ACT to “Kickoff” Next Summer with Trio of Big-Money Shows

Some extra cash will be on the line for the stars of the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) next June. ACT officials have announced the 2019 Summer Kickoff Series, a trifecta of $5,000-to-win events that will be held throughout the Northeast.

The three-race mini-series continues the tradition of the 2018 Summer Showdown Series, which also featured a trio of big-money events. This time, however, all three events will be held in a four-week span, meaning the month of June will be a lucrative one for at least one ACT-type Late Model racer.

Just like with last year’s Showdown Series, there will also be a $5,000 bonus posted should a driver sweep all three Summer Kickoff Series events. This means a single racer could bring home up to $20,000 in prize money next June.

For the first event in the Summer Kickoff Series, the ACT Late Model Tour will travel north of the border to Vallée-Jct., QC’s Autodrome Chaudiere on Saturday, June 1. The Chaudiere 150 will be the ACT Late Model Tour’s first point-counting event at the ¼-mile bullring since 2015. Several Tour racers have some experience to draw on after participating in last year’s non-point Bacon Bowl 200.

Two weeks later, on Saturday, June 15, the ACT Late Model Tour will race for a $5,000 top prize at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway. Scheduled less than one week before the official onset of summer, the Thompson 75 the first of two ACT events at the 5/8-mile oval in 2018.

For the final event in the series, the Tour heads to Epping, NH’s Star Speedway on Saturday, June 29. The Summer 150 will be the first ACT event at the ¼-mile oval since 2013. It comes in the track’s first year using ACT rules for their weekly Late Model division.

In addition to big money at the top, the three events will see increased purses throughout much of the field. All told, more than $100,000 in total awards will be posted by ACT during the month of June. The trifecta of events will also award points towards the 2018 ACT Late Model Tour Championship.

“This is a great way to get the summer of racing started,” ACT managing partner Cris Michaud said. “We thought the Summer Showdown Series went well last year, so we were ready to continue it this year. And then it just happened to work out that we were able to schedule three big-money events in the same month! While the name has changed to reflect the updated schedule, we expect the racing to be as exciting as it was last year.”

“It’s the perfect time of the year to have a series like this,” Michaud added. “We’ll still be early in the season, so there will be a lot of teams looking forward to getting out and racing. And all three tracks run ACT rules for their weekly Late Models, which means the locals get to take on the Tour regulars without making any major changes to their cars. This is something that our founder, Tom Curley, worked for decades to achieve, and it will be on full display next June.”