The last time the American-Canadian Tour took to the high banks of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Tom Carey III led every lap en route to victory.
After a winless 2024 season, Carey was pleased to repeat the feat.
“TC3” kicked off Saturday’s Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing action in dominating fashion, leading every lap en route to his fourth career ACT Late Model Tour win and his second in the World Series.
And while Ryan Kuhn was breathing down Carey’s neck in the closing laps, the rest of the field was merely trying to catch their breath after a fast-paced feature.
The Vermont-based Late Model touring series was absent altogether from last year’s World Series itinerary. While Thompson’s local divisions include ACT-rules Late Models, ACT promoter Cris Michaud and Pro All Stars Series founder Tom Mayberry opted not to book their own tours at the World Series, giving their touring racers a break from already-busy late-season schedules.
But both the ACT Tour and PASS North Super Late Models were back on the itinerary this year, with Thompson serving as the penultimate event on both series’ schedules.
Carey, the 2022 World Series winner, lined up alongside Brandon Barker for the feature, but the initial start was waved off as fifth-place starter Brian Tagg spun from the grid and kissed the frontstretch pit wall coming to the green.
Tagg rejoined the field for a restart, and Carey shot into the lead, leaving Barker to battle Kuhn for second.
The New Salem, Mass. veteran held the point out front as the season’s prior winners, relegated to berths in the second half of the field, carved their way through traffic. Title contenders Gabe Brown and D.J. Shaw were followed by Derek Gluchacki and Erick Sands, both of whom started out back after failing post-heat tech.
But no matter what ground they could make up on the leaderboard, the yellow flag was safely tucked away in the flagstand, leaving the Tour regulars at a deficit on the track. The only drama befell Alexendre Tardif, who lost a power steering line, and rookie Kaiden Fisher, but both Tardif and Fisher were able to limp to the pits without slowing the field.
Kuhn began reeling Carey in with a few laps to go, closing the gap on the straightaways, but he needed either a caution or a few extra laps to finish the job.
Neither were in his grasp.
Carey held on by a quarter of a second off the fourth turn to earn his first ACT Tour win of the year, his second in the Sunoco World Series at Thompson, and the fourth of his career.
Kuhn, still seeking his first ACT Tour win, was just a few laps from contending for the victory, instead finishing a career-best second in his 35th series start.
Barker, back in the Sullivan Family Racing ride with which he started the season, brought the familiar No. 0 home in third after starting from the pole. Heat winner and former Thompson race winner Jonathan Bouvrette was fourth.
Shaw, who started 11th, clawed his way to fifth at the finish, best among the Tour full-timers. Points leader Brown was sixth, ahead of Gluchacki, who raced the same car to victory in Thompson’s Late Model feature Friday night. Rookie Jeremy Sorel turned in a strong eighth-place run on the big track. Oxford Plains Speedway winner Jesse Switser and Thompson standout Ryan Morgan rounded out the top ten.
Tardif was 19th after returning to the race several laps in arrears.
With one race remaining on the calendar, Brown still leads the points by 65 markers over Shaw, who has a tall order ahead of him to claim his third straight ACT Tour crown. Indeed, the fight for second is the real battle in the points race, with Shaw, Gluchacki, Kasey Beattie and Tardif separated by only 46 points.
And with the title to be decided at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway, all five drivers have shown speed around the “Cement Palace.” Beattie broke into the winner’s circle in June, and Shaw and Gluchacki have duked it out for first place around the third-mile oval in the past.
Brown carried a lead into last year’s season finale as well, but an off-track excursion to a go-kart track left the young racer hobbling on Sunday, a harbinger of things to come all afternoon. After his win in the Fall Foliage 200 last month, Brown made it clear that there would be no celebrations until the title race was over.
The Granite Stater’s fans could be in for a hell of a celebration in a few weeks.
Unofficial Results
ACT Late Model Tour | Sunoco World Series 75
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, Conn.
1. (5MA) Tom Carey III
2. (72MA) Ryan Kuhn
3. (0NH) Brandon Barker
4. (41QC) Jonathan Bouvrette
5. (04VT) D.J. Shaw
6. (47NH) Gabe Brown
7. (03MA) Derek Gluchacki
8. (7MA) Jeremy Sorel
9. (25NH) Jesse Switser
10. (31CT) Ryan Morgan
11. (27NH) Cam Huntress
12. (36NH) Erick Sands
13. (45NH) Kasey Beattie
14. (9MA) Brian Tagg
15. (33QC) Rémi Perreault
16. (31VT) Stephen Donahue
17. (15QC) Christopher Bedard
18. (77NH) Bryan Wall, Jr.
19. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
20. (18VT) Kaiden Fisher
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