Fisher reels in redemption in ACT CAN-AM 200

On a Sunday afternoon in New Hampshire, Kaiden Fisher was fortunate to make it out to the track before the green flag with a badly-battered race car.

On a Saturday evening in Quebec, Fisher drove that car to victory lane.

Fisher outmaneuvered reigning Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour champion Raphael Lessard in the final laps to capture the CAN-AM 200 at Autodrome Montmagny, earning his third ACT win and his second on the road.

The $10,000-to-win cross-border competition, originally slated for a mid-July date, became the ninth event on the ACT calendar after an inclement forecast forced its postponement. Saturday’s event, now pitted against a massive NASCAR national series weekend in New Hampshire, still drew 35 cars, the majority hailing from the province of Quebec and the locally-based Serie ACT LMS.

In some sense, Fisher was merely fortunate to be there. The former Thunder Road International Speedbowl “King of the Road” from Shelburne, Vt. spent hours in the shop all week, rebuilding a car that was damaged in a heat-race fracas at Riverside Speedway on a Sunday afternoon.

Quebecers Dany Gariepy and Dany Trepanier led the field to green, with Gariepy taking the early lead while leaving Trepanier to fend off the ACT full-timers. Gariepy dodged two restarts to hold the lead through a mid-race competition caution for pit stops.

It was well into the race’s second half before Gariepy felt any pressure, with Lessard bearing down on the top spot with 50 laps to go. The door opened on lap 169, with Lessard slipping under a sliding Gariepy to lead for the first time.

Outside polesitter Trepanier was sent around by Michael Lavoie on lap 192, setting up an eight-lap dash to the checkers between Lessard and Fisher, who had battled his way to second. Fisher stalked the reigning champion for four laps, but when Lessard slipped up the track, Fisher was ready to pounce.

Fisher poked his nose out front with four laps to go. Lessard battled back, but the Seekonk Speedway winner held his ground, easing in front of Lessard with two to go. From there, Fisher never looked back as he coasted to his second win of the season and his third Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour victory.

Lessard, who missed the field for June’s Claude Leclerc 150 at Autodrome Chaudiere, made his first start of his title defense year count. Now racing with the NASCAR Euro Series while running select Late Model and Super Late Model events, Lessard held on for a strong runner-up performance.

ACT points leader Gabe Brown grabbed the final place on the podium in third. William Larue drove Lessard’s title-winning ride to a fourth-place finish, with Maxime Gauvreau finishing fifth.

Great North Woods 150 winner Jesse Switser was sixth. Early leader Gariepy, veteran Patrick Laperle, Andrew Larue and Remi Perreault rounded out the top ten.

Among the other traveling full-time competitors, Erick Sands placed 11th. Former Serie ACT champion Jonathan Bouvrette finished 13th, while Jason Corliss was 20th in his second run for Hartwell Motorsports. Aaron Fellows was 23rd, ahead of Cole Littlewood and rookie Geoff Rollins.

With Brown finishing third, Fisher’s win did little to erase the deficit in the point standings that opened up after his tough afternoon at Riverside.

But the momentum from the win and the rebound could be more valuable than anything gained in the standings.

Unofficial Results
Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour | CAN-AM 200
Autodrome Montmagny, Montmagny, Que.
1. (18VT) Kaiden Fisher
2. (87QC) Raphaël Lessard
3. (47NH) Gabe Brown
4. (48QC) William Larue
5. (17QC) Maxime Gauvreau
6. (25NH) Jesse Switser
7. (37QC) Dany Gariépy
8. (91QC) Patrick Laperle
9. (45QC) Andrew Larue
10. (33QC) Rémi Perreault
11. (36NH) Erick Sands
12. (78QC) Michaël Lavoie
13. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
14. (19QC) Dany Trepanier
15. (16L) Cedric Lemay
16. (72QC) Louis-Philippe Lauzier
17. (13QC) Hugo Paquet
18. (03QC) Sébastien Couture
19. (66QC) Simon Roussin
20. (91CT) Jason Corliss
21. (5QC) Patrick Hamel
22. (33P) Philippe Poulin
23. (29NH) Aaron Fellows
24. (73MA) Cole Littlewood
25. (02WP) Geoff Rollins
26. (11QC) Claude Leclerc
27. (21QC) Jean-François Déry
28. (69QC) Vincent Rivard
29. (16QC) Jimmy Lehoux
30. (9QC) Mathieu Kingsbury
31. (07QC) Jonathan Côté
32. (8QC) Maxime Robin
33. (44QC) Patrick Cliché
34. (27S) Marco Savoie
35. (24QC) Christian Beaulieu

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