Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will open the 2011 season at the Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 17, 2011 with many new faces in the pits.

Two veteran Oxford Plains Speedway competitors plan to start their 2011 ACT seasons at Lee. Shane Green, South Paris, ME will drive the Geoffrey Low entry, and Dennis Spencer from Oxford, ME both have a lot of experience with ACT racing. Oxford Plains has presented 22 ACT Late Model races, plus four non-point TD Bank Oxford 250s. Both drivers have participated in most of those events and Spencer participated in the second annual ACT Invitational at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) last September.

A long-time competitor from Massachusetts will make his first point race starts at the opening event in 2011. Peter Yetman, Peru, MA had a solid first time ACT outing at the recent New Smyrna Speedway in Florida this past February. Yetman was introduced to ACT racing by third-year competitor Jeff Zuidema. After making the trip to Florida this past February, Yetman told the staff at ACT, “I am friends with Jeff and he told me that racing with the group from ACT was respectful and a lot of fun. He and I raced at the Thompson Speedway together, and he was right about the racing in ACT. Florida was a great trip and I am anxious to start the season at Lee USA.”

Tom Carey, Jr. from New Salem, MA is a much-respected veteran competitor from the former NASCAR North and Busch East Series. “I am looking forward to having some fun. Joining up again with old friends Brian Hoar, Jamie Aube, Eddie MacDonald, Brad Leighton and Dennis Demers (all former NASCAR competitors with Carey) is really going to be a lot of fun for our team. I have a new Ford program, a new ACT car, and an enthusiastic owner and team. We can’t wait to get started and love the opportunity to race a couple times at NHMS, and of course, the Oxford 250 and Milk Bowl are both ‘must do’ events on any short track racer’s menu,” said Carey.

Joining Carey and the other former NASCAR North stars will be Mike Bruno from Rutland VT. Mike was a former dirt racer who joined ACT Late Models in the late 90s, moved to some NASCAR North racing, back to dirt, and has now found his way back to ACT Late Models. Bruno has only had two outings over the past year, but both were very successful. His home track outside Rutland is the newly paved Devil’s Bowl Speedway and he and Thunder Road Champion Dave Pembroke, from Montpelier, VT opened the track last May racing for the win in one of the most competitive events of the season. Bruno also made the trip to New Smyrna and led the second 100-lap event for over 25 laps.

“It felt great leading some laps in both of my first two events back, but mostly just being competitive was the goal. I know we have some work to do to get back to form, but I have really enjoyed the first couple events on my return to ACT. I can’t wait to get things started for real this year and am really looking forward to Lee and then getting back to Thunder Road on May 1st, said Bruno.

Ray Parent from Riverton, RI is a former Pro Stock competitor from one of New England’s most historic and successful short tracks, the Vendetti family’s ‘cement palace’, Seekonk Speedway. Parent hauled his team to New Smyrna and secured a major sponsor with Amtrol, a major North American manufacturing company. “We are really excited to be able to open up some partnership opportunities for Amtrol through the ACT network,” said Parent.

“I met a lot of the ACT teams while in Florida, and the trip certainly helped me get ready for the season opener at Lee in a few weeks. We are really glad to be a part of this season, although I know it will be a bit of a learning curve from the Pro Stocks, I sure liked how competitive and respectful the racing was at New Smyrna. I raced once with ACT at Lee a couple years ago and finished 9th, so I hope we can have that kind of run to open the season,” concluded Parent.

The twenty-sixth season of ACT racing will take green at the Lee USA Speedway on Sunday, April 17, 2011. Over 40 of the best Late Model teams in the US and Canada are expected to open their race seasons in the 150-lap New Hampshire Governor’s Cup. The winner will also be awarded the first coveted spot in the third annual New Hampshire Motor Speedway ACT Invitational to be held on NASCAR Cup Chase weekend on September 23-25, 2011.

For additional information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963, www.acttour.com, or media@acttour.com.