LOUDON, N.H. – After a long day of racing in the Granite State, it concluded in fitting and dramatic fashion as a native son pulled into Victory Lane.

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. powered his way past Wayne Helliwell Jr. coming off turn 4 on lap 53, and hung on to win the second annual American-Canadian Tour Invitational on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Polewarczyk, 21, of Hudson, N.H., started 27th on the 43-car grid, charged up into the top five by lap 28 and challenged for the lead with just 10 laps remaining. Helliwell settled for second, while Vermont veteran Jamie Fisher placed third. Defending and six-time ACT champion Brian Hoar drove from 26th to finish fourth, while 2009 Invitational winner Eddie MacDonald completed the top five.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” Polewarczyk said. “I grew up watching races here on the other side of the fence. I don’t think it has really even set in yet, but it feels awesome. I knew we had a good car in practice, and it was just as fast in the race. I thought maybe I had used my car up there at one point, I got behind Wayne and was trying every possible line to get by him. I finally found something that worked, and these guys ran me clean. I couldn’t be any happier.”

Heliwell was pleased with his performance on the famed “Magic Mile,” but felt like he had a shot to win it in the closing laps. He passed Fisher on lap 51 and held the point briefly before Pole muscled his way past.

“This year went much better for us than our first attempt,” Helliwell said. “I made some bold moves early on and the car was pretty stable. Once we got settled in and clicked off some green-flag laps, my car felt great and we could run just about anywhere. Joey had a rocket here since he unloaded, but I have to be happy with our run. A top three finish at New Hampshire is definitely something to celebrate.”

Fisher is a regular on the ACT tour, but like most everybody else in the field, has little experience on tracks bigger than a half-mile. He started right where he finished, in third.

“This is pretty special for our whole team,” Fisher said. “Starting up front gave us a chance to see if we could run with the big guns, and we were able to lead some laps. This place isn’t anything like Thunder Road, Airborne or any of the other places we run, and it sure is fast. It’s an honor to race these Late Model cars here, and I’m thrilled we could finish so strong.”

Finishing sixth through 10th were Jean-Francois Dery, Ricky Rolfe of Albany Township, Joey Laquerre, Dan McHattie and Patrick Laperle. Twenty-five of the 43 starters finished on the lead lap, while only two cautions slowed the pace.

Patrick Hamel and Mark Hayward got together before the first lap was complete, forcing a complete restart. Caution waved again after two laps were run, as Randy Potter and Nick Sweet wrecked in turn 4. Sweet had finished second in the inaugural Invitational last September.

Other notable drivers in the final rundown include two-time NASCAR champion Brad Leighton (28th), second-generation Vermont veteran Brent Dragon (37th) and seven-time ACT champion Jean-Paul Cyr (38th).

The race took 55 minutes and seven seconds to complete, while Polewarczyk’s margin of victory was just under one second. The ACT Late Models have only the annual Milk Bowl at Thunder Road (Oct. 2-3) and the season finale at Waterford Speedbowl left to run in 2010.

With a huge crowd on hand for today’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the ACT Invitational enjoyed a big audience.