American-Canadian Tour Rookie Racers Set to Tackle Northeast

WATERBURY, VT – Seven rookie Late Model stock car drivers will
take to the American-Canadian Tour in
2008. For some, running with the established ACT veterans will be the
next step in their ascent up the racing
ladder. For others, it will be a dream realized. For all, it will be
something totally different, and it begins
at the New Hampshire Governor's Cup 200 at Lee USA Speedway on
Sunday, April 20.
Vermont natives Tyler Cahoon, Matt White, and Nick Sweet all
began their careers at Thunder Road Int'l
Speedbowl in Barre, VT. St. Johnsbury native Cahoon, 27, won the
track's Allen Lumber Street Stock division
championship in 2000. After contending for Late Model championships
at New Hampshire's White Mountain Motorsports
Park in recent seasons, Cahoon turned to ACT Late Model Tour events at
Thunder Road and Oxford Plains (ME)
Speedway to prepare for 2008.
"Our equipment is up to par with the teams running the Tour,
and we've run well against the Tour cars at
White Mountain, so my team and I feel we're ready for our next
challenge," said Cahoon. "I've raced at a few
places, but I've never even seen most of the tracks on the ACT
schedule. We think that if we have a chance to win
this year it'll be at White Mountain, but overall we just want to
qualify for races and get a couple of top-ten
finishes."
Sweet, 23, of Barre, VT won the NAPA Tiger Sportsman division
championship at Thunder Road last year, and
will make his ACT Late Model Tour debut at Lee USA Speedway.
Multi-time Sportsman race winner White, 33, of
Northfield, VT, made an impressive first appearance at Thunder Road's
Chittenden Milk Bowl in September. He plans
to run race weekly at Thunder Road, but indicated that he may compete
in early-season events at Lee USA and Oxford
Plains.
London, Ontario's Jonathan Urlin, 25, is a former open-wheel
driver with the IRL IndyPro Series, and has
seen success at venues including the historic Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. Urlin took a pair of wins at Delaware
(ON) Speedway in his first stock car season last year. His father,
Russ, was the 1989 ACT Champion. Spencer
MacPherson, 19, of Carleton Place, ON tested the Canadian Série ACT
Castrol last season and captured a surprising
third-place finish at Québec's Autodrome Montmagny. He also earned
five feature wins and was the championship
runner-up at Ottawa's Capital City Speedway. MacPherson will compete
in select ACT Late Model Tour events while
concentrating on a full season with the Série ACT Castrol, while
Urlin's plans call for a full Tour schedule.
Sixteen year-old Joey Doiron of Berwick, ME is the youngest
driver in ACT competition in 2008. Doiron cut
his teeth at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in the intermediate Sport
Series division last year, finishing an
impressive fourth overall with a feature victory and the Rookie of the
Year title. He also earned a top-five
finish at Unity Raceway.
"The ultimate goal is to get a win," said Doiron, "but we want
to start off by learning and being
consistent. We purchased a good car from (chassis builders/drivers)
Dale and D.J. Shaw, and they've been helpful
with giving pointers and setup advice. I can't wait to race."
Ricky Wolf, Jr. is no stranger to Late Model competition;
however, the 2004 Lee USA Speedway Track
Champion from Northwood, NH will leave the confines of his home track
for the first time this year, running an
extended slate of ACT Late Model Tour events with Willoughby
Motorsports. Wolf's maiden voyage with ACT will
indeed come at home, though, with the NH Governor's Cup.
ACT Late Model Tour championship runner-up Scott Payea of
Milton, VT is looking forward to watching the
2008 rookie crop develop. The 2005 ACT Rookie of the Year has
established himself among the elite ACT
competitors, but remembers the challenges he faced just three short years ago.
"Racing with the Tour is a whole different animal than what
most of these guys are used to," he
said. "They all have good credentials, and that's a start, but
they'll found out like I did that nothing beats
experience. I've raced against Tyler Cahoon and Ricky Wolf; they're
good, but they may struggle outside of their
home tracks. I think highly of Nick Sweet and Matt White from having
watched them at Thunder Road, and it seems
that the rest have had some success, but these cars are tough and the
competition in ACT is extremely good. It
should be fun to watch them learn and progress."