NASCAR North Late Model Tour
The NASCAR North Late Model Tour was created by Ken Squier and Tom Curley for the 1979 season. It was sanction by NASCAR and was an expanded version of the Northern NASCAR Circuit that operated primarily between Catamount Stadium and Thunder Road Speedbowl from 1972-1978. It was based out of northern New England, averaged about 30 races a season at tracks throughout the northeast U.S. and Canada.
It lasted for seven memorable seasons, but eventually Curley and NASCAR disagreed on the direction of the series and it was dissolved after the 1985 season. Curley would go on to form the American-Canadian Late Model Tour in 1986. ACT considers NASCAR North part of their Pro Stock history statistically. NASCAR returned to north with the Busch North Series in 1987.
Catamount Stadium in Milton, VT hosted a record 41 NASCAR North races. Oxford Plains Speedway in ME held 29 races and Thunder Road Speedbowl held 22 races. 45% of the races held in the first 3 seasons were at Canadian tracks. In the later seasons, NASCAR North added several other New England tracks to their schedule such as Stafford Speedway, Waterford Speedbowl, Claremont Speedway, Thompson Speedway, Westboro Speedway, Bryar Motorsports Park, Seekonk Speedway and Aroostook County (now Spud Speedway).
The stars of the series were Beaver and Bobby Dragon, Dick McCabe, Dave Dion, Jean-Paul Cabana and Robbie Crouch. Crouch won a record 38 NASCAR North races, and won multiple races in each of the series’ 7 years of existence. The 2-time champion went on to win 3 out of the first 4 ACT Championships. All 7 NASCAR North Late Model Championships were won by NEAR Hall of Famers.
NASCAR NORTH CHAMPIONS
| YEAR | CHAMPION | SERIES NAME | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | BEAVER DRAGON | NASCAR North Tour | 27 | 9 | 23 | 24 |
| 1980 | BEAVER DRAGON | NASCAR North Tour | 25 | 3 | 18 | 21 |
| 1981 | DICK McCABE | NASCAR Molson Late Model Tour | 27 | 7 | 19 | 23 |
| 1982 | DICK McCABE | NASCAR Molson Late Model Tour | 33 | 8 | 25 | 31 |
| 1983 | ROBBIE CROUCH | NASCAR Stroh’s Late Model Tour | 27 | 8 | 17 | 19 |
| 1984 | ROBBIE CROUCH | NASCAR Stroh’s Late Model Tour | 29 | 5 | 13 | 21 |
| 1985 | RANDY LAJOIE | NASCAR Coors Late Model Tour | 30 | 5 | 21 | 25 |
NASCAR NORTH PHOTO GALLERY
WATCH NASCAR NORTH HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1980’s
