NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series

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NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series | NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Profiles | NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series Official Finishes

The old NASCAR North Tour was started by Tom Curley in 1979. Tom was the track manager at Catamount Stadium at the time and saw the slow decline in late model car counts due to the increasing cost. Tom saw a chance to get more cars by forming a touring series similar to the the Grand Nationals. Touring series were very rare back then, so this was a radical idea. Most of the tour in 1979 was centered around Catamount and Thunder Road with several trips to Canada. Car counts were fair and growing with interest building from racers all over New England. Beaver Dragon became the first NASCAR North champion driving the Quint Boisvert owned #7 "Black Magic" Chevy Nova.

1980 saw more sponsorship support for the tour. Molson was signed as the major sponsor and car counts kept growing. 1982 was a banner year for the tour as they made their first appearence at Dover Downs Speedway as the support division for the Winston Cup race. Purses and point funds kept growing to levels over $1 million by 1985. At the end of the 1985 season NASCAR dropped its sanction of the tour. Several lawsuits filed by various competitors had soured NASCAR on the tour. Drivers and fans alike were in shock. What would happen to late model racing in the northeast now?

At the urging of many of the top car owners, Tom Curley was convinced to start the American Canadian Tour (ACT). 1986 saw things picking up pretty much where they left off in 1985. The same cars, tracks, and major sponsor, Coors Beer, continued on. Tom Curley, however, had his eye on the future. The pro stock division was really starting to take off in New England after starting out at Seekonk Speedway in MA several years prior to then. Tom was also looking at the succuss of ASA and All Pro, who ran pro stock type cars, in other parts of the country. Tom wanted to take ACT to the next level. At the beginning of the season Tom announced the formation of the Stock Car Connection (SCC) in conjunction with Rex Robbins of ASA and Bob Harmon of All Pro. The SCC was to sanction six big races that would bring together the best of all three divisions for extra distance, large purse, nationally broadcast races. For this to work the ACT would be radically changing the type of cars that would be competing. They would be going fron the late model style to the sleek pro stock cars. Some people thought that Tom was nuts. This would leave the teams with useless cars for next season. However, many teams built new cars and prepared for 1987. NASCAR came back on the scene and formed the Busch North series, giving those who wished to continue with the late model style cars a place to run. 1987 began with smaller fields than had been the norm, but car counts started to grow as more and more drivers from all over the northeast who already had pro stocks started to compete. The SCC held some of their races, but folded at the end of the season. Travel expences were too much for the teams. However the switch to pro stocks had set the stage for exsplosive growth for the ACT over the next several seasons.

Over the next few seasons, ACT saw tremendous growth, reaching it's zenith around 1993. Car counts and purses grew. 1994 and 1995 saw the slow slide of the ACT pro stock series. Sponsor support had eroded with a worsening economy in Canada, where most of the big money races had been. The cost of running the ACT had spiraled out of control. Because of these and many other problems, Tom decided to pull the plug on the ACT pro stocks at the end of the 1995 season. Once again it seemed that the landscape of racing in the northeast was in question. However, Tom and the ACT would rise again with the Late Model Sportsman series that Tom had been building in Vermont.

Right now the only section for the NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series' section that is complete is the driver profiles. Eventually there will be track profiles, official race finishes, and many other things. Enjoy. Questions and comments are welcome at jsulli61@yahoo.com


	history.com \| home NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series \| NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Profiles \| NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series Official Finishes NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series The old NASCAR North Tour was started by Tom Curley in 1979. Tom was the track manager at Catamount Stadium at the time and saw the slow decline in late model car counts due to the increasing cost. Tom saw a chance to get more cars by forming a touring series similar to the the Grand Nationals. Touring series were very rare back then, so this was a radical idea. Most of the tour in 1979 was centered around Catamount and Thunder Road with several trips to Canada. Car counts were fair and growing with interest building from racers all over New England. Beaver Dragon became the first NASCAR North champion driving the Quint Boisvert owned #7 "Black Magic" Chevy Nova. 1980 saw more sponsorship support for the tour. Molson was signed as the major sponsor and car counts kept growing. 1982 was a banner year for the tour as they made their first appearence at Dover Downs Speedway as the support division for the Winston Cup race. Purses and point funds kept growing to levels over $1 million by 1985. At the end of the 1985 season NASCAR dropped its sanction of the tour. Several lawsuits filed by various competitors had soured NASCAR on the tour. Drivers and fans alike were in shock. What would happen to late model racing in the northeast now? At the urging of many of the top car owners, Tom Curley was convinced to start the American Canadian Tour (ACT). 1986 saw things picking up pretty much where they left off in 1985. The same cars, tracks, and major sponsor, Coors Beer, continued on. Tom Curley, however, had his eye on the future. The pro stock division was really starting to take off in New England after starting out at Seekonk Speedway in MA several years prior to then. Tom was also looking at the succuss of ASA and All Pro, who ran pro stock type cars, in other parts of the country. Tom wanted to take ACT to the next level. At the beginning of the season Tom announced the formation of the Stock Car Connection (SCC) in conjunction with Rex Robbins of ASA and Bob Harmon of All Pro. The SCC was to sanction six big races that would bring together the best of all three divisions for extra distance, large purse, nationally broadcast races. For this to work the ACT would be radically changing the type of cars that would be competing. They would be going fron the late model style to the sleek pro stock cars. Some people thought that Tom was nuts. This would leave the teams with useless cars for next season. However, many teams built new cars and prepared for 1987. NASCAR came back on the scene and formed the Busch North series, giving those who wished to continue with the late model style cars a place to run. 1987 began with smaller fields than had been the norm, but car counts started to grow as more and more drivers from all over the northeast who already had pro stocks started to compete. The SCC held some of their races, but folded at the end of the season. Travel expences were too much for the teams. However the switch to pro stocks had set the stage for exsplosive growth for the ACT over the next several seasons. Over the next few seasons, ACT saw tremendous growth, reaching it's zenith around 1993. Car counts and purses grew. 1994 and 1995 saw the slow slide of the ACT pro stock series. Sponsor support had eroded with a worsening economy in Canada, where most of the big money races had been. The cost of running the ACT had spiraled out of control. Because of these and many other problems, Tom decided to pull the plug on the ACT pro stocks at the end of the 1995 season. Once again it seemed that the landscape of racing in the northeast was in question. However, Tom and the ACT would rise again with the Late Model Sportsman series that Tom had been building in Vermont. Right now the only section for the NASCAR North/ACT Pro Stock Series' section that is complete is the driver profiles. Eventually there will be track profiles, official race finishes, and many other things. Enjoy. Questions and comments are welcome at jsulli61@yahoo.com