PHOTO: Wayne Helliwell, Jr., celebrates his dominating White Mountain 150 win with car owner Bruce Bernhardt (right), his family, and crew. (T.J. Ingerson/VMM photo)

–by T.J Ingerson

NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Wayne Helliwell, Jr., had to wait until his second full American-Canadian Tour season to score his first career win. He didn’t have to wait nearly as long for the second.

Helliwell scored career win number two in dominate fashion at White Mountain Motorsports Park, as he led all 150 laps and was virtually unchallenged.

Perhaps the only challenge Helliwell faced the entire night was how hard to push his car after having a near insurmountable lead.

“That’s kind of what I fought with myself the whole time,” Helliwell said. “I was able to get out, run a couple of hard laps, and get some distance (between second place). From there, we just monitored it and used (my spotter) to let me know where Joey (Polewarczyk) and Brian (Hoar) were. We got to that halfway point and caught lap traffic. We had a little bit of a cushion and I contemplated going for it and getting some lap cars in between (first and second). That’s kind of what we went with, and it seemed to pay off.”

That strategy paid off for Helliwell, as multiple late race cautions put a handful of lap cars between Helliwell and then second-pace runner Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. Those lap cars kept Helliwell’s lead, and eventual win, safe — a win that would come after a 30th place finish in the series last race at Oxford Plains Speedway.

“This is huge (after Oxford),” explained Helliwell. “It’s the same car and same motor. We had a good car at Oxford and it ended up being a fluke thing, a radiator cap. We were able to capitalize tonight and hopefully we were able to put the stake in it.”

Helliwell entered the White Mountain 150 as the series point leader with a two-point lead over Polewarczyk. Helliwell won, Polewarczyk came home in the runner-up position and kept Helliwell close in the point battle.

“I really thought that if I could get clear (of lap traffic), I could catch (Helliwell),” Polewarczyk said. “The car was still really good when we did (clear lap traffic), and I started driving the car really hard. I thought I was catching him; he started getting bigger in the windshield. But then, like that, I couldn’t turn it anymore. This is really huge. I feel we have some good tracks coming up for us. Beech Ridge I feel we had a shot at winning and had a muffler fall off and we won it the year before. We went to Sanair in 2006 and (Helliwell) has never been there. This was the night where I needed to have a good run, and luckily, even though (Helliwell) won, he didn’t get too far ahead.”

Eric Chase finished third after nearly stealing the runner-up position from Polewarczyk in the final laps. For Chase, of Milton, Vt., it was his career best American-Canadian Tour finish. Fort Kent, Maine’s Austin Theriault came home in the fourth position, while the eight-time defending American-Canadian Tour champion Brian Hoar, of Williston, Vt., finished fifth.

Ray Parent, Brent Dragon, and rookie Jimmy Hebert finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Ricky Rolfe and Randy Potter rebounded from a late race incident, which saw Rolfe cut a right-front tire and Potter spin, to finish ninth and tenth, respectively.

The American-Canadian Tour has another month hiatus before returning to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. Many of the American-Canadian Tour cars, however, will compete in the TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on July, 22, the week before Beech Ridge.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — White Mountain 150
American-Canadian Tour — White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H.
Saturday, June 23, 2012

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

1. (2) Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, N.H.
2. (12) Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, N.H.
3. (3) Eric Chase, Milton, Vt.
4. (9) Austin Theriault, Fort Kent, Maine
5. (8) Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt.
6. (4) Ray Parent, Tiverton, R.I.
7. (6) Brent Dragon, Milton, Vt.
8. (11) # Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, Vt.
9. (1) Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, Maine
10. (5) Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H.
11. (19) Quinny Welch, Lancaster, N.H.
12. (17) Brock Davis, Whitefield, N.H.
13. (22) Travis Fadden, North Haverhill, N.H.
14. (31) Jeffrey Labrecque, Jr., Rochester, N.H.
15. (10) Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, Vt.
16. (13) # Ben Lynch, Derry, N.H.
17. (7) Luke Hinkley, Claremont, N.H.
18. (23) Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, Vt.
19. (21) Glen Luce, Turner, Maine
20. (16) Pat Floyd, Chester, N.H.
21. (28) Jimmy Linardy, Somerville, Mass.
22. (30) Spencer MacPherson, Carleton Place, Ont.
23. (18) Mark Lamberton, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
24. (15) Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, Vt.
25. (20) Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, Vt.
26. (29) Rowland Robinson, Jr., Steuben, Maine
27. (14) Ben Ashline, Pittston, Maine
28. (25) Kyle Welch, Newport, N.H.
29. (27) Eric Williams, Hyde Park, Vt.
30. (24) Todd Davis, Claremont, N.H.
31. (26) Mike Kension, Groveton, N.H.