BARRE, Vt. — Following the announcement of Cris Michaud and Pat Malone’s commitment to grow the base purse for American-Canadian Tour events to a $5,000-to-win, $500-to-start model, both familiar faces and new teams have jumped on board the ACT bandwagon for the season ahead.
At the top of the heap stands several returning Tour champions led by two-time and defending American-Canadian Tour high-point man D.J. Shaw returning in the Arnie Hill-owned No. 04VT and with expanded sponsorship by partner Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.
As previously announced, 2021 ACT champion Ben Rowe will return in 2024 teamed with fellow Mainer Rowland Robinson Jr. for an owner’s championship run while 2014 champion Joey Polewarczyk Jr. has also signed up for the full-season slate.
Young Guns
While unable to grasp the championship as of yet, leading young circuit-chasers Derek Gluchacki and Gabe Brown have filed their full season paperwork. While Brown looks to make-up just one spot ahead of his 2022 finish to join the list of international ACT champions, Gluchacki will be pulling double duty to chase the $54,000 Kulwicki Driver Development Program championship against six other finalists in North America.
Former ACT rookies of the year Tanner Woodard, Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif and Erick Sands have also made their strong presence known in recent seasons with all three ready to chase the 13-event tour once again in 2024. New Hampshire young stars Bryan Wall Jr. and Cam Huntress will also be on hand to battle upcoming rookies Kasey Beattie, Kaiden Fisher, Cole Littlewood and Jeremy Sorel.
Winners
Multi-time American-Canadian Tour winner Jonathan Bouvrette will once again chase the ACT Tour from his Blainville, Quebec-homebase along with fellow Northern invaders Remi Perreault and the ACT Iron Man, Claude Leclerc. 2023 first-time winners Jesse Switser and Brandon Barker have signed on for the full chase along with former Thunder Road King of the Road Bobby Therrien and Vermont sisters Peyton and Reilly Lanphear.
Longtime Massachusetts-based ACT runners Jimmy Linardy and Pete Yetman have also purchased their full season entries for the season.
“All of us are looking forward to getting the season started,” said ACT Managing Partner Cris Michaud. “We’re hearing a lot of positives from teams, fans and sponsors, I think we all agree that 2024 is going to be a great season all around.”
The American-Canadian Tour begins the season in three weeks with the Fourth annual Northeast Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on April 13 with April 14 set as a built-in rain date if needed. The American-Canadian Tour will contest 13 events this season, including visits to some of New England’s most popular weekends and tracks stretching from Connecticut to Quebec, Canada.