Payea Returning to ACT with RPM Motorsports

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

2013 Alan Ward Photo

Waterbury, VT – RPM Motorsports has announced that former American-Canadian Tour (ACT) standout Scott Payea will join the team for the 2016 ACT Tour season. Milton, VT’s Payea returns after two years off from racing to compete for the Tour championship behind the wheel of the RPM Racing Engines Ford with car owner and crew chief Rick Paya.

 

Payea previously competed on the ACT Tour for six seasons beginning in 2005. He was the ACT Rookie of the Year in 2005 and finished runner-up in points for three straight years from 2007-2009, losing the 2008 championship to Patrick Laperle by a single point. Payea also won five Tour events, including two victories in the Merchants Bank 150 at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road as well as wins at White Mountain Motorsports Park, Waterford Speedbowl, and Airborne Park Speedway.

 

He then competed weekly at Thunder Road from 2011 through 2013, finishing in the top-10 in points each year. Payea retired from racing at the end of the 2013 season to spend more time with his family, but after two seasons on the sidelines, he jumped at the unexpected chance to return.

 

Brian Hoar at World Series Wayne G. Barber Photo

“I went to a few races to watch with my son, and I found out that there’s no middle ground for me,” Payea said in an RPM Motorsports press release. “I either wanted to be out there on the track or not there at all, so I didn’t go too often. In the back of my mind I was hoping I would get another shot, but I never expected to have a car owner like Rick call me and want me to drive.”

Payea joins a team which has won eight ACT Tour Championships and nearly 40 ACT Late Model races with drivers including Jean-Paul Cyr, Brian Hoar, Nick Sweet, and Austin Theriault. RPM Motorsports recently won the final two races of the 2015 ACT season at Airborne Park Speedway and Thompson Speedway with Brian Hoar at the controls. But Hoar announced in Victory Lane at Thompson that he was stepping away from racing to spend more time with his own family, creating the opportunity for Payea to return to the driver’s seat.

 

“The announcement of Rick Paya and his RPM team bringing Scott Payea back to the 2016 ACT Tour can prove to be a game-changer,” ACT President Tom Curley said. “We know the kind of credentials that the RPM team brings to any organization, and Scott certainly proved what an outstanding racer he had become before he made the decision to spend some time with his young family. That decision alone shows the character of Scott Payea. This team will be strong beginning with our opening event at Lee USA Speedway in April. Teams that love to compete, like early contenders Wayne Helliwell Jr. and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., will be happy to have this kind of quality competition joining us on the 2016 ACT campaign.”
Source: Act Tour Media Press Release