Column By: STEPHEN DURHAM / RPW – CENTER CONWAY, NH – At the end of the 2023 American Canadian Tour campaign, it was a tough ending to a season that was ‘almost’ for Gabe Brown.
That’s because it was DJ Shaw, the other driver from Center Conway, NH, who came away victorious by 31 points.
Fast forward one year later, Brown headed into the final race this season leading the championship by 65 over Shaw.
However, this time around provided a different outcome.
“It’s just cool that we have brought the ACT championship back to Dale Shaw Racecars 3 years in a row” Brown says, “I wanted to make sure I never thought that there was a chance I could lose it like last year, but I still thought I could still lose it no matter what, especially at Seekonk, I feel like that is one of my worst tracks.”
Brown feels like it came a little too close at Seekonk, as he had to fight his way back through the field after a mid-race incident had him sent to the back. But for Brown, he enjoys competing and working alongside Shaw.
“DJ still closed up like half the points gap and was just an unfortunate day that we had, but I am thankful for everything that DJ does for me,” Brown explains, “thankful we have been able to bring it back here to the shop that many years in a row whether it is me or him, and hopefully it is me again next year to keep from getting a third one.”
For the 2024 Champion, he says it is pretty fun and special to have a relationship with someone he’s looked up to and been around for a long time.
“He used to come race go karts against me whenever I would say a gokart is junk or whatever, he would come and he’d kick my ass in the gokart that I said that was no good,” Brown says with a laugh, “it’s cool for me I can now go compete against him and be on the winning end more times than not nowadays and just thankful to have the relationship I have with Dale, DJ, and Steph.”
In a season that was very successful for the American-Canadian Tour, Brown says the competition has gotten better, making it harder to win the championship, because of how consistently good the rest of the field was. The top 7 at the end of the season were within 200 points of each other, from 1st to 7th that is.
“You really needed to put together consistency each race, we were talking in the shop last night, everyone in the top 10 in points all had a race that they dropped out of, and if you had one more race that you dropped out of, you weren’t going to be in it to win it for the points,” explains Brown “the ACT tour has really been put together nicely, Pete, Scott, everything is fair and competitive.”
The 2024 ACT champion believes those managing the series as a whole have put together a really strong series.
“With the rules packages, the cars, and everything they have going on, they have really put together a really strong series,” Brown says “you are welcomed and everything, when you get to the racetrack, they come and see you, wish you luck, and so on, they make you feel wanted there a part of their series.”
After winning the championship at Seekonk, Brown says there were a couple of people that stood out in reaching out to him on the championship run.
“There was a few people that I would have never expected to congratulate me, but the couple that stook out was Patrick Laperle sent me a text,” Brown says “and oddly enough, Mike Hopkins who I am close with at the racetrack, but neither of us had each other’s phone numbers, but there’s a lot of people I didn’t expect it from. As I told my dad, you recognize a lot more when you win this championship, in comparison to the others that I have won.”
Brown is very thankful for all his family, crew, his girlfriend and fellow competitor Reilly Lanphear on the ACT tour, and all his sponsors and supporters who help him get to the track each week.
