NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Brian Hoar might have won the American-Canadian Tour event at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday night, but the show belonged to Mark Hayward and Eric Williams.

Williston driver Hoar, the ACT Late Model Tour point leader and defending champion, picked his way through the field to third place, then used a pair of restarts late in the White Mountain 150 to his advantage to get past Hayward and Williams and take the victory. Before that, though, Hayward and Williams put on a side-by-side, bumper-tagging slugfest at the front for nearly 60 laps that drew cheers from the rain-soaked crowd. Each time the two squared off there was contact resulting in one or both cars breaking sideways and nearly spinning out.

Hayward, of Newport, N.H., had a career night by starting on the pole and leading the first 89 laps. Williams and Mark Lamberton caught Hayward in lapped traffic on lap 77, setting up a duel for the lead last lasted until Hoar took over with 16 laps remaining. Hyde Park veteran Williams, faster on long green flag runs, nudged Hayward’s car several times before leading at lap 90.

Moments after Williams took over, the caution flag flew for Glen Luce’s fiery power steering failure, setting up a side-by-side battle. Hayward, who had the quickest car on cooler tires after cautions, wrestled the lead back from Williams on lap 91, only to have Williams steal it back eleven laps later. Another restart on lap 109 let Hayward get back in front until Williams moved ahead again on lap 125.

Hoar passed Hayward for second three laps later, then was able to get around Williams on the final restart and cruise to the win, his first of the year. Williams posted his best finish of the year in second. Hayward, who joined ACT in 2008 and earned his first top-ten finish at Thunder Road in May, finished a career-best third.

“It was great,” Williams said of his battle with Hayward. “There aren’t too many [drivers] left that will appreciate a good battle like that. A lot of them will run away from it and then [mess] it up. It was fun, I wish it could have been me and him for the win.”

“It was just racing. I tried to get [Willliams], he bumped me a few times, it was back-and-forth, but I don’t think it was any dirty pool,” said Hayward. “It was just good fun.”

Hoar’s win was his fifth top-five finish in five starts. His #37 RPM Racing Engines Dodge is the only car to post a top-ten in every race in 2010, and Hoar is the first full-time ACT Late Model Tour driver to win a main event this season.

“The car is good. Week in and week out, a monkey could drive the thing,” Hoar said of the preparation by his Rick Paya-led team. “They keep giving me a good race car, so I guess I’m the monkey.”

Lamberton, of Mooers Forks, N.Y., finished fourth, with North Brookfield, Mass., driver Jeff Zuidema an ACT career-best fifth. Brent Dragon, Scott Payea, Craig Bushey, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., and Joey Laquerre completed the unofficial top ten.

Hoar’s win guarantees him a starting spot in the second annual ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

Five cautions slowed the White Mountain 150, which was delayed nearly two hours by rain. Forty-seven cars attempted to qualify for thirty-one starting positions. The ACT Late Model Tour goes to Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Saturday, July 10 for the previously rained-out Furniture World of Vermont Spring Green 100.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — White Mountain 150
ACT Late Model Tour — White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H.
Saturday, June 26, 2010

(Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown-Laps)
# – denotes rookie

1. (11) Brian Hoar, Williston, 150
2. (7) Eric Williams, Hyde Park, 150
3. (1) Mark Hayward, Newport, N.H., 150
4. (4) Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y., 150
5. (13) Jeff Zuidema, North Brookfield, Mass., 150
6. (2) Brent Dragon, Milton, 150
7. (22) Scott Payea, Milton, 150
8. (5) Craig Bushey, Cambridge, 150
9. (17) Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H., 150
10. (6) Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, 150
11. (24) John Donahue, Graniteville, 150
12. (23) Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H., 150
13. (25) Travis Adams, Canton, Me., 150
14. (21) Scott Dragon, Colchester, 150
15. (14) Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, 150
16. (15) Mike Kenison, Groveton, N.H., 150
17. (29) Oren Remick, Warner, N.H., 150
18. (30) Ben Rowe, Turner, Me., 150
19. (16) Derek Lynch, Warkworth, Ont., 150
20. (31) Eric Chase, Milton, 149
21. (18) Dave Wilcox, Fairfield, 148
22. (19) # Brad Babb, Windham, Me., 120
23. (26) Pete Potvin, III, Graniteville, 109
24. (10) # Chris Riendeau, Ascutney, 92
25. (9) Glen Luce, Turner, Me., 90
26. (27) Mark Hudson, Norton, Mass., 59
27. (28) # Dave Paya, Milton, 45
28. (12) Stacy Cahoon, St. Johnsbury, 36
29. (20) Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury, 36
30. (8) Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, 28
31. (3) Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H., 17