From the drop of the green in the American-Canadian Tour Coastal Clash 125, the path to the winner’s circle appeared to run through Gabe Brown.
And with a few laps remaining in the shortened Star Speedway showdown, Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. took it.
The young racer from Candia, N.H. picked up his third ACT Late Model Tour win and his first of the season after a rough-and-tumble run to the checkered flag.
The Tour’s first visit to the Epping, N.H. speedplant since 2019 took place under threatening skies, with officials pulling out all the stops to get the day’s program in. What was meant to be a 150-lap feature for the ACT Tour teams was truncated by 25 circuits in hopes of dodging the weather.
Brown and Renfrew brought the field to the green flag, and while Renfrew poked his nose out front to lead a few laps, Brown was the star of the show. Still hunting for his first ACT Tour win of 2024, Brown led the lion’s share of the event, with Renfrew, reigning champ D.J. Shaw and Oxford Plains Speedway winner Jesse Switser keeping him honest.
With a few laps remaining, though, Renfrew turned up the pressure, leaning hard on Brown for the lead. At last, he unsettled Brown’s ride, driving past to take the lead and the win as Brown tried to keep his car under control.
Shaw scooted past for second, his best finish of the year, with Switser on his tail. Brown finished a discouraging fourth, with Alexendre “Fireball” Tardif rounding out the top five.
Tom Carey III was sixth in the final rundown, followed by rookies Kaiden Fisher and Kasey Beattie. Vermont’s Chip Grenier was ninth, with home-track graduate Erick Sands rounding out the top ten.
Third in ACT Tour points last year for his family team, Renfrew trimmed his New England schedule this year to test the more fertile development grounds of the Southeast. At Seekonk Speedway, he reunited with car owner Chad Sullivan, who fielded a car for Renfrew in the last two races of 2022.
Sullivan started the season with Brandon Barker, who won for him last year at Lee USA Speedway. But with Barker focusing on his Super Late Model duties, Sullivan leaned on veteran Patrick Laperle to earn owner’s points at Autodrome Chaudière, then turned to Renfrew for back-to-back events at Seekonk and Star. Renfrew responded with the Sullivan team’s second career ACT Tour feature win.
Renfrew’s three series wins have all come at quarter-mile ovals. He won at Hudson Speedway in 2021 in his family’s ride, then last year at Chaudière. This year, Star served as a homecoming for Renfrew, who cut his teeth at “The Place to Race” and won a 2018 Granite State Pro Stock Series race at the track.
Despite the misfortune at the finish, Brown seized the points lead from Derek Gluchacki, who had led from the start of the season but finished a disappointing 16th at Star. Tardif, rookie Beattie and two-time reigning champ Shaw round out the top five, with eleven drivers starting all six races so far.
A month-long summer recess gives the touring racers some room to breathe before the CAN-AM 200 on July 20th, the second race of the season in Quebec and the first of back-to-back $10,000-to-win features.
But even with a championship on his mind, Brown is sure to be motivated by the promise of that much-desired checkered flag.
Unofficial Results
American-Canadian Tour Coastal Clash 125
Star Speedway
1. (0NH) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
2. (04VT) D.J. Shaw
3. (25NH) Jesse Switser
4. (47NH) Gabe Brown
5. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
6. (5MA) Tom Carey III
7. (18VT) Kaiden Fisher
8. (45NH) Kasey Beattie
9. (9VT) Chip Grenier
10. (36NH) Erick Sands
11. (27MA) Chase Curtis
12. (77NH) Bryan Wall, Jr.
13. (97NH) Joey Polewarczyk
14. (27NH) Cam Huntress
15. (55MA) Randy Cole
16. (03MA) Derek Gluchacki
17. (17NH) Kyle Goodbout
18. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
19. (29MA) Cole Robie
20. (73MA) Cole Littlewood
21. (04NH) Shawn Swallow
22. (11QC) Claude Leclerc
23. (03QC) Sébastien Couture
24. (33QC) Rémi Perreault
25. (10NS) Nathan Leclair
26. (46X) Taylor Hoar
27. (31CT) Ray Christian III
28. (2NH) Adam Lovejoy
29. (29NH) Aaron Fellows
30. (98MA) Ryan Flood
31. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
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