Epping, NH — After Mother Nature pulled all her punches throughout the morning hours, the American-Canadian Tour returned to feature racing action at Star Speedway for the first time since 2019 on Saturday afternoon. Twenty-one American-Canadian Tour teams took advantage of Friday’s open practice with ten more teams rolling through the gates Saturday morning to compete in round six of the thirteen-race ACT Tour season. In the end, the Coastal Clash certainly lived up to its name!

Weather-related schedule changes were a-plenty Saturday but pushing through Cam Huntress, leading Rookie of the Year candidate Kasey Beattie and defending ACT champion D.J. Shaw pulled off the heat race victories. An extremely fast turn-around time saw the thirty-one car field take the green flag in the Coastal Clash 125, shortened from 150 laps in hopes of completing the day’s entire schedule of events.

By virtue of their +2 handicap following the heats, Gabe Brown and Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. led the field to green in a firestorm across the line. While Brown led lap one, Renfrew dove under for the preferred inside groove to lead lap two with Huntress running strong in third. What looked to be a career day for the Rochester, New Hampshire driver turned sour fast with an extruding exhaust pipe deemed unsafe for competitors and patrons alike. The first caution on lap 15 for a spinning Shawn Swallow saved Huntress but did little to stall the storm out front.

After a side-by-side battle at the head of the pack, Brown regained the lead on lap 23 with a ferocious battle for sixth developing in their rear-view mirrors. Bryan Wall Jr. and Ray Christian III fought door handle-to-door handle before Wall’s backsliding on the inside opened the door for Kaiden Fisher to join in. All eyes returned to the front of the pack by lap 50 with Brown and Renfrew navigating heavy lap traffic before the field slowed once again, this time for a stopped Aaron Fellows atop turn two.

Brown continued to hold the lead on the restart with the battle for the middle of the top-ten continuing to be as hard-nosed as ever, now with Tom Carey III, Erick Sands and Jesse Switser joining the party. As if shot from a cannon, Switser made his way around to begin stalking D.J. Shaw in third while Brown and Renfrew continued to fight hard at the front. Where Renfrew was strong in the corners of the tough old Star Speedway asphalt, Brown made up ground on the backstretch with foot to the firewall and right-side tires nearly in the dirt lap after lap.

With time running out, intensity hit an all time high. With five laps remaining Brown, Renfrew, Shaw and Switser traded lanes and paint again and again as the four top drivers gave all they had down to the final lap. Jimmy Renfrew Jr. would bring the Chad Sullivan-owned 0NH, the Eppin’ Express, across the line to take the Coastal Clash 125 with Shaw and Switser completing the top-three. A late slip found Gabe Brown in fourth with Quebec’s Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif collecting fifth. Tom Carey III, rookies Fisher and Beattie, Chip Grenier and Erick Sands would round out the top-ten.

The American-Canadian Tour takes three weeks off before heading North of the Border for the second time in 2024. The Stars and Cars of the American-Canadian Tour invade Autodrome Montmagny in Quebec for the $10,000 to win CAN-AM 200, a showdown between the best of two countries on one of the toughest ovals in northeastern North America on Saturday, July 20.

For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @ACTTour.

The Coastal Clash 125

Star Speedway – Epping, NH

Saturday, June 22, 2024

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

1. 0NH Jimmy Renfrew Jr. Candia, NH

2. 04VT DJ Shaw Center Conway, NH

3. 25NH Jesse Switser W. Burke, VT

4. 47NH Gabe Brown Center Conway, NH

5. 21QC Alexendre Tardif Notre Dame des Pins, QC

6. 5MA Tom Carey III New Salem, MA

7. 18VT #Kaiden Fisher Shelburne, VT

8. 45NH #Kasey Beattie St. Johnsbury, VT