ACT Tour sees invasion of teenage rookies

The 2010 American Canadian Tour (ACT) Rookie of the Year (ROTY) battle is shaping up to be one of the best in recent history. ACT will see six drivers competing for the 2010 ROTY honors, including four teenagers with a combined three career ACT starts.

The eldest of the teenage group is 18 year old Dave Farrington, Jr. of Jay, ME. Farrington, a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Maine-Orono, finished 8th in the Pro Stock standings at Wiscasset (ME) Speedway, but has never made an ACT Tour start.

Brad Babb of Windham, ME has the best career ACT Tour finish of the ROTY contenders after finishing 6th in the 2009 season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway (Oxford, ME). It is the only ACT start for the 17 year old to date. Babb earned the 2009 Beech Ridge Motor Speedway (BRMS) Rookie of the Year title and finished sixth in the final Pro Series point standings. He also has the advantage of looking to his father, Bobby, who is a muli-time BRMS track champion.

Another 17 year old, Chris Riendeau of Ascutney, VT, will leave the comfort of his hometrack, Twin State Speedway in Claremont, NH, for the Tour in 2010. Riendeau finished fifth in the 2009 Twin State Late Model Point Standings with one feature win. He also made his only career ACT start when the Tour visited Twin State in 2009 and he finished a respectable 15th.

The youngest of the ROTY contingent is 16 year old Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, ME. This high school sophomore made the jump from the four cylinder division to Late Models at Spud Speedway (Caribou, ME) late in the 2009 season. He won the Inaugural Spud 150, his first ever feature event in a Late Model. In just his third career start in a Late Model, he qualified for his first ACT event and finished eighteenth in the season finale at Oxford Plains Speedway.

The early favorite for the 2010 ROTY title has to be multi-time Twin State Champion Aaron Fellows of Croydon, NH. In his only career ACT start he finished an impressive 9th in the 2009 Twin State 100. He also earned two weekly feature wins at Twin State in 2009.

The “veteran” of the 2010 Rookie class is Dave Paya of Milton, VT. He has the most experience of any of the rookies with his three starts on the ACT Tour in 2009 and can look to his brother Rick, the 2009 championship car owner and crew chief for Brian Hoar, for advice.

The 2010 ACT Rookie of the Year battle will begin next Saturday, April 19 at Lee USA Speedway with the annual New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 season opener.

From ACT