Patrick Laperle swapped the lead with fellow Quebec driver Karl Allard through turns three and four in the final lap of Sunday's Mekkelsen RV Foliage 200 at Airborne Raceway and won his first ever ACT Late Model Sportsman Series event. Laperle dove to the bottom when Allard drifted high in the final turn then took a refuse to lose route to the finish line while Allard brushed the wall and ricocheted across the stripe in second, six feet ahead of third place Eric Williams.

Laperle gained the point after a lap 134 caution for leader Jamie Fisher. Fisher, who had traded the lead with Allard three times, had a tire go down and glanced off the turn four wall. Once in front, Laperle gamely held off Williams and Allard until the trio came upon ACT Series point leader Brian Hoar on the backstretch on the final lap. Hoar, running at speed many laps down after a lengthy stay on pit road, swung high in turn three in an attempt to let the leaders race by. Just as he chose to do so, Laperle opted for the high side himself and racing room was in short supply. When Laperle and Williams got out of the throttle for an instant, Allard shot past everyone on the apron. His momentum carried him high as he negotiated turn four and Laperle threaded the needle to move back by on the inside for a car length victory.

"My car was very loose at the end, but I wanted to win such an important race and I did what I had to do,"said Laperle. "I don't think he (Hoar) was trying to do me any good, but I got by him and then Allard too." Allard, the 21 year old leader of the ACT sanctioned Quebec Series ADL, speaking through interpreter Jean Paul Cabana said, "I am very excited to have such a good race in my first time at Airborne. I look forward to return here to race again and I thank all the fans for their applause."

Mark Lamberton, winner of the Remington Shootout and the McDonald's 100 ACT Series event earlier in the year on the Plattsburgh half mile, was a distant fourth, two car lengths ahead of Dwayne Lanphear. Lanphear began his best race of the season 24th in the 30 car field. Airborne LMS Rookie of the Year, Scott Dragon, was sixth, followed by Chuck Beede, Joey Laquerre, Dave Whitcomb and Jimmy Winters. Hoar ended the day as the 1999 Airborne Late Model Sportsman Champion in spite of his Foliage 200 woes and lost little ground to his closest ACT Series competitor, Phil Scott.

Scott was caught up in an early incident when Steve Renaudette had trouble coming up to speed on a restart and several cars got together in turns three and four. Scott left with suspension problems, later to return soldier on to a 19th place finish that did little to close the gap between himself and Hoar. Unofficially, heading into the Twin 100s at Autodrome St-Felicien on Saturday, September 18, Hoar leads the Series with 849 points, 97 better than Scott (752) and 110 points ahead of Chuck Beede (739). The ACT Late Model Sportsman Series will conclude Sunday, September 26 with the 36th running of the Vermont Chevy Dealers Milk Bowl.

Fin/Start/Driver
1. (21)Patrick Laperle, St Denis Que
2. (25)Karl Allard, St-Felicien, Que
3.(7)Eric Williams, Hyde Park, VT
4.(15)Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, NY
5.(24)Dwayne Lanphear, Morrisville, VT
6.(9)Scott Dragon, Milton, VT
7.(18)Chuck Beede, Williamstown, VT
8.(4)Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, VT
9.(12)Dave Whitcomb. Essex Jct VT
10.(27)Jimmy Winters, St. James, NY
11.(10)Cris Michaud, Northfield, VT
12.(13)Chad Wheeler, Williston, VT
13.(26)Tracie Bellerose, Gorham, NH
14. (6)Fred LaGoy, Cadyville, NY
15.(23)Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, VT
16.(14)Mark Barnier, Essex Jct, VT 
17.(2)Jim Cilley, Groton, VT
18.(29) Bill Fountain, Plattsburgh, NY
19. (20)Phil Scott, Montpelier, VT
20.(8) Gary Cunningham, Williston, VT
21.(28)Scott Carpenter, Waterbury, VT
22.(11)Chris Fisher, Shelburne, VT 
23.(22)Brian Hoar, Colchester, VT
24.(3) Pete Fecteau, Morrisville, VT
25.(30)Steve Miller, New Haven, VT
26.(5)Tony Poissant, Alburg, VT
27.(1) Rich Lowery, Charlotte, VT
28.(17)Robin Wood, Plattsburgh, NY

Two-time Airborne Raceway Late Model Sportsman Champion Brent Dragon was a convincing winner in Saturday night's Agway Energy Products main event at Airborne Raceway on August 15.

Dragon went door to door with runner-up Bucko Branham for several circuits following a restart on lap 12 and after gaining the point, stayed in complete command. Gary Cunningham had a strong run for third place while behind him, Steve Renaudette and Scott Dragon had an exciting duel for fourth that went to Renaudette by two feet at the wire.

Late Model Sportsman Chad Wheeler followed up several recent top five performances with the best possible top five finish Thursday night, August 13, at Thunder Road. Wheeler swept past Chuck Beede on lap 23 and went on to win the Fisher/Federated Auto Parts Late Model Sportsman 40 Lap main event, his first career victory. A late surge by defending Thunder Road Champion Phil Scott earned him the runner-up spot, two cars lengths ahead of Dave Whitcomb.

Jamie Fisher won the LMS Feature at Airborne Raceway on August 8, placing second and third were Phil Scott and Patrick Laperle.

Steve Renaudette ruled the point for all 40 laps in the LMS main event, Saturday , at Airborne Raceway on July 31, but it didn't come easy. Renaudette had Dave Whitcomb just off his rear panel most of the night and had to survive a flurry of late restarts and a late charge from point leader Brian Hoar. Hoar had a workout to take third from Scott Dragon, who like Renaudette, worked the low lane with authority.

Whitcomb beat Hoar to the stripe by three feet while scoring his fourth top five finish of the year. Patrick Laperle finished fifth at Dragon's bumper after gaining ground with the late cautions.

The second half of the top ten was Chris Fisher, Tony Poissant, Brent Dragon, Dwayne Lanphear and Robin Wood. Dragon used his fourth place finish and an earlier semi-feature win to move into third place in the point standings behind Hoar and Dave Whitcomb.

Brian Hoar, with Chad Wheeler in tow, took the lead on lap 12 of the 40 lap Maynard Auto Supply Late Model Sportsman (LMS) main event Thursday , at Thunder Road on July 29, and broke away from the field for his second win of the season.

Wheeler kept close to Hoar throughout, but never threatened the leader. After one early caution for Cris Michaud's slide over the top of turn one, all laps ran under green.

Wheeler's second place finish was his fifth top five performance of the season and it moved him into seventh place in the LMS point standings. Top Thunder Road Rookie Jamie Fisher of Shelburne, VT picked up third place after '98 Rookie of the Year Billy Herring was taken down in the tech line for a tire rule violation (too soft).

Phil Scott, in a ringside seat for Fisher's duel with Bill Marsha took over the fourth spot with three laps to go. Point leader Eric Williams followed Scott through for what became fifth place. Marsha, Shawn Fleury, Derek Ming, Dave Whitcomb and Pete Fecteau took home spots 6-10. Fleury, the polesitter, ran strong in third most of the event before eventually getting hung out to dry on the high side.

Wet weather forced postponement of the ACT Late Model Sportsman Series Twin 100's planned for Saturday and Sunday July 24, 25 at Autodrome St-Felicien, St-Felicien, Quebec. The event has been rescheduled to take place on Saturday, September 18 when the first half of the doubleheader will resume with the Late Model Sportsman "B" feature. Both 100 lap races will be run on Saturday.

Veteran Jim Cilley caught Kendell Legendre with three laps remaining in the NAPA Night Late Model Sportsman Trophy Dash, at Thunder Road on July 24, for his first win of the year and the 11th of his career.

Legendre stayed put in second place ahead of Derek Ming for his best finish of the season. Several car lengths back, Tracie Bellerose, Jamie Fisher and point leader Eric Williams ran nose to tail for 4th, 5th, and 6th. Phil Scott, after closing to third at the halfway mark, fell a bit off the pace and settled for 7th ahead of Jimmy Young, Pat Corbett and Billy Herring. Dave Whitcomb, number two in the Thunder Road title chase, soldiered on for 12th, well behind the leaders but enough to remain two points ahead of Jamie Fisher.

Brian Hoar and Chuck Beede, fifth and sixth in points going in, had a worse time of it. Both were gone after a lap four restart, Hoar with a broken lower control arm and Beede with clutch problems.

Chris Lautenschuetz, led every lap he turned Saturday night at Airborne Raceway and collected his second checkered flag in three weeks in the 30 lap Stewart's Shops Late Model Sportsman (LMS) main event.

Point leader Brian Hoar spent the final twelve laps glued to Lautenschuetz's bumper, but the Saranac, NY sophomore never wavered. Lautenschuetz sat on the pole in the K&L Plumbing & Heating Monte Carlo No. 03 and went door to door with Dave Whitcomb for several laps between multiple early restarts, but never lost the lead.

Meanwhile, Hoar advanced steadily, changing lanes as needed . He nosed under Whitcomb for second place on lap 18 and the chase was on. Whitcomb then came under attack from Scott Dragon, who swapped third place with him repeatedly before he was caught late by Chris Fisher and wound up fifth. Whitcomb's third place effort moved him into second place in the LMS standings, where he trails Hoar, unofficially, by ninety points (784-694).

The second half of the Stewart's Shop Late Model Sportsman Trophy Dash top ten went to Tony Poissant, Steve Renaudette (from 16th), Jamie Fisher, Bill Fountain and Dan Casey.

ACT Late Model Sportsman Series Officials have announced the addition of a race at the Thunder Road Speedbowl on September 4th, 1999. The 100 lap Labor Day Classic will be a part of the Busch North Series Jiffy Lube 150 NASCAR Tour race card.

Chris Fisher put a history of Thunder Road struggles to rest Sunday when he held off Bill Marsha's Allied Engine Monte Carlo and the late charging Brian Hoar to win the ACT Late Model Sportsman Series (LMS) Coca-Cola 100. The runner-up effort was a career best for Marsha, who stayed glued to Fisher over the final eighty laps. Hoar, the Series point leader, moved in on the leaders after a lengthy battle with Thunder Road Champion Phil Scott and knocked on the door, but to no avail.(details).

LAMBERTON FIRST TO THE LINE IN ACT AIRBORNE THRILLER

Plattsburgh, NY- - Mark Lamberton, who has been struggling ever since his Remington Shootout win in early May, took the checkers in an action packed Interstate Battery 100 lap ACT Late Model Sportsman Series race Saturday at Airborne International Raceway. With further review of post race tech inspection pending, the race results remain unofficial.

Lamberton started twelfth and was sitting fifth on a lap 74 restart when leader Brian Hoar's Goss Dodge Avenger shut down and wouldn't refire. The Mooers Forks, NY star quickly got underneath Phil Scott and began to run nose to tail with new leader Eric Williams and second place Dave Whitcomb. Scott, parked outside, refused to go away, regained third place then tucked inside only to meet Whitcomb fender to door, bringing out another caution.

That set up a twenty lap prize fight between Williams and Lamberton with Cris Michaud and Jimmy Young in ringside seats. The racing was hard, clean, and spectacular and the lead changed hands several times.

On the final lap Williams, from second, went for broke, drove deep into turn three, twitched for an instant and wound up fourth, a half car length behind the late charging Steve Renaudette and second place finisher Jimmy Young. Three feet later, with the large Airborne crowd on its feet, came Cris Michaud, sideways for fifth.

It was a roller coaster night for Hoar, the Series point leader and defending champion. Hoar got turned around on the first lap and quickly trailed the entire field by half a track. Thirty laps later he was twelfth and had moved into the fifth spot by the time the first caution came out on lap 46. "When he went by me," said runner-up Jimmy Young, "I thought I would stay with him and see how he gets around the outside, but he went by me so fast, I never had a chance." Prior to Hoar's demise, he had opened up a five car length lead over second place Eric Williams. Michaud spent the entire race near the front of the field including many entertaining laps early on dueling for the point with Pete Fecteau. The second of the top ten, unofficially, went to Scott Dragon, Chuck Beede, Mike Bruno, Mark Barnier and Jim Cilley.

Event number six in the ACT Late Model Sportsman Series is set for 6 pm Sunday, July 4 at Thunder Road in Barre, VT. The Interstate Battery Trophy Dash for the NAPA Flying Tigers went to point leader Sparky LaPan. LaPan got to the front early and won handily, despite a brief threat from Doug Murphy. Murphy made a great inside move to grab second place at the halfway mark and stayed with LaPan for several laps before slipping back. Bill Sawyer of Milton did him one better on the white flag lap with a daring low line shot and brought Taber Gagne with him. Sawyer ended up in the runner-up spot with Gagne 3rd, Joe Becker 4th and Jay Webb 5th. Two drivers earned the first feature wins of their career in the Street Stock and Strictly Street main events. Brian Criss of Plattsburgh was the Steet Stock victor in a race that featured a three-time roll down the backstretch by Chevy S-10 pilot Andrew Bordeau. Steve Benoit of Georgia, VT collected the Strictly Street trophy by besting Wayne Stowell and Rich Agoney Jr.

HOAR ROCKETS TO ACT SERIES WIN AT WHITE MOUNTAIN FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ACTH-062099

North Woodstock, NH -- Brian Hoar dominated the Currier RV 100 at White Mountain Motorsports Park to earn his second ACT Late Model Sportsman Series win. A caution with eight laps left cost the defending ACT Champion a half track advantage, but runner-up Phil Scott, with several lapped cars in the way, was unable to benefit.

Despite a strong showing by Scott, Kenny Dufour and Chuck Beede, the only cars to finish on the lead lap, Hoar's Goss Dodge Avenger had the field covered and then some. "I can't say enough about the car and the way my crew prepares it for me," said Hoar. "The way I'm able to race through the turns and basically, go where I want to go, is awesome."

Dufour's effort in the Lyndonville Office Equipment Monte Carlo was his finest of the year and came on the heels of earlier wins in his heat and the semi-feature. The Bethlehem, NH driver led the first 33 laps of the Currier RV 100 and went wheel to wheel with Hoar for three more circuits before giving way.

Scott, from 18th on the field, made his own early march to the front , aided in part when the field was shuffled by a spinning Scott Dragon. The Milton, VT rookie was running solidly in fourth when he lost the reins exiting turn two and got walloped by Billy Herring and collected by Jamie Fisher in a collision that ended the night for all three competitors. Upon the restart, Scott went wheel to wheel with Chuck Beede for a dozen laps to gain third place then passed Dufour for second at the halfway mark. Further back, plenty of great racing was underway as Chad Wheeler, Jim Cilley, Derek Ming, and Eric Williams waged a see-saw battle for fifth that lasted over forty laps. Ming, who skipped his North Country HS graduation to go racing, finally won out for his second top five finish in the series. Cilley was next, followed by Wheeler, Williams, Mark Barnier and Joey Laquerre.

The ACT Late Model Sportsman Series moves to Airborne Raceway in Plattsburgh, NY on Saturday, June 26 for the Interstate Battery 100, then returns to Thunder Road on Sunday, July 4 for the Coca-Cola 100.

In Late Model Sportsman action, Jamie Fisher won a sensational race long duel with his older brother Chris, the defending track champion, for career victory number one in the Hannaford/Cellular One Trophy Dash Saturday night at Plattsburgh, NY's Airborne International Raceway.

A restart with two laps to go placed the Fishers alongside one another, just ahead of Gary Cunningham and point leader Brian Hoar , after having run inches apart far ahead of the field for most of the 30 lap event. "I'm glad Chris let me win it," the Shelburne, VT rookie said with a grin in victory lane." If Chris "let" his brother win, he disguised it well.

Twice, in the closing stages of the race, Chris Fisher went for broke on the apron of the backstretch, diving below a lapped car Jamie was passing on the outside and coming up just short through the third turn. There was contact between the two on the restart as well before Jamie prevailed in the S.D.Ireland Concrete Monte Carlo by a margin of four feet.

Third place Cunningham and late arrival Brian Hoar matched the Fisher's stride for stride over the final two laps, but were unable to gain ground. Steve Renaudette, from the thirteenth starting position, completed the top five.

Two weeks earlier, in a similar late restart situation, Hoar had overtaken Jamie Fisher to deny him his first career LMS checkered flag. Brian Reyell of West Chazy, NY led the final twelve laps of the Hannaford/Cellular One Street Stock feature for his first win of the season. Apparent runner-up Bubba Hickory was DQ'ed in the tech line for a motor violation, making a second place finisher out of Skip Liberty and unofficially moving Brian Criss into the three spot. The second place effort allowed Liberty to regain the lead in the Airborne Street Stock point standings.

Brian Hoar, the defending American Canadian Tour Series Champion, got his three-peat campaign in full swing Saturday night (15/05/1999) at Airborne Raceway. Scott Dragon, Chris Fisher, Fred LaGoy and Eric Williams rounded out the top five.(details).

Phil Scott won the first event of the American Canadian Tour schedule, a race held on Sunday, May 2, 1999 at Thunder Road Speedbowl, in Barre, VT. Completing the podium were Joey Laquerre and Jimmy Young (details).

Sunday, April 25 Mark Lamberton captured the inaugural Remington All-Star Shootout at Airborne Raceway. The special $5,000 to win event marked the 45th season opener at the Plattsburgh, NY half mile.

The Shootout, patterned after the Milk Bowl (or the Winston Cup Bud shootout), consisted of three 12 lap segments with points earned by order of finish in each one. Lamberton matched Brian Hoar's three round point total (13) and earned the checkers by having a better finish in the final leg (fourth vs Hoar's fifth). (details).

American Canadian Tour Officials today announced that veterant drivers Brent Dragon and Gary Caron plan to compete on the 1999 schedule.

Dragon, a former Airborne (1995, 1996) Late Model Champion will continue to race on the Pro Tour Truck Series in 1999, but would like to do some ACT racing also and possibly some Airborne weekly shows. Caron, a six-time Late Model feature winner raced a Pro Stock in 1998.

Meanwhile 1998 Thunder Road Rookie of the Year award winner, Billy Herring, will be back behind the wheel of Ellery Packard's racecar for the Thunder Road Championship. In addition Herring who won his first event last year will participate in the Great Remington Shootout, a $5,000 to win special event, and plans on competing in all ACT/Havoline Tour events.