Pit Notes - Hickory Motor Speedway Practice Day

Hickory, NC — The pits were abuzz at Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday, March 16th with the stars of the Pro All Stars Series, American-Canadian Tour and the all-new Mighty Mini Stock Series taking their first spins on the rough and tough 1/3-mile oval.

Twenty-two PASS Super Late Models were on hand to test for their St. Patrick’s Day 150 and 18th running of the Easter Bunny 150. Although timing and scoring was unavailable for the four PASS practices, Maine standouts Joey Doiron in the Peter Petit machine and Ben Rowe in his father Mike’s ‘Quick 5’ throwback both looked steady and stout throughout the day. Jake ‘The Jet’ Johnson looked to be among the fastest Super Late Model teams with defending Oxford 250 winner Cole Butcher, former PASS National Champion Mike Hopkins and multi-time PASS North champion D.J. Shaw also carrying lots of speed.

The American-Canadian Tour’s unique collection of twenty-six cars took to Hickory Motor Speedway for the first time since their debut at the North Carolina oval in 2021. Both Joey Polewarczyk Jr. and Tanner Woodard were unable to make the trip with the snow storm earlier this week in Northern New England keeping them busy. The strong mix of former ACT winners, Northeast track champions and powerful rookies leave much to be seen in the coming twin-125s.

Recently announced Kulwicki Driver Development Program semi-finalist Derek Gluchacki paced the first practice with a 15.746-second lap before Kasey Beattie led the second practice with a 15.831, just three-thousands-of-a-second faster than defending ACT champion D.J. Shaw. Rookie of the Year candidate Bryan Wall Jr. led the way through the third practice round followed by Gluchacki and Shaw while Jimmy Renfrew Jr. led the final round, and the whole day for ACT, with a 16.658.

Mini Stocks from both North and South also took to the track on Thursday’s practice sessions in preparation for the debut of the Mighty Mini Series. Southern New Hampshire standout Bob Williams bookended the  early and late practice sessions while former NEMST champions Cody LeBlanc and Emerson Cayer led the through the afternoon.

The St. Patrick’s Day 125 for the American-Canadian Tour sets off the 2023 season, southern style. Along with the Pro All Stars Series St. Patrick’s Day 150 for the Super Late Models, the Mighty Mini Series takes the first step before crowning their North/South King of the Mini Stocks at Hickory Motor Speedway tomorrow, Friday March 17th. The two events for the American-Canadian Tour, Pro All Stars Series and Mighty Mini Series at Hickory Motor Speedway will also be featured live on Racing America Pay-Per-View.