ACT and PASS features now get at least $700 versus the $600 start money last year.
For 2022, the Tour-type Modified Open has been replaced with a 50-lap feature for the Modified Racing Series (MRS). It will be the fourth time that MRS has visited NHMS and the first trip since 2019. The previous events were won by Woody Pitkat, Ron Silk, and Ronnie Williams.
The R&R Race Parts NH Street Stock Open and North East Mini Stock Tour (NEMST) are also on the Northeast Classic program. With the addition of R&R Race Parts NH as a sponsor, the 25-lap 8-cylinder Street Stock feature will now pay $2,000 to win, doubling the 2021 amount. All NEMST races in 2022 are awarding a minimum of $1,000 to the winner.
The EXIT Realty Pro Truck Challenge and a Limited Late Model Open round out the Saturday card. For the Pro Trucks, it is a return appearance at the Northeast Classic. The Limited Late Models are on the schedule for the first time. More information about the Limited Late Model event will be released soon.
In addition to the Saturday festivities, the Granite State Legends Cars are racing on Friday. They will open their 2022 season with an NHMS road course event. Qualifying will precede the Friday open practice session with the feature following practice.
Northeast Classic Weekend begins Friday, April 15 with open practice for all divisions plus the Granite State Legends qualifying and feature event. Saturday, April 16 has qualifying beginning at 10:30am with features beginning at approximately 12:15pm. Sunday, April 17 has been set as a weather date if needed.
General admission and live stream pricing to the Northeast Classic are to be determined. The live stream broadcast will be available on Racing America powered by Speed51.TV. Visit www.acttour.com/northeast-late-model-classic for the complete schedule, entry forms, camping registration forms, and other info as it is available.
For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ACTTour.
For technical information concerning all PASS divisions, and for media or marketing questions, please contact [email protected] or visit www.proallstarsseries.com. Don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow on Twitter @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.
What is the MRS race paying?
New Smyrna tour mod entry list so far
1 Chris Ridsdale. Rochester NY
2 J.R Bertuccio. Centerreach NY
7NY Jimmy Blewett. Howell NJ
16 Ron Silk. Norwalk CT
19 Anthony Bello. Newtown CT
20 Eddie McCarthy. Brick NJ
20 Kyle Sysco. Toms River NJ
21 Joe Bertuccio III. Statesville NC
22 TBA Gershow Racing.
24 Chris Hatton. Deltona FL
25 Brian Robie. Sunapee NH
36 David Sapienza. Riverhead NY
38 Ricky Moxley. Palm City
50 Ronnie Williams. Tolland CT
54 Tommy Catalano. Ontario NY
54C David Catalano. Ontario NY
56 Amy Catalano. Ontario NY
64 Tyler Catalano. Ontario NY
72 Bud McIntyre. New Smyrna Beach FL
00 Chris Dewalt. Easton PA
179 Stephen Kopcik. Newtown CT
That makes 3 MRS races so far to go along with all the opens and a few WMT races. I noticed Seekonk is back with NASCAR affilliation again, maybe the WMT will be there next year. The new crate BB supers are scheduled with NEMA at the Boston Louie in August.
Just to be Clear Doug because I know some people will get confused and think this is WMT entry list This is for WORLD SERIES at New Smyrna nights!
For those of you that are wondering what Doug Coby is doing there is an interesting article on racing america.com.
Good for the MRS squeezing another one into an already busy 2022 season. Notable that M&M dropped the open format that last year had to be considered disappointing with only 11 cars.
Duly noted. The list is for the 5 tour modified opens and an impressive initial list in my view. Not for the total cars although that’s pretty good but the eclectic mix of teams with some interesting surprises.
Driver, Raced Tour Mods at New Smyrna last year (y) or (n), notes of interest
1 Chris Ridsdale. Rochester NY (y) ROC, Mahoning Valley
2 J.R Bertuccio. Centerreach NY (y) Free Agent, NWMT, SMART, New Smyrna
7NY Jimmy Blewett. Howell NJ (y) Owner & driver need no introduction
16 Ron Silk. Norwalk CT (y) Tri Track, opens
19 Anthony Bello. Newtown CT (n) NE Tour Mod Tenderfoot
20 Eddie McCarthy. Brick NJ (y) Wall
20 Kyle Sysco. Toms River NJ (n) Wall
21 Joe Bertuccio III. Statesville NC (n) Mostly an owner
22 TBA Gershow Racing. (Y)
24 Chris Hatton. Deltona FL (n) 602 Modifieds last year
25 Brian Robie. Sunapee NH (y) TTOMS, MRS, opens
36 David Sapienza. Riverhead NY (y) NWMT, Opens
38 Ricky Moxley. Palm City (n) Florida Modifieds last year
50 Ronnie Williams. Tolland CT (y) NWMT, Opens
54 Tommy Catalano. Ontario NY (y) Catalano top driver
54C David Catalano. Ontario NY (y) Vacation Racing Dad
56 Amy Catalano. Ontario NY (y( ROC, Vacation Racing Mom
64 Tyler Catalano. Ontario NY (y) Baby Catalano Racer
72 Bud McIntyre. New Smyrna Beach FL (n) New Smyrna Vintage Cars
00 Chris Dewalt. Easton PA (n) Mahoning Valley???
179 Stephen Kopcik. Newtown CT (y) Opens with Jensen
So far most of the NWMT drivers of note including New Smyrna regulars Goodale, Lutz, Emerling, Rypkema and Nocella not on the list as well as the number 1 free agent Matt Hirschman.
Thanks for the article on Coby.
“Coby and Justin Bonsignore have become the faces of Tour Type Modified racing alongside Ron Silk and Matt Hirschman. ”
Question; when is Patrick Emerling going to be included in groups like this he well deserves it?
So now we know. Coby only two races firm for 2022 in the 10 and without his all star crew chief. That’s just plain sad.
hard to see improvement for Mod Car count at this race, last year was 5k to win only got 12 cars, now its MRS and most likely a shorter purse on same day as Stafford Sizzler Open Test is going to be a hard draw.
only a few drivers from CT entered… ?
Wait Coby isnt running the Whelen Tour next year? Talk about burying the headline racing America. Losing Coby would be a big blow for Nascar if that does become a reality. I see he is going to start a few early races and see how it goes. From there if in a good point position maybe he follows the Nascar tour maybe not Not a great look when the face of the franchise says yeah I am good after a couple of races. Not sure the super late model is a viable option in New England. While we do have a couple of regional series the money in that division is down South. It may well be more travel then running a modified especially if he starts hitting up opens and tri track shows locally. He did start in the late model pro stock ranks at Stafford so maybe a SLM would be a return to his roots. Thinking Nascar will be lucky if they get 5 cars/drivers to race the entire tour this year. What happens when geographic expansion goes horribly wrong. Good luck to Doug in whatever he ends up doing. I do hope he races regularly somewhere next season
I know everyone in RaceDayCt nation has been good so hopefully Santa was generous to all you race fans out there.
Hmm, kind of quiet here lately. That’s perfect so if this old guy prattles on as we oldies tend to do no one will be offended or annoyed.
Had a chance to watch a YouTube video of a 1987 Late Model race. I doubt many of you would be interested but here it is nonetheless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LORxXr25u0
Just to put the cars in perspective they were transitioning from Street Stocks in that period not to be confused with what we know as Late Models now. A lot of motor, Muncie four speeds, locked rears, rear jacking bolts, lead ballast and they allowed more sheet metal to be removed in the interior then the old Street stocks. Not unlike todays Street Stocks except for the crate motor and one drive wheel.
It was the glory days for Staffords “stock” based cars. 30 cars started this race and you can bet many more that didn’t qualify for the feature. It was not a novice class by any means. In 2021 Frank L’Etoile and Chris Meyer demonstrated some of the most advanced driving skills possible in their class. Two hard nose drivers with years and years of experience and it clearly showed. In 1987 there easily was 10 to 15 guys with those same skill levels that’s just how good the division was in those days.
You may note the stands were pretty full. Not surprising for the era but what may be surprising is these races were not known to be food and restroom breaks. Stafford has amnesia with this period in their history when it comes to Street Stocks/Early Late Models.. I suspect it was because it was the Ed Yarrington era and as Mark and Jackie Arute were learning the business. I don’t believe Ed Yarrington was one of their favorite people. But make no mistake, the cars may not have looked so pretty but the division was absolutely loaded with a lot of hard nose experience drivers perhaps like the Late Models now but many more.
In this race it came down to Chuck Docherty, Phil Rondeau and Tom Fox. Chuck primarily a Riverside and Stafford guy with a lot of wins and smooth. It was a time when a lot of Speedbowl guys were coming to Stafford and there was none better the Phil Rondeau who more times then not showed the Stafford regulars how it’s done. In this race Tom Fox played the spoiler with some contact at the end that Chuck may still remember as one that got away but that’s the way it was in those days on a weekly basis.
You can’t go back and the racing these days is every bit as good and hard for those competing as it was in 1987. Still starting a feature with 30 cars half of which have won features somewhere in their careers is something that is hard to forget.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Mr. Courchesne and the rest of the gang that hangs out in these pages on a regular basis.