Looking Back: 5 Memorable ACT Events of 2021

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The year 2022 is almost here — but there’s still time to look back on our favorite races of 2021! The ACT Late Model Tour is known for making nearly every event one worth talking about. Still, there are some that people will remember for years. Here are the picks from our staff for the five most memorable events of the 30th ACT Late Model Tour season. And make sure to let us know what your favorites were!

(NOTE: Events are listed in chronological order.)

May 2, 2021: Community Bank N.A. 150 (Thunder Road Speedbowl, Barre, VT)

The Thunder Road season opener had more twists than an Agatha Christie novel. It began innocently enough, with local Kyle Pembroke leading the field from the pole. But then defending champion Jimmy Hebert shut down on lap 22, with Matt White doing the same six laps later while battling with Pembroke. Then after a caution on lap 53, calamity truly erupted. Scott Dragon appeared to have driven around Pembroke on the outside, but contact between the two sent Dragon head-on into the frontstretch wall. On the restart, Erick Sands leaped over the nose of Chris Pelkey’s car, triggering a crash that also eliminated three-time defending Community Bank N.A. 150 winner Jason Corliss among others.

With Corliss’s bid for four straight over, the door was open for Trampas Demers and Brooks Clark. The duo spent more than 70 laps dueling for the top spot before Clark finally got the lead for good with 21 circuits to go. Clark held on from there for his first career ACT victory — one that came from 21st on the starting grid. A similar battle emerged for third with Marcel J. Gravel ending up with the spot over Brendan Moodie, who had started 22nd, and Ben Rowe was the highest ACT regular in fifth after beginning the day 19th with D.J. Shaw hot on his tail. It was a finish that would foreshadow the season to come.

July 31, 2021: Midsummer Classic 250 (White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, NH)

Where do we start with this one? Five months later, people are still talking about the finish of the Midsummer Classic 250, where Jason Corliss edged D.J. Shaw while running the last four laps with his hood on his windshield. But the 246 laps before that were unforgettable, too. Nick Sweet dominated the first half of the race before a lap-123 caution led to the first round of pit stops for fresh tires. Several drivers, including Sweet, decided to stay out — and local Jeff Marshall continued to stay out after a lap-139 yellow. The mid-stage racing was remarkable with Marshall passing D.J. Shaw for the lead on two separate restarts before Shaw would take the lead back once he got some heat in his tires.

Corliss and Sweet eventually got back to Shaw’s tail, and on a restart with 30 laps to go, Sweet attempted a three-wide move to take the lead. After a full lap in formation, Sweet spun in turn three, getting the car going with no caution. When Corliss came to lap Sweet a few circuits later, they made some contact that let Shaw get back in front. Corliss retook the lead on the restart with 14 laps to go and seemed home-free. But the earlier contact had sheared multiple hood pins on his car, and with four laps to go, the rest gave way. Driving nearly blind, Corliss held the bottom while Shaw got alongside to lead laps 248 and 249. All the while, the side-by-side racing had allowed Tom Carey III — who had started the race dead last — to get into the mix. Entered turn three for the final time, Corliss and Shaw made contact, and Corliss surged ahead to win the $10,000 check by 0.065 seconds with Carey right on their bumpers. It was a race that most people will recognize with just four words: the hood is up.

August 28, 2021: Oxford 125 (Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, ME)

In the Saturday prelude to the Oxford 250, the ACT Late Model Tour showed that half as many laps can still produce plenty of excitement. Ben Rowe set the pace for most of the first stage before a trio of cautions between laps 39 and 40 let the field catch up to him. Mike Hopkins, Jimmy Hebert, Derek Gluchacki made it a four-car duel, with Hopkins leading three circuits off a lap-62 restart before Rowe took it back. Hopkins and Gluchacki then both slid underneath Rowe on lap 73, with Gluchacki then passing Hopkins in traffic three laps later. The stage was seemingly set for a showdown between the previous Oxford winner and the teen phenom seeking his first career win.

But it all came apart following a lap-88 debris caution. A lap after the restart, Hopkins got into the back of Gluchacki exiting turn two. That sent Gluchacki spinning and put both the rear. Rowe inherited the lead again, but after nine laps, Hebert showed his full hand, sling-shotting below Rowe. Hebert had endured a miserable four months of racing, with just one top-10 finish since his season-opening win in the Northeast Classic. But no gremlins were to be found on this night as he motored to the win. D.J. Shaw passed Rowe in a seven-lap sprint to the finish, taking second and maintaining his point lead.

September 18, 2021: Fall Foliage 200 (White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, NH)

White Mountain earns a second entry on this list with the return of the Fall Foliage 200. It was the first edition of the historic ACT event since 2016, and it didn’t disappoint. The first half of the event was one for the locals. Quinny Welch, the eight-time track champion, was hungry to finally become the first White Mountain regular to win an ACT race at the track. But the fact that he led 108 of the first 110 laps doesn’t come close to telling the story. Welch spent the first quarter of the race dealing with Ben Rowe shadowing him and constantly ducking to the inside. Than after a lap-50 caution, Alby Ovitt replaced Rowe, running lap after lap at Welch’s door. Both Rowe and Ovitt were able to lead a single lap, but Welch used the momentum of the high line to prevent either one from getting clear.

A lap-110 caution — which turned out to be the final one of the day — flipped the script. Derek Gluchacki had gone past Ovitt near halfway when Ovitt got loose. On the lap-110 restart (where several cars had pitted for right-side tires), Gluchacki left Welch in the dust, with Jimmy Hebert and Dillon Moltz not for behind. Gluchacki opened a big lead while Hebert seemingly had his hands full holding off Moltz. But with 40 laps to go, it became clear Hebert had been playing possum. He quickly ran down Gluchacki and made a three-wide move in lapped traffic to take the top spot with 26 laps to go. It was the latest chapter in a season-closing run that showed the champ was still on top of his game. Moltz moved into second with six circuits remaining, and Gabe Brown — who had been nearly a lap down after an earlier spin — stole third from Gluchacki on the final lap. Meanwhile, Rowe’s lap led helped him take a one=point lead over D.J. Shaw in the title battle.

October 23, 2021: Haunted Hundred (Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, MA)

With the margin between Ben Rowe and D.J. Shaw for the point lead at single digits for nearly the entire second half of the season, it seemed likely the Seekonk finale could have some drama. But nobody could have predicted just how things ultimately played out. Shaw gained three points in qualifying, giving him a two-point lead over Rowe entering the 100-lap feature. But since Rowe didn’t yet have a win on the season, he was able to start third in the main event. He took advantage, getting the lead from Josh Hedges on lap 8 and locking up crucial bonus points.

Rowe was trying to lead the most laps, but Derek Gluchacki had motored from 11th and was underneath Rowe when the caution came out on lap 51. It didn’t even matter, as Gluchacki took the lead around the outside on the restart. Rowe then slid back to fourth as Tom Carey III and Shaw passed him — but because of the lap leader bonus for Rowe, Shaw needed more than that to secure the title.  Gluchacki and Carey pulled away from the field, and when Carey tried to make his move with 13 laps to go, the two cars got hooked coming off turn two. Although neither spun, Carey suffered suspension damage that forced him to pit, and the field was able to catch up to Gluchacki.

The pot was already doing some serious bubbling, and after two cautions on laps 93 and 97, it boiled over. Shaw pulled a crossover move on Gluchacki, and as they leaned on each other, Rowe came storming back up the outside. Gluchacki spun the next time in turn two, and Shaw had led lap 98 by an inch, giving him five bonus points and putting him inside Rowe for a green-white-checkered to decide the race and the championship. Shaw led the white-flag lap, but in turn two, Rowe pulled the same crossover move that Shaw had done on Gluchacki. They came storming to the checkered flag, and Rowe won the drag race by 0.043 seconds, giving him the Haunted Hundred trophy, the 30th ACT Late Model Tour championship, and the $10,000 check. It was a race that no one who was watching at the track or live on Speed51.TV will ever forget.