Shaw Makes History With Win In ACT Stafford Showdown

When the American-Canadian Tour’s teams unloaded Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway, DJ Shaw was one of few in the field who had competitive laps on the Connecticut oval.

Shaw put that experience to good use.

The reigning ACT Late Model Tour champion survived an evening of carnage and a late charge by Derek Gluchacki to win the first-ever Spring Sizzler 75 and capture the first official checkered flag of his title defense.

DJ Shaw’s win came almost 21 years after his father Dale’s final career NASCAR Busch North Series win at Stafford. (Photo courtesy Tom Morris)

Friday night’s feature, postponed two weeks due to a weekend washout, capped off a long night of preliminary action leading into Stafford’s 51st running of the $20,000-to-win open-competition Modified major. Unlike the Modifieds, though, ACT’s Late Models had never raced before at the Connecticut half-mile.

Shaw had raced in Pro Stock and Super Late Model features at Stafford, though, with a second-place Pro All Stars Series finish in 2012 his best outing in three prior starts. The Center Conway, N.H. veteran unloaded fast and won his heat to line up near the front of the grid for the 75-lap main event.

Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. and Bryan Wall, Jr. brought the 30-car field to the green flag, with Renfrew taking charge early as Shaw settled into a top-three rhythm. Gluchacki, also a heat winner but hampered by the past-winner’s handicap, carved his way through traffic to break into the top five.

In the leaders’ rear-view mirrors, though, hard racing deep in the pack turned into spins and caution flags, as the new-to-the-series track confounded veterans and rookies alike. Back-to-back cautions took Cody LeBlanc from contention, while Thunder Road winner Jason Corliss was eliminated only fifteen laps into the race. Race control called for single-file restarts after a lap-21 yellow, but on the first single-file restart, local star Michael Bennett and Jordan Hadley set off a backstretch wreck that slowed the field yet again.

Through all the carnage, Renfrew held onto the lead, with Gluchacki and Shaw chasing the Granite Stater between caution flags. After a lap-33 wreck that eliminated Woody Pitkat and left Gabe Brown with rear-end damage, the action settled down, allowing Renfrew to break away from the field. Renfrew’s advantage was short-lived, though, as Gluchacki and Shaw chipped away at the Granite Stater’s lead.

Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. leads Derek Gluchacki and DJ Shaw. Renfrew controlled the first 49 laps, but faded to third at the finish. (Photo courtesy Tom Morris)

With 26 laps left on the scoreboard, Renfrew drifted wide in turn one to avoid a slower car. Gluchacki threaded the needle and shot past Renfrew down the backstretch to take the lead. Shaw followed Gluchacki into second, pinning his car to the apron as Gluchacki washed up the track in turn three. The two drag-raced to the line, with Shaw edging out Gluchacki and giving Renfrew a shot at taking second back. Gluchacki slid up the track and back to third.

Gluchacki only needed a few laps to find his way back around Renfrew, but he still needed a lucky break to catch Shaw for the race lead. Tom Carey III’s spin with five laps to go gave Gluchacki that opportunity, but with single-file restarts still in play, Gluchacki had to play both offense and defense while Renfrew tried to steal second back.

Another spin for veteran Brian Hoar brought out the yellow with two laps to go, but again, Gluchacki needed a better opportunity to get alongside Shaw, and the two-lap shootout was not enough.

Dale Shaw Race Cars chassis were fast all day, with Renfrew and Shaw dominating the feature and Shaw taking a heat victory as well. (Photo courtesy Tom Morris)

Already a 2023 ACT winner in the non-points Easter Bunny 125 at Hickory Motor Speedway, Shaw held off Gluchacki to win his first points-paying ACT Tour feature of 2023 and the fifth of his career.

Gluchacki, a regular threat at the Tour’s fastest tracks, followed Shaw across the finish line in second. Polesitter Renfrew finished third, his best finish of the year and his second top-five of the season.

Erick Sands quietly found his way to fourth, recording the best effort so far of his third ACT Tour season. Rookie Bryan Wall, Jr. withstood plenty of challenges through the race to come home fifth, shaking off bad luck in the opening rounds of the schedule.

Thompson Speedway regular Matt Lowinski-Loh recovered from a mid-race incident, finishing sixth to notch his first top-ten finish on the Tour. Gabe Brown brought his damaged car home in seventh, with Jonathan Bouvrette finishing eighth despite a pace-lap pitstop for body repairs. Connecticut rookie Andrew Molleur finished ninth, while eight-time ACT Tour champ Hoar was tenth in his first start since 2015.

Shaw’s victory comes nearly 21 years after his father Dale won a NASCAR Busch North Series race at Stafford, his 19th and last win in the series. The elder Shaw finished well ahead of Mike Olsen and Bryan Wall, both of whom had sons in Friday’s ACT field. Hoar was a part-time NASCAR Busch North competitor in 2002, but the July race was not part of his limited schedule.

Indeed, ACT’s only prior connection to Stafford was through its links to NASCAR. The Tom Curley/Ken Squier-chartered NASCAR North Tour raced five times at Stafford, with Robbie Crouch winning the final appearance in 1985. NASCAR famously cut ties with Curley and Squier after that season, introducing its own Busch North Series in 1987 while Curley and Squier’s Tour continued uninterrupted as the American-Canadian Tour. In recent years, ACT has embraced the statistical history of the NASCAR North Tour as part of its own legacy.

But the ACT Late Model Tour, formed in 1992, had never turned a lap at Stafford, making Friday’s race not only a first for ACT’s current flagship series but the first time a race had been run at the track under the ACT banner. Fendered touring series have never been a priority at Stafford, where the Modified reigns supreme; PASS has only run two Super Late Model races at Stafford since its 2001 inception, and the Granite State Pro Stock Series has a single visit to its name.

Shaw is a fitting winner, then, to serve as a bridge between ACT’s past and present.

Shaw is also the unofficial points leader after three races, with early-season leader Jimmy Hebert opting for a part-time schedule this year. Hebert and brothers Shawn and Jamie Swallow, Jr. were not at Stafford after taking the green flag in both ACT Tour features this year so far. Leading rookie Tanner Woodard was on hand after thrashing to repair his family’s car after a hard wreck at Thunder Road. However, the Tour newcomer had terminal engine problems in the final practice session and was unable to take the green flag for the feature. Fellow rookie Connor Souza had a practice wreck that scratched him from the lineup as well.

Next up for the ACT Tour is a visit to Lee USA Speedway, a track the Tour skipped in 2022. Shaw returns to Lee as the defending race winner, picking up his first career ACT victory by way of disqualification.

Now an established Tour winner, Shaw will be expecting to take the checkered flag all on his own.

Unofficial Results
American-Canadian Tour Spring Sizzler 75
Stafford Motor Speedway

1. (04VT) DJ Shaw
2. (03MA) Derek Gluchacki
3. (00NH) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
4. (36NH) Erick Sands
5. (77NH) Bryan Wall, Jr.
6. (17CT) Matt Lowinski-Loh
7. (60ME) Gabe Brown
8. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
9. (31CT) Andrew Molleur
10. (45NY) Brian Hoar
11. (5MA) Tom Carey III
12. (68VT) Brooks Clark
13. (61NH) Ryan Olsen
14. (0NH) Quinny Welch
15. (9MA) Brian Tagg
16. (27NH) Cam Huntress
17. (91CT) Woody Pitkat
18. (92MA) Tom Fearn
19. (97NH) Joey Polewarczyk
20. (67MA) Jaret Curtis
21. (19CT) Michael Bennett
22. (37CT) Jordan Hadley
23. (73MA) Cole Littlewood
24. (5CT) Dillon Moltz
25. (66VT) Jason Corliss
26. (73CT) Jared Materas
27. (7NH) Cody LeBlanc
28. (6CT) Cory DiMatteo
29. (97MA) Adam Gray
30. (12CT) PJ Evans
DNS (27RI) Rich Staskowski
DNS (9CT) Robert Stirk III
DNS (68NH) Tanner Woodard
DNS (38RI) Connor Souza

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