2019 ACT Season: By the Numbers
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The 2019 season is in the books – which means it’s time to go inside the numbers that are in those books! We spend the first part of every offseason updating our records, which means we get to see people enter the records and keep climbing all-time lists. We bring you the best of what we’ve found in our 2019 ACT By the Numbers! You’ll learn more about how many ACT Late Model winners there are in series history, who was really good in heat races this year, the sudden streak of former Rookie of the Year winners becoming champions, and much more! Read more below and let us know what numbers you think stood out in 2019!
(All statistics include point-counting events ONLY unless otherwise noted.)
2 – For the second straight year, no driver won more than two ACT Late Model Tour events. Two wins has led or tied for the series lead only eight times in the Tour’s 28-year history.
2 – Also for the second straight year, ACT saw a season sweep at Oxford, with Bryan Kruczek winning both races. (Eddie MacDonald accomplished the feat in 2018). Oxford was the only track of the four with multiple ACT dates that saw a driver sweep the season.
2 – Rich Dubeau and Jimmy Hebert were the only two drivers to finish every ACT event in 2019.
3 – Three drivers – Bryan Kruczek, Rich Dubeau, and Jonathan Bouvrette – earned their first ACT Late Model Tour win in 2019. (Bouvrette did have four previous wins in Série ACT competition.)
3 – Ryan Kuhn finished 3rd in ACT points. He matched Jason Corliss in 2017 for the best points result by a rookie in ACT Late Model Tour history.
4 – Scott Payea has the longest active streak of consecutive years winning at least one ACT Late Model Tour event (2016-2019).
4 – The last four ACT Late Model Tour championships – Nick Sweet (2016), Scott Payea (2017 & 2018), and Rich Dubeau (2019) – were all won by former Rookie of the Year honorees. Before 2016, no former Rookie of the Year had won an ACT Tour title.
6 – Ryan Kuhn won six heat races in 2019, the most of any driver. Scott Payea had the second-most with four heat wins.
6 – Jonathan Bouvrette became the sixth different ACT Late Model Tour winner in as many races at Thompson Speedway on October 12. Thompson is the only track on the current ACT schedule that has never had a repeat winner. (Star Speedway had its first repeat ACT winner when Joey Polewarczyk won the Dream Ride 150 on June 29.)
8 – Number of different ACT winners in 10 point-counting races.
11 – Number of different ACT winners after adding major non-point sanctioned events (Commonwealth Classic 65, Bacon Bowl 200, Jean-Paul Cabana 125, and Vermont Milk Bowl).
15 – Two races in 2019 were won from the 15th starting position – The Claude Leclerc 150 (Rich Dubeau) and the Midsummer 250 (Wayne Helliwell, Jr.). Four races were won by drivers who started outside the top-10.
17 – When Scott Payea failed to qualify for the Community Bank N.A. 150, it was the first time in 17 years that the defending ACT champion failed to qualify for an event. Pete Fecteau in 2002 was the last reigning champion to register a DNQ.
20 – Joey Polewarczyk won his 20th ACT Late Model Tour event at Star Speedway on June 29, breaking a tie with Jean-Paul Cyr and Patrick Laperle for second all-time.
27 – Scott Payea’s Thunder Road DNQ also snapped a streak of 27 straight top-10 finishes. The longest active streak now belongs to Nick Sweet, who has seven straight top-10s in part-time competition. (Rich Dubeau had a streak of 10 straight top-10s broken with a 12th-place result in the Thompson season finale.)
32.4 – Average car count at point-counting ACT Late Model Tour events.
33 – Number of ACT Flying Tiger teams that made the trip to Oxford Plains Speedway on October 19 for the division’s first event ever at the track.
37 – Number of ACT Late Models at Oxford Plains Speedway for the “Night Before the 250” on August 24. It was the largest car count of the season in a point-counting event.
38 – Number of ACT Late Models that attended the Commonwealth Classic 65 at Richmond Raceway on March 30 – the largest car count of any ACT-sanctioned event in 2019.
46 – Patrick Laperle won his 46th ACT-sanctioned Late Model event the Bacon Bowl 200 on August 17, breaking a tie with Brian Hoar for the most all-time.
62 – Joey Polewarczyk’s win at Star Speedway was also his 62nd top-five finish on the ACT Late Model Tour. He is now tied with Jean-Paul Cyr for the third-most all-time. (Brian Hoar is tops with 97.)
73 – Number of ACT Late Model Tour events that have now been held at Thunder Road – more than any other track. Oxford Plains Speedway is second among active tracks with 33.
75 – Jonathan Bouvrette led all 75 laps at the Thompson World Series event for the win. It was the first time a driver went wire-to-wire in an ACT event since Joey Polewarczyk did so on April 19, 2015 at Oxford Plains Speedway.
78 – Number of different ACT Late Model Tour winners in the 28-year history of the series.
112 – Number of drivers who attempted to qualify for at least one point-counting event in 2019.
299 – Number of laps led by Rich Dubeau, the most of any driver. Bryan Kruczek was second with 137 laps led.
1,444 – Number of laps run in point-counting ACT events for 2019. Champion Rich Dubeau was the only driver to complete all of them.
2,465 – Joey Polewarczyk is now up to 2,465 laps led in his ACT Late Model Tour. He is only 212 laps behind Brian Hoar (2,677) for the most all-time.
$32,405 – Total purse and point-fund awards for Rich Dubeau in ACT-sanctioned events for 2019. He had never earned more than $10,720 in any previous season with ACT.
$208,900.85 – Total money won by Scott Payea in ACT-sanctioned Late Model events in his career. He became the seventh driver to crack the $200,000 mark in 2019.
$209,793 – Total money won by Wayne Helliwell Jr. in ACT-sanctioned Late Model events in his career. He became the sixth driver to break $200,000 with his $10,000 score in the Midsummer 250 on August 3.
$314,184.42 – Total money won by Joey Polewarczyk in ACT-sanctioned Late Model events in his career. He is one of only two drivers, along with Brian Hoar, who have cracked $300,000 in total winnings.
