EPPING, N.H. – Joey Polewarczyk Jr. put on a clinic in the second half of the Dream Ride 150 to capture his 20th American Canadian Tour win at Star Speedway Saturday.
Polewarczyk took the lead from Rich Dubeau on lap 91 and smoked the field down the stretch to take the $5,000 top prize in the American-Canadian Tour Summer Kickoff Series finale.
The win was notable on several levels beyond the prize money. Polewarzcyk broke a tie with Jean-Paul Cyr and Patrick Laperle to move into sole possession of second on the all-time ACT winner’s list. He also became the sixth different winner in six point-counting events this year.
Polewarczyk started on the outside pole alongside Wayne Helliwell Jr., but soon surrendered that spot to Ryan Kuhn as Helliwell set the pace. A lap-seven incident where Christopher Pelkey and Jonathan Bouvrette got together battling for the fourth spot – and Claude Leclerc paid the price – scrambled the running order early and allowed Dubeau to quickly move up from the 10th starting spot.
Dubeau was up to third when the third caution flew on lap 19 for Bouvrette’s second incident and took the runner-up spot on the restart. He was starting to put the pressure on for the lead when Helliwell’s rear end failed on the 31st circuit, handing the lead to Dubeau and the number-two spot back to Polewarczyk.
The fourth and ultimately final caution came out two laps later for Reilly Lanphear’s spin. Dubeau pulled away initially following the restart. But the longer the green-flag run went, the stronger Polewarczyk got. The 2014 champion began stalking Dubeau in earnest as the duo worked lapped traffic near the halfway mark. After 20 laps of testing the waters, Polewarczyk swung to the high line and took the lead from Dubeau as they completed the 91st lap.
It was game-on for Polewarczyk from there. As the rest of the field began to slip and slide on worn tires, Polewarczyk stayed true, eventually drawing out to nearly a half-track lead. Despite needing to ease up some in slower traffic over the final circuits, Polewarczyk cruised to the win. He became the first repeat ACT winner at Star Speedway after also winning at the Tour’s last visit in 2013.
Dubeau finished second to unofficially retake the American-Canadian Tour points lead. Kuhn, a Tour rookie, was strong all night and earned his first ACT podium finish with a third-place result. Bouvrette charged through the field after his early incidents to take fourth. Bryan Kruczek rounded out the top-five.
The finish:
Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Rich Dubeau, Ryan Kuhn, Jonathan Bouvrette, Bryan Kruczek, Trent Goodrow, Scott Payea, Erick J. Sands, Jimmy Hebert, Mathieu Kingsbury, Dylan Payea, Christopher Pelkey, Shawn Swallow, Jason Larivee Jr., Michael Toner, Michael Wray, Reilly Lanphear, Randy Cole Jr., Scott Coburn, Peyton Lanphear, Wayne Helliwell Jr., Tom Mackey, Claude Leclerc.