2/5/2019
Wayne Helliwell Jr
What's Old is New Again
Wayne Helliwell Jr. and the Bernhardt Motorsports Team are headed back to their roots so-to-speak. With a renewed focus and excitement, they will compete with the American Canadian Tour (ACT) platform for select sanctioned and unsanctioned events throughout 2019.
Helliwell and the Bruce Bernhardt led Team spent eight-years competing with the ACT style rules package around New England… Stockpiling three Series titles, seven-track championships and some 50+ victories in the region.
Stepping away from ACT Tour competition as the biggest event in Northeast Motorsports loomed at the mid-point of 2016; the Team decided to win on the biggest stage, they would need to shift all focus to pro stock or super late model style cars.
Ultimately the decision paid off; the Pelham, NH based Team doing it their own way parked it in victory lane to win the 43rd running of the Oxford 250. Ironically it was with a converted ACT style perimeter chassis that led them to the career defining win.
That car only raced two other times in super late model action. While the focus turned to the Team's straight-rail chassis, their winning car remained dormant for almost a year and half.
As the 2018 season ended, conversation began once again to go back and compete with a Series and chassis type that brought them so much success; converting their 250-winning car back into a full-fledged ACT chassis for the upcoming 2019 season.
“A lot of it is technology driven,” stated Helliwell. “I’ve always said we live on an island doing our own chassis, doing or own set-ups. We have no support structure to speed the learn curve up. Sometimes it takes weeks-and-weeks of racing or testing to figure things out... With the pro stocks as soon as we figured something out, we would be behind. It’s been like that for a couple of years now. We took a car that won the biggest race we have…six-months later it wasn't competitive.”
The Team has spent this off-season relearning where the ACT Series has shifted their rules to prepare for the March 30th Commonwealth Classic at the famed ¾-mile Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
“It’s been a lot of work," stated Helliwell. "It was a whole lot easier to turn a ACT [style] car into a pro stock than it is to go back to the ACT rules; I don’t recommend it actually... We basically will have a new car outside of the actual chassis. Even then we had to make modifications to meet the current [ACT] rules. The Series has changed a lot since we competed with them. It’s been a lot of open conversations with the ACT officials to make sure this car is where it’s supposed to be…”
The Team is excited to get back to the competitive nature of the ACT Tour. Stating the knowledge, they have gained since competing with the series should pay big dividends right off the truck.
“I look back to where we were and it seems so foreign to us,” stated Helliwell. “That’s all old news. Everything we knew is different know. I know we've learned a lot, but we may show up and be awful… We are basically having to relearn what these types of cars need and can do. It will be a lot of work… We are excited to compete at Richmond and see where we stack up.”
Following the trip to Virginia the Team will look to run an Outlaw style schedule for the remainder of the year. Competing with ACT Series through the first hand full of races. While continuing to compete with the Pro All Star Series (PASS) through select events.
“We haven’t committed to anything.” stated Bernhardt. “There are certain races we are interested in with both cars. We’ll see what happens as we get though those first few…”
The one item that will remain the same is the familiar bright orange look with longtime supporter Ekeys-4-Cars adorning the quarter panels of the 27nh machine. The Jim Broadhurst owned company are the leading experts on electronic keys throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 2019 marks the 12th straight year of support for the Team.
“It just wouldn’t be the same without Jim,” stated Helliwell. “Ekeys [4-Cars] has been with us for so long. We tried a different route before, and it brought us nothing but bad luck. We basically got hate mail because the car wasn’t orange anymore. So, folks will be happy to know both are back for this year.”
The schedule of events for the Commonwealth Classic have the ACT Series on track starting with Friday practice and heat race action getting underway after 1:00pm on Saturday.
Next Event
What: The Commonwealth Classic 65
Where: Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA
When: Saturday March 30th, 2019 1:00pm
Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Bernhardt Motorsport's would like to thank their proud partners: • EKeys-4-Cars • Unique Ford • Bernhardt Automotive • Pro-Turf Landscaping • DTB Tax • C&M Distributing • Harpoon Brewery • Spectro Performance Oils • IICCEEE • Ford Racing • Schoenfeld Headers • Sunoco Race Fuels • Bassett Wheels • Joes Racing Products • Quarter Master • ARP Bodies • Welded Media • Mangus Racing Products • Coastal Candle Company • VDL Fuel Systems • PEM Racing Gears • KRC Power Steering • DRP Performance Products • Firestorm Graphics • Allstar Performance • Rouleau Racing Dynamics
Follow Wayne:
https://www.waynehelliwelljr.com
https://www.facebook.com/WayneHelliwellJr
https://twitter.com/#!/WayneHelliwell
Article Credit: Jason Lubin
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