NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. – Jimmy Hebert kept up a remarkable late-season rebirth by taking his third American-Canadian Tour win of the year in the Fall Foliage 200 at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Sunday.
Hebert ran down Derek Gluchacki and went three-wide with 26 laps to go for the victory and a $5,000 winner’s purse.
It was the latest in a nearly-perfect stretch for the reigning ACT champion. In the six races following his opening-event win at the Northeast Classic, Hebert had endured the worst stretch of his ACT Late Model Tour career. In the last three events, though, Hebert has finished 1st, 2nd, and 1st, putting him back well into the top-five of ACT points.
Eight-time White Mountain track champion Quinny Welch earned the pole in qualifying and led the first 43 laps while holding off Ben Rowe. The multi-time Pro All Stars Series champion got his nose inside Welch several times and managed to lead one circuit following a caution for a tangle between Corey Mason and Shawn Swallow, but Welch quickly moved back out in front.
Following another caution flag on lap 50 when Mason and Stephen Donahue got cracked up entering turn four, Alby Ovitt became the new challenger. Like Rowe, he got to the door of Welch on multiple occasions and managed to lead a lap, but Welch kept using the momentum of the high side to his advantage. As the battle raged, Gluchacki and Hebert had worked their way into the top-five after starting mid-pack.
Gluchacki got around Ovitt for second near the halfway point when Ovitt broke loose trying to pass Welch. When the fourth and final caution flag flew on lap 110 for Reilly Lanphear’s spin, several contenders when to pit road for fresh right-side tires, including point leader D.J. Shaw, Gabe Brown, Jeff Marshall, and Bryan Mason. The leaders stayed out, though, and on the restart, Gluchacki blew past Welch for the lead. Hebert and Dillon Moltz followed him through as the handling quickly went away on Welch’s car.
As Gluchacki drove away from the field, Hebert did his best to fend up Moltz while also saving enough for a late run. He was able to do just that, and with 40 laps remaining, Hebert decided it was time to go.
The multi-time White Mountain winner needed just 12 laps to erase the two-second lead Gluchacki had built up. When Gluchacki went inside Bryan Mason with 28 laps to go to try and put him a lap down, Hebert dove under both of them coming off turn two. They negotiated the next two turns without laying a glove on each other, and Hebert took the top spot with 174 laps on the scoreboard.
Gluchacki then fell into the clutches of Moltz, as they duked for the second position, Hebert drove off into the beautiful White Mountain foliage. It was the 10th career ACT victory for Hebert, giving him the ultimate momentum going into next weekend’s Northfield Savings Bank Vermont Milk Bowl at Thunder Road.
Moltz finally got past Gluchacki with six laps left to finish second. Gabe Brown, who was nearly a lap down after a spin on lap 60, drove back through the field to steal third from Gluchacki on the final lap. Ovitt, Rowe, Shaw, Tyler Cahoon, Welch, and Erick Sands completed the top-10.
Thanks to a heat race win and the bonus points for leading a lap, Rowe unofficially leads Shaw by one point in the ACT standings with two events to go. Tom Carey III, who entered White Mountain third in the standings, was the victim of a crash in qualifying and didn’t even get to start the feature.
Jason Woodard put a stamp on the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tiger championship by winning his sixth Tiger feature of the year and seventh overall at White Mountain. Josh Vilbrin won the two-segment exhibition event for the Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors. Â
Newly crowned GoMotorsportsShop.com NELCAR Legends Tour champion Trevor Krouse sped to victory in the 30-lap INEX feature. Richie Helger Jr. went wire-to-wire for victory in the NELCAR Bandolero youth 20-lap feature.Â