The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is an independent regional stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Eastern Canada. The American-Canadian Tour was founded in 1979 and conducts professionally-run stock car racing events across New England and Quebec.
History
In 1979, famed television and radio journalist Ken Squier and business partner Tom Curley formed the North Tour sanctioned by NASCAR for Late Model Sportsman-type cars. Stars of the day included New England drivers Beaver and Bobby Dragon, Dave Dion, and Dick McCabe; Canada’s Jean-Paul Cabana and Claude Leclerc; and invaders Robbie Crouch of Tampa, FL, and Chuck Bown of Portland, OR. With sponsorship from companies like Coors, Molson, Skoal, STP, Valvoline, and General Motors, the North Tour visited the short track showplaces of the northeastern U.S. and Canada: Vermont’s Thunder Road, Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway, Stafford Springs and Thompson, CT, Sanair Super Speedway near Montreal, Cayuga Speedway in Ontario, and Dover Downs Int’l Speedway in Dover, DE. Southern stars Butch Lindley, Bill Dennis, Harry Gant, and Tommy Ellis were frequent visitors to NASCAR North Tour events, along with national icons Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt.
After the NASCAR sanction dissolved at the end of 1985, Curley incorporated his roster of teams into the independent American-Canadian Tour in 1986 and made a total changeover from the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman to the Pro Stock cars used throughout the country. In 1987, Curley’s ACT aligned with Rex Robbins’ American Speed Association (ASA) of the Midwest and Bob Harmon’s All-Pro Series of the southeast, forming the Stock Car Connection. The SCC visited high-profile tracks in Cincinnati, OH; Milwaukee, WI; Nazareth, PA; and Nashville, TN; and saw visitors that included Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Bobby and Davey Allison, and Rusty and Kenny Wallace, along with short track legends Dick Trickle, Butch Miller, Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker, Steve Grissom, and Bobby Gill.
With General Motors stepping up its commitment to ACT in 1989, the GM Motorsport National Stock Car Series was formed in Canada, offering large purses, even larger point funds, and coast-to-coast television coverage. Budweiser created the Bud Triple Crown as part of the GM Series, and paid Junior Hanley over $50,000 in 1991 and again in ’92 for sweeping the series. During Hanley’s ACT Championship years from 1991-93, the legendary Ontario driver earned more than $700,000 in winnings!
The current American-Canadian Tour Late Models utilize a modern, cost-effective program that creates thrilling side-by-side action and has built one of the leading short track series in North America. Beginning in 1992 and taking center stage in 1996, the Late Models have introduced many innovative concepts used in several disciplines of short track racing.
ACT developed one of the first “spec” engine programs in 1999 as a cost-saving option for local and regional racers. After successful testing in the early 2000s, most teams, tracks and promoters both regionally and nationally have made the switch. The “spec” engine program expanded to include a Ford option in 2010 and added the popular GM ‘602’ in 2018. A similar cost-saving “spec” program exists with Koni and QA1 shock absorbers as well as a uniform Hoosier Racing Tire utilized by the Tour and its partner tracks.
For their efforts in the growth of stock car racing, both Squier and Curley have been inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame and the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. In 2004, ACT founder Tom Curley was voted by more than 1,000 race promoters across the continent as the Auto Racing Promoter of the Year. In 2018 Ken Squier was ceremoniously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC for his contributions to the growth of the sport on a national, and international, level. ACT lost its visionary leader in May of 2017 when a decades-long battle with COPD claimed Tom Curley. Ken Squier passed away in November 2023 after battling multiple health problems for several years.
The Modern Era
In November 2017, the American-Canadian Tour changed ownership for the first time in its storied history as former racer Cris Michaud and Vermont businessman Pat Malone took charge of the sanctioning body after partnering to purchase Vermont’s Thunder Road earlier that season. The partnership also purchased New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park in 2019. In recent years ACT has competed at tracks across New England, Quebec, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Partnering with the Maine-based Pro All Stars Series (PASS), the two sanctioning bodies have co-promoted events at Thompson Speedway (CT) since 2020.
During the 2023 season, ACT fans saw some of the greatest competition in the Northeast. The American-Canadian Tour averaged 33.3 cars per event in 2023 with a season-high 49 teams attempting to qualify for the season-ending event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl (CT) in October. There was plenty of action leading up to the end…
After winning in a March exhibition run at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway, Derek Gluchacki successfully defended his Northeast Classic victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by just 0.060-seconds ahead of fellow Bay Stater Tom Carey III. The 25th annual Community Bank 150 at Thunder Road featured the most lead changes of the season at 13 as three-time ‘King of the Road’ Jason Corliss battled up from a 17th-place starting position to take the home-cooking win.
The 6th annual Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250 again wowed as 42 cars were whittled down to a 31-car starting field at White Mountain Motorsports Park that saw Last Chance winner Jesse Switser do the impossible and take down the victory! Switser joined Gabe Brown and Brandon Barker as first-time American-Canadian Tour winners in 2023.
Competitors, officials, and fans alike are eagerly awaiting the 2024 season. In its 46th consecutive year, the ACT Tour features thirteen point-counting events in New England and Quebec with highlights that include at least eight events worth $5,000-or-more to win and joining the region’s biggest weekends, including the 51st Oxford 250, the 62nd Vermont Milk Bowl and the Sunoco World Series!
ACT-sanctioned racing can also be found at Thunder Road International Speedbowl (VT), White Mountain Motorsports Park (NH) and Thompson Speedway (CT) along with the touring Serie ACT Quebec in Canada and the US-Based ACT Tri-State Flying Tiger Series.
After a five year hiatus, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent international border closure, the Serie ACT Quebec series returned in 2023 for a 10-race schedule. Split evenly between Quebec bullrings Autodrome Chaudiere and Autodrome Montmagny, Serie ACT Quebec brought a permanent presence back to Canada for the ACT sanctioning body. Raphael Lessard took the 2023 championship for the renowned Larue Raceteam #48QC with several new stars earning their first ACT-sanctioned victories on the reborn Canadian circuit!
