Woody Pitkat Wins Severely Shortened ACT Invitational at NHMS
Column By: AMY HARROP & MATTHEW WIERNASZ / RPW – LOUDON, NH – The ACT field made a strong showing on Saturday at NHMS, starting the race with a 40-car field. With over $76,000 in total prize money on the line, each and every driver on hand came hungry for a piece of the pie.
Mike Ziter led the field to green, followed by Adam Gray, Matt Anderson, Rich Dubeau and Rowland Robinson, Jr. Defending race winner Scott Payea was not a part of the 40-car field. But, fan-favorite Eddie MacDonald made a show, starting the race back in the 26th position. Jean Francois-Dery, Andy Seuss and a handful of others got caught up in a wreck on the first lap of competition in turn 2, leading to the first caution of the feature. The #4 of Chris Riendeau then went around on lap 1 in turn 4, leading to the second caution of the night.
The #38 of Gaetan Gaudreault fell victim to the turn one wall on the restart after making contact with the #41 of Jonathan Bouvrette, causing the third caution of the night. The #97 of Adam Gray made his way into the lead on the restart, pulling away from Ziter, the early leader. After starting the race back in 19th, Woody Pitkat completely wheeled his way through the field, making his way around Gray for the lead on lap 5. Former Thompson champion Brian Tagg made his way into the pits on lap 12, seemingly facing electrical issues after starting the race in the top ten.
The #64 of James Capps went around on lap 12 in turn 4, leading to another caution. Under the caution, the #31 of John Donahue pulled onto pit road, an unexpected move for the driver that started the race in seventh.
Before the race even went back to green, Josh Masterson, Ray Christian and Mike Ziter got piled up on the restart. Ray Christian wound up obliterating the sand barrels at the entry of pit road upon impact, causing the red flag to come out so the safety team could reconstruct the barrier. Christian’s team wound up fixing his car under the red flag, allowing the #93 team to jump back into the field following the extended caution. With only approximately 30 minutes of daylight left in Loudon, the race suddenly became a race against the sun.
The #64 of Capps took another spin on lap 18 in turn 2, leading to yet another caution. Jimmy Hebert pulled into the lead on the restart, but there was trouble brewing behind him. Kyle Welch, Bucky Demers, Adam Gray, Ray Christian and Eddie MacDonald were among those collected in an incident in turn 3, causing another red flag. The #32 of Jeff Marshall slammed the wall on lap 18 in turn 1, leading to another caution as the sky got darker overhead.
With only 17 full laps complete, the race was called early by race control. The #07 of Woody Pitkat took home the victory under yellow flag conditions and was met with a sea of boos by the crowd of fans as he came to a stop on the Start/Finish line. Jimmy Hebert finished in the runner-up position for the second year in a row.
“This one’s for TC, man. I won this one for him. He had to have been with us tonight,” he said in Victory Lane, paying tribute to Ted Christopher.
Patrick Laperle talked to Race Pro Weekly after the race and gave his thoughts on the race.
“Tom (Curley) must be mad at us because that was a bad show. Maybe there was some guy without patience. I mean when we start something here there was and sorry to say that but there was a guy with experience. They knew what they we’re doing but today I mean was crazy.” Laperle Said.
Catch the next ACT event on Saturday, October 14th at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson, Connecticut.
