For the first time in two years the American-Canadian Tour returned to the Canadian Province of Quebec and for the first time in that same stretch, a Canadian stood victorious. Following a three-peat of mechanical woes and devastating wrecks, Blainville Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette battled hard with defending Autodrome Chaudiere and Quebec NASCAR Champion Dany Trepanier to take the Claude Leclerc 150 presented by Larue win and the $5,000 payday.
A strong field of 28 American-Canadian Tour machines descended into Autodrome Chaudiere for the first time since June 2019 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic border closures. Five American teams were able to make the journey with COVID policies continuing to restrict the unvaccinated from entering Canada alongside four Canadian teams that have committed to the full American-Canadian Tour schedule in 2022. Nineteen teams from Quebec joined the fray from Chaudiere regulars to former and part-time Touring drivers, several making there first ever ACT start.
In the qualifying events, Rookie of the Year contender Cody Leblanc tapped into his past Chaudiere experience to win the first heat race over three-time Thunder Road champion and 5-time ACT winner Jason Corliss and Quebec touring veteran Jean-Francois Dery. Heat two made it two-for-two as fellow Rookie contender Alexendre ‘Fireball’ Tardif took the win over fan-favorite Yvon Bedard after more than a decade away from racing and former Autodrome St-Eustache champion Maxime Gauvreau. Heat three was won by a hard-charging William Larue from his sixth place starting position over Bouvrette and Le Grande Patrick Laperle.
Following the wild consilation race won by Mathieu Kingsbury, the Claude Leclerc 150 starting grid was set with all 28 cars in the show. Using the ‘plus/minus’ handicap system employed by the American-Canadian Tour, both Larue and Laperle held strong plus-5 handicaps to start on the front row. After a touch-and-go start, Laperle’s iconic orange 91QC just couldn’t hold a line as he slowly fell back through the field, giving Larue the early lead. Very quickly, both Bouvrette and Trepanier started showing some muscle, battling each other for Larue’s top spot.
With cautions on lap-54 and 59 for Zackary Fauteux’s right front going down and Yvon Bedard’s spin, respectively, Trepanier chose the outside on both restarts, allowing him to roll his 19QC around the third-mile oval. But Bouvrette would not settle for anything less than victory. First taking the bottom on a lap-61 restart, Bouvrette used the power slides into the corners to his advantage to maintain the lead.
Bouvrette’s final test came after a lap-126 caution for Patrick Hamel’s blown oil line when Trepanier took the lead for four laps, side-by-side with Bouvrette until the 41QC finally took charge, keeping it until the very end. Bouvrette took the Claude Leclerc 150 and the $5,000 USD payday over William Larue, who used the extreme outside to his advantage nearly the entire race, and Dany Trepanier. New point leader D.J. Shaw drove in tight traffic all 150 laps to earn the fourth place position followed by newest leading Rookie Alexendre Tardif for fifth. Maxime Gauvreau, Chaudiere stand-out Jeff Cote, ACT 100%er Remi Perreault, Jason Corliss and 2021 Rookie of the Year Erick Sands rounded out the top ten.
Next up, the American-Canadian Tour returns to it’s Vacationland home at the historic Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine on Sunday, July 10th. The five-division slate includes the Oxford 125 for the American-Canadian Tour along with the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model 150 plus feature action for the PASS Modifieds, Limited Sportsman and the R&R Race Parts Street Stock Open Series. Post Time is set for 3:00pm with full race day schedule and pricing information to be released in the coming days.
J.A. Larue is a world-renowned manufacturer of industrial snow removing equipment including blowers, plows and airport brushes. Since 1973, Larue has prided itself with quality and consistency for their countless customers across the private, public and government sectors that they serve. Larue puts snow in its place. Company President and Vice President Denis and Louis Larue were the 2013 recipients of the prestigious Don MacTavish Memorial Award for their contributions to motorsports and continue to field an American-Canadian Tour team while sponsoring their former Serie-ACT Champion Alex Labbe on the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
Autodrome Chaudiere – Vallee-Jonction, QC (Saturday, June 25th, 2022)
Claude Leclerc 150 presented by J.A. Larue
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Finish Pos., (Starting Pos.), Car #, Driver, Hometown, Sponsor, Laps
1. (5) 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC Duroking Ford Mustang 150
2. (1) 55QC William Larue Quebec City, QC Larue Ford Mustang 150
3. (4) 19QC Dany Trepanier St-Edouard,QC Metal Moro Ford Fusion 150
4. (12) 04VT D.J. Shaw Center Conway, NH A.H. Fence Co. Ford Mustang 150
5. (10) 21QC Alexandre Tardif Quebec, Canada Tardif Motorsports 150
6. (11) 17QC Maxime Gauvreau Ste-Marie du Richelieu, QC ProColor Chevy Camaro 150
7. (16) 51QC Jeff Cote Beauceville, QC Cement Poulin Chevy Camaro 150
8. (9) 33QC Remi Perreault Joliette, QC Perreault Motorsports Chevy SS 150
9. (7) 66VT Jason Corliss Barre, VT Burnett Scrap Metals Ford Mustang 150
10. (17) 36NH Erick Sands Derry, NH Seacoast Truck/Auto Chevy SS 150
11. (22) 37QC Marc Begin St. Philibert, QC Pieces d’Autos Fernand Begin Chevy 150
12. (3) 66QC Simon Roussin Quebec City, QC Prince-Edouard Performance Chevy SS 150
13. (23) 110QC Olivier Labbe Pelletier Ste-Isidore, QC Atelier OLP Chevy Monte Carlo 150
14. (8) 21TN Jean-Francois Dery Quebec City, QC Dery Motorsports 150
15. (15) 9MX Yvon Bedard Levis, QC Gestion Yvon Bedard Inc. Chevy Impala 148
16. (19) 49NH Matt Anderson Franklin, NH Hawthorne Automotive Chevy SS 148
17. (20) 51H Patrick Hamel Ste-Croix, QC Hamel Construction Dodge Charger 125
18. (25) 03QC Sebastien Couture Quebec, Canada Couture Motorsports 104
19. (18) 90QC Zackary Fauteux Mascouche, QC Alerte Fissure Chevy Camaro 100
20. (13) 9QC Mathieu Kingsbury Blainville, QC Duroking Ford Mustang 85
21. (21) 11QC Claude Leclerc Lanoraie, QC Leclerc Motorsports 85
22. (2) 91QC Patrick Laperle St-Denis, QC Laperle Motorsports 77
23. (6) 7NH #Cody Leblanc Berlin, NH Naylen Farms Chevy SS 49
24. (24) 57QC Carl Poulin East Broughton, QC Solution Chemco Chevy SS 41
25. (27) 78QC Michael Lavoie Chicoutimi, QC Beauce Technologie Chevy Camaro 23
26. (14) 88QC David Trevors Shannon, QC Groupe Laplante Dodge Charger 1
27. (26) 16QC Jimmy Letteux Levis, QC Letteux Motorsports 1
28. (28) 31QC Steven Boissoneault Lyster, QC Excavation Alain Lemay Motorsports 1
