New Hampshire Motor Speedway to Host ACT Invitational in 2009

New Hampshire Motor Speedway to Host ACT Invitational in 2009

LOUDON, NH – Late Model stock car drivers will get their first
super-speedway experience next year, as the 1-mile New Hampshire Motor
Speedway in Loudon, NH hosts the inaugural American-Canadian Tour
(ACT) Invitational on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 weekend,
September 18-20, 2009. The ACT/NHMS event will have a purse of more
than $65,000 for invited and approved teams that attend the historic,
groundbreaking event for Late Model stock car racing.
"New Hampshire Motor Speedway has been looking for a way to
support the short track industry throughout the Northeast and
Québec/Ontario markets. ACT offers the perfect conduit to help us
meet our marketing goal," said NHMS Vice President and General Manager
Jerry Gappens.
"New Hampshire Motor Speedway is giving short track fans and
teams throughout the Northeast and Canada a wonderful opportunity,"
said ACT President Tom Curley.
The ACT Invitational race will be a 50-lap all-star event with
36 starters. Each 2009 race winner on the U.S.-based ACT Late Model
Tour and the Québec/Ontario-based Série ACT-Castrol as of Sept. 18,
2009 will be awarded a guaranteed starting spot at NHMS, along with a
$500 bonus for each win, contingent upon participation at the NHMS
event.
Three non-championship events will also be NHMS qualifying
races with a $500 NHMS bonus: the CARQUEST Vermont Governor's Cup 100
at Thunder Road Int'l Speedbowl in Barre, VT, the TD Banknorth 250 at
Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, ME, and the Coors Light 200
"Showdown at Chaudière" all-star race at Autodrome Chaudière in
Vallée-Jonction, QC on Sat., August 29.
Other invitees will be 2009 champions and/or point leaders as
of Sept. 18, 2009 on the ACT Late Model Tour and Série ACT-Castrol, as
well as at the following ACT-affiliated short tracks: Thunder Road
Int'l Speedbowl, Oxford Plains Speedway, Lee USA (NH) Speedway, Twin
State Speedway (Claremont, NH), White Mountain Motorsports Park (N.
Woodstock, NH), Seekonk (MA) Speedway, Waterford (CT) Speedbowl,
Capital City Speedway (Ottawa, ON), and Kawartha Speedway
(Peterborough, ON). Provisional starting spots will be awarded to
fill the field to 36 cars, if needed.
"Short track racing is grass roots racing, and is the engine
that drives the entire stock car industry," said Curley. "Jerry
Gappens and his NHMS team are to be commended during these challenging
times with their proactive, innovative ideas to be inclusive of the
region's short tracks. Obviously, the American-Canadian Tour teams
and fans, along with their affiliate Late Model tracks, are very
excited and appreciative about this opportunity."
"This is great news for Late Model racing as a whole," said ACT
Late Model Tour veteran Brent Dragon of Milton, VT. "Racing at Loudon
is something I think all drivers in this region want to do, and now
we've all got even more motivation to win races. Being at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway brings this group to a whole new level."
"I'm very proud of the fact that ACT is going to New
Hampshire," said Donald Theetge of Québec City, the 2006 Série
ACT-Castrol champion. "It will be great for our drivers, our fans,
and it would be a great thing to win a race in front of those Sprint
Cup teams. I know I'm going to try everything I can to get in that
race and win it."
A strategic marketing plan will be created for race fans
throughout the northeastern U.S. and Canada to make attending the
event affordable and give fans more action and value for their ticket
money. Promotions will be held in all major markets of the region,
including the Canadian metro areas of Montréal, Ottawa, Québec City,
and eastern Toronto, and U.S. metro areas including Providence,
Portland, Boston, Hartford, Burlington, VT, Manchester, NH,
Plattsburgh, NY, and more.
"It's our intention to give the best short track teams in the
region a chance to compete at the premier super-speedway in the
northeast," said Gappens. "In addition, it will also help to
encourage more passionate short track race fans to visit our speedway
during our mega-event NASCAR race weekends."
The Série ACT-Castrol 2009 schedule was released at the annual
Banquet of Champions in Drummondville, QC last Saturday night. The
2009 ACT Late Model Tour schedule will be released in the coming days.