Hello all,

As we write this, we’re a little more than a week past the season-ending ACT event at Oxford Plains Speedway. It was truly a season unlike any in the 35-year history of ACT. The COVID-19 pandemic hit almost every part of the world hard, and the Northeast wasn’t isolated from its effects. Simply getting the season underway was a challenge, and once it was, there was constant shuffling and changes that were often beyond our control.

Through it all, the never-ending dedication of our supporters is what made the season worthwhile. A lot of people went beyond the call of duty to make sure we could have a season, and we’re writing this letter to thank them.

First, we have to thank the teams for showing up and working with us through the constant changes. Even with the inability of Canadian teams to attend events — to our great dismay — and with pandemic-related economic hardships limiting the efforts of some U.S. teams, we still averaged 29 cars per Tour event. Not only that, but we actually had more 100%ers than we did last year! The fact that we maintained such great participation levels during challenging times speaks to the passion for auto racing in the Northeast even when the situation is less than ideal.

The racing itself was fantastic as well. That passion shows up in just how hard our racers compete at every event, whether it’s for 1st or 15th. It’s somewhat fitting that Jimmy Hebert and his team ended the year as the champions. The Hebert family has been ACT supporters dating back to the beginning. We congratulate the whole team as well as everyone else who raced with us this year on their accomplishments.

Next, we have to thank the fans who supported us throughout the year. There were a few events where fans couldn’t attend at all due to health and safety restrictions, and at the events where attendance was allowed, there were a variety of new guidelines in places. Our fans stuck with us and refused to let these things dim their passion for ACT. The rise of pay-per-view gave fans another way to support the series and the tracks it races at, and those who were able to attend events did a great job cooperating with the various guidelines in place.

This leads us to our next thank-you, which is to the tracks that hosted events this year. Bringing in an outside touring series is always a gamble — and even more so when there are factors beyond your control that can limit potential return. However, tracks throughout the region showed their faith in ACT when they would have been more than justified in not taking the risk.

We also must thank our dedicated staff and officials. The amount of work needed to make any series successful is staggering even during normal circumstances. The pandemic gave our officials even more responsibilities, and in some cases, limited their ability to travel to certain events. Everyone banded together to make each event happen and keep things running smoothly. We’ve always prided ourselves in running a professional organization, and the officials stepped up this year to make sure that remained the case.

Last but not least, we need to thank our sponsors and contingency affiliates. Even with the economic impacts of the pandemic, nearly all of our partners stayed with us this year and honored their full commitments to the series. Their dedication did not go unnoticed. We urge all of our teams and fans to patronize these partners as much as possible, and when they do, thank them for supporting local short track racing.

Before we go, we want to touch briefly on what the future holds. We plan to hold the ACT Banquet of Champions in January; the exact date, location, and guidelines will be announced separately. By then, you should have the 2021 ACT Tour schedule and rules in-hand. We’re still working on the details at this point, but we do expect the Northeast Classic at NHMS to finally happen next year, along with visits to stalwart tracks such as Thunder Road, White Mountain Motorsports Park, and Oxford Plains Speedway. We also hope to finally get the New England Late Model Challenge Cup up and running. While it didn’t make sense to hold it in 2020 given tracks were on such different re-opening schedules, we still believe in the model.

Still, given we’re still living amidst a global pandemic, things can change quickly. A few events we announce this offseason may simply not be possible as the dates near on the schedule. We hope our supporters will be understanding regarding any potential schedule shuffles just as they were this year. We also ask that everyone continue take proper health and safety precautions over the coming months, as this will help improve the outlook come next spring.

Please check our website and Facebook/Twitter pages from time to time for updates on the schedule, rules, and other important information. Again, thank you to everyone who made the 2020 season possible, and we’re looking forward to even bigger and better things in 2021.

Regards,

Cris Michaud, American-Canadian Tour managing partner

Pat Malone, American-Canadian Tour co-owner