Switser Stuns ACT Regulars In $10,000 Midsummer Classic 250 Win

On the night that Jesse Switser earned his first American-Canadian Tour checkered flag, it took two checkered flags to get the job done.

After winning the last-chance qualifier just to secure a spot on the grid, Switser emerged late in the game to claim the Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250 at White Mountain Motorsports Park, one of the biggest ACT Tour events of the season.

And in the blink of an eye, last year’s runner-up was this year’s upset winner.

Moltz, Switser and Brown celebrate their podium performances in Saturday’s $10,000-to-win Midsummer Classic 250. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Saturday’s win was a long time coming for a driver who made his first ACT Tour start in 2011. Last August’s Midsummer Classic 250 was Switser’s only ACT Tour start of the season, while he raced to two feature wins and a second-place finish in the WMMP Late Model standings.

But merely making the starting lineup for Saturday’s main event was a tall order, with 42 ACT Late Models packing the backstretch paddock. Switser came up short in his heat and his consi, relegating him to a stacked B-feature with the likes of Thunder Road standout Marcel Gravel, Tour rookie Bryan Wall, Jr., and Canadian veteran Patrick Laperle. Starting second, Switser outdueled Laperle to take the win and advance to the main event, leaving Gravel, Cam Huntress and others in the cold.

Ryan Olsen and rookie Tanner Woodard led the field to the green flag, but third-place starter Jimmy Hebert set a brisk pace, charging to the point and distancing himself from the pack. Woodard and Gabe Brown battled for second, with WMMP regular Kasey Beattie joining the fray after a lap-67 caution. Beattie even threatened Hebert for the lead, but the 2020 ACT Tour titlist held firm atop the scoreboard.

Strategy came into play early when Hebert, Woodard and Brown peeled off for pit road under a lap-77 caution, despite a scheduled lap-100 fuel stop looming. Beattie and nine-time WMMP champion Quinny Welch took over at the front. While Beattie led some laps for the home-track fans, Brown clawed his way back to 12th in time for the competition caution.

Home-track favorite Kasey Beattie led laps early in the race and soldiered on to a fifth-place finish, tying his best Tour effort. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Dillon Moltz and points leader DJ Shaw were among the many who ducked down pit road a second time to take tires under yellow, leaving Beattie on the track with Welch and Canada’s Alexendre Tardif. Trouble for Dylan Payea and heat winner Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. brought the yellow back out a lap later, and Tardif pulled in for tires of his own.

Switser, after starting 24th, had cycled through to the top five.

Hebert made quick work of the leaders on the restart, powering to the lead with Woodard in tow. This time, the veteran was unable to break free from the pack. Woodard followed Hebert’s path through slower traffic, but a close call with Walter Sutcliffe stacked up Woodard, scrambling the top five.

A few laps later, Keegan Lamson lost control in turn four, slowing the race with just over 100 laps remaining. Beattie, Welch, and Moltz ducked back into the pits under caution, with Hebert now leading Derek Gluchacki, Brown, Woodard and Shaw.

Gluchacki pounced on Hebert on the restart, taking the lead as the yellow flew again for a spin in turn three. The drama did not end at the drop of the yellow flag; as Jonathan Bouvrette came around to get a lap back under caution, he and fellow Quebecer Tardif collided in turn two, bringing Tardif’s top-ten night to an early end. Hebert also dropped to the rear for the restart, leaving Gluchacki and Brown to battle for the lead.

The winner of last year’s Wall’s Ford Platinum Series mini-championship at WMMP, Gluchacki asserted himself at the front of the field, while Woodard entered the conversation in a battle with Brown for second. Deeper in the field, polesitter Olsen went for a slide through turn three, slowing the race on lap 193.

Gluchacki and Brown went to war on the restart, with Brown eager to repeat his own success from June’s Wall’s Ford Platinum Series feature. Coming off turn two, Brown nudged Gluchacki, turning him across the inside line and collecting Woodard and Switser. Joey Polewarczyk dodged the slowing cars through the infield grass, but hooked right and slammed the turn-three berm driver’s-door first.

Joey Polewarczyk (#97NH) dodges the spinning Derek Gluchacki, but an earthen berm ahead would put an early end to the former champion’s night. (STS/Jeff Brown)

A tense moment hung over the track as safety crews rushed to Polewarczyk’s car. The mood quickly swung from concern to relief as officials signaled that Polewarczyk was fine. A moment later, cheers erupted from the frontstretch grandstands as officials sent Brown to the rear for setting off the conflagration.

Polewarczyk inspects his damaged car before driving to the pits. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Shaw inherited the lead for the restart, but Scott Dragon held his own on the inside, battling the defending winner. Switser, who restarted third, followed Dragon through for second and took the top spot for himself on lap 198.

But the drama up front was far from over. Shaw slowed on lap 217 with a flat tire, an issue that had plagued many of his Dale Shaw Race Cars customers all night. Trapped a lap down, the points leader’s top-ten streak dating back to 2021 looked to be in jeopardy. Switser’s new challenger for the lead was veteran Brian Hoar, but the restart was waved off, allowing Hebert to pit yet again before the field went back to green.

While Switser showed the way, Gluchacki carved his way through traffic, making a bold three-wide move that sent Beattie backwards. Moltz made a similar pass to take second, with Gluchacki following through for third. Dragon slipped back in the field before suffering his own tire issue, coming to a stop in turn four with twelve laps left.

Gluchacki got around Moltz on the restart, putting him in position to run down Switser, but another spin for Welch collected Erick Sands and brought out one last caution with ten circuits remaining.

Dillon Moltz (#5CT) made a play for second place that helped Switser run from the pack with ten laps to go. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Moltz forced Gluchacki high on the final restart, opening up a lane for Brown to steal third, while Switser made a break for it.

After racing to the win in the last-chance qualifier just to make the lineup, Switser was unchallenged in the final laps en route to his first-ever ACT Tour win and a $10,000 payday.

DJ Shaw’s top-ten streak dating back to early 2021 looked to be in jeopardy, but the defending champion recovered for an eighth-place result. (STS/Jeff Brown)

Moltz, who won the 2020 Midsummer Classic 250 without changing tires, finished second for his best performance of the season so far. Brown drove back from his mid-race penalty to finish third.

Gluchacki was fourth across the line, a solid points night for a driver who entered the race at a significant deficit to Shaw. Beattie avoided trouble in the final laps to come home fifth, matching his career-best effort in Tour trim.

Hoar ended the evening sixth in his best run since coming out of retirement. Vermont’s Brooks Clark was seventh after an uneventful evening, ahead of Shaw, who got back on the lead lap and kept his top-ten streak intact. Hebert raced back to ninth after a late pit stop. Bouvrette, the best-performing Canadian in the field, came back from his yellow-flag misfortune to round out the top ten.

Misfortune in the season’s longest race plagued a number of top challengers. Renfrew, solidly in the title chase, started the night with battery issues and ended the evening in 20th. Jason Corliss, the 2021 race winner, slowed while running in the top ten and was relegated to 22nd. Tom Carey III, Laperle, and fellow Canadian Will Larue were all sidelined by halfway.

Gabe Brown (#60ME) overcame a late penalty to finish third. (STS/Jeff Brown)

But their troubles opened the door wide for Switser. The West Burke, Vt. driver finished eighth in Tour points in 2020, but abbreviated his 2021 season after an early rash of problems. In seven starts, Switser never finished better than 11th.

Refocusing closer to home for 2022, Switser picked up a pair of feature wins en route to a runner-up finish in the WMMP track standings. August’s Midsummer Classic 250 was his only Tour race of the year; in which he came up short to Shaw in a thrilling late-race duel.

Switser failed to qualify for an ACT show earlier this year at Thunder Road, but in his next attempt at Oxford in July, he finished third to Carey and Brown. In WMMP’s 100-lap special feature in June, Switser’s only other start at the track this year, he placed third to Brown and WMMP graduate Wall.

The big check from Saturday’s race might be enough to get Switser out to a couple more Tour shows. Races at Oxford and WMMP still remain on the schedule.

After his recent performances, he’ll be counted among the contenders at last.

Unofficial Results
American-Canadian Tour Milton CAT Midsummer Classic 250
White Mountain Motorsports Park

1. (25NH) Jesse Switser
2. (5CT) Dillon Moltz
3. (60ME) Gabe Brown
4. (03MA) Derek Gluchacki
5. (45NH) Kasey Beattie
6. (45NY) Brian Hoar
7. (68VT) Brooks Clark
8. (04VT) DJ Shaw
9. (58VT) Jimmy Hebert
10. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
11. (92VT) Jaden Perry
12. (77NH) Bryan Wall, Jr.
13. (31CT) Andrew Molleur
14. (0VT) Scott Dragon
15. (68NH) Tanner Woodard
16. (61NH) Ryan Olsen
17. (78NH) Quinny Welch
18. (36NH) Erick Sands
19. (55VT) Keegan Lamson
20. (00NH) Jimmy Renfrew, Jr.
21. (97NH) Joey Polewarczyk
22. (66VT) Jason Corliss
23. (78CT) Walter Sutcliffe
24. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
25. (91QC) Patrick Laperle
26. (7ME) Dylan Payea
27. (99NH) Ben Belanger
28. (5MA) Tom Carey III
29. (55QC) William Larue
30. (22VT) Peyton Lanphear
31. (4NH) Jamie Swallow, Jr.

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