01/13/2005
Cyr, Laquerre, and ACT Title Winners Feted at
Banquet of Champions
South Burlington, VT -- Jean-Paul
Cyr of Milton, VT was awarded his 2004 ACT Dodge Tour Championship
trophy at the ACT Banquet of Champions, held Saturday night at the
Sheraton-Burlington Hotel & Conference Center. The ACT
Banquet of Champions honored Cyr and Top 10 drivers from the ACT Dodge
Tour, as well as Track Champions and Top 10 racers from Thunder Road
Int’l Speedbowl in Barre, VT and Airborne Int’l Raceway in
Plattsburgh, NY.
Cyr raised his career win total to 12 in 2004, and for
driving the Ehler’s RV/Sticks ‘N Stuff Chevrolet to his second
straight crown he took home a check for $10,000. The 2004
Championship was his fourth overall since 1994. ACT Dodge Tour
Runner-up Brent Dragon, also of Milton, VT collected $5,000, while
third-place driver Patrick Laperle of St-Denis, QC earned $2,500.
Veteran driver Joey Laquerre of East Montpelier, VT
was presented the 36th annual Don MacTavish Award for his lifelong
contributions to the sport of short track stock car racing.
Laquerre, 61, is the only driver to have won a Thunder Road feature
event in each of the last five decades, and collected fifth-place
awards for both the ACT Dodge Tour and Thunder Road weekly Late Model
standings in 2004.
Thunder Road Late Model Champion Cris Michaud of
Williamstown, VT was crowned “King of the Road” for the second
time in his career. Michaud’s four-win effort netted him
$5,000. Island Pond, VT’s Reno Gervais defended his 2003 NAPA
Tiger Sportsman Championship, earning $1,000. Joe Small of
Milton, VT was crowned the Allen Lumber Street Stock Champion, with
Ron Gabaree of Barre, VT collecting the same honors in the PowerShift
Junkyard Warrior division.
Milton, VT’s Bill Sawyer, at age 60, was named the
Airborne Raceway Track Champion with his solid NAPA Tiger Sportsman
title effort, and picked up a check for $2,500. BFA-Fairfax high
school senior Richie Turner of Fairfax, VT accepted his Renegade
division Championship, while Ed Doner of Clintonville, NY capped a
four-win season with his Junkyard Warrior Championship.
Twenty year-old B.J. Piekarski of Nashua, NH was
honored as the ACT Dodge Tour’s 2004 Rookie of the Year.
Piekarski, one of only six drivers to qualify for all 14 events in
2004, finished 15th overall. Rusty Berger of South Burlington,
VT picked up Thunder Road Late Model Rookie of the Year honors, and
was flanked by Tom Therrien of Hinesburg, VT in the NAPA Tiger
Sportsman division and Joel Hodgdon of Craftsbury, VT in the Allen
Lumber Street Stocks. Aaron Maynard of Milton, VT was named the
Airborne Raceway Rookie of the Year in the NAPA Tiger Sportsman
division.
The sixteen year-old Hodgdon, sixth in Thunder Road Street Stock
points, was also awarded the Dr. Gordon R. “Doc” Nielsen Award for
the most outstanding season-long performance by a rookie across all
ACT divisions.
“Most Improved Driver” and “Sportsmanship”
awards, voted on by drivers and ACT officials, highlighted the
evening. Steve Fisher of Shelburne, VT was honored as the Late
Model Most Improved Driver after improving his personal best ACT Dodge
Tour standing by ten positions to finish seventh and earning his first
career win in the New England Dodge Dealers 100 at Seekonk (MA)
Speedway in August. Chris Gendreau of Waterbury Ctr., VT was
named the Most Improved Driver in the NAPA Tiger Sportsman division
after earning his first career Thunder Road win in 2004.
First-year ACT Dodge Tour competitor Ron Henry of New
Gloucester, ME earned Sportsmanship honors in the Late Model division,
while Kerry Henry or Barre, VT was given Sportsmanship laurels in the
NAPA Tiger Sportsman division. The Allen Lumber Street Stock
division’s “Ed Carroll Memorial Sportsmanship Award”, in its
third year, was given to Tunbridge, VT driver Gary Mullen.
The Ken Squier Award, which recognizes a person or
group that greatly contributes to local stock car racing through
service at and away from the track, was given to ACT
Marketing/Advertising Director Marjorie Fay. Fay, of Richmond,
VT, began selling t-shirts for ACT in 1985, and has also served as
Media Coordinator.
The fourth annual Francis “Bubby” Wilder
Dedication Award was presented to Dean Gallison and Tina Boutin of
Middlesex, VT. Gallison, a former Thunder Road Late Model
competitor, has been a fixture on the ACT technical inspection staff
since 1997. Boutin, who first became involved in local racing
during the early 1980s, has served as an ACT staff administrator since
1995.
ACT will kick off its 20th season on Sunday, April 24
at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH, with ACT Late Model Tour’s opening
event. For more information, contact ACT at (802) 244-6963, or
visit www.acttour.com.
Source: Justin St.
Louis/ACT PR
Posted: January 13, 2005
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