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The following press release is from PASS Racing, Inc.
Clark Wins the Race – Rowe Wins the Championship
(Naples, ME – October 1, 2005) A field of 29 cars took time for the 24 starting spots in the Infinity Business Group PASS 150 at Star Speedway, Epping, NH tonight. After the Sunoco time trials and the Dash, the balance of the field was set by two heats.
Dash winner Russ Hersey of Swanzey, NH in the David Ford sponsored #88 led the field to the green with Mike Rowe on the outside. Hersey jumped out quickly with Rowe falling in behind, followed by Cassius Clark and Ben Rowe.
After a quick spin by the #17X of J. R Baril on lap nine, Mike Rowe jumped to the lead on the restart with Hersey on the outside. The outside was not to Hersey’s liking and he slid back several spots until he could get in line. On lap 18, Richie Dearborn ducked under the #24 and took the lead with the #00 of Ben Rowe to third, followed by Donnie Lashua, Tracy Gordon, Alan Tardif in the #8T, and Cassius Clark.
On lap 44, the #53 of Alan Wilson and the #88 of Hersey tangled coming off turn four after the #02 of Eric Hudson spun in front of them, and Wilson ended his night going off on the hook after heavy contact with the front stretch wall.
Mike Rowe made a charge at Dearborn on the restart and the two went side by side for several laps until Rowe pulled ahead on the outside, but as they entered turn three they touched. Mike went up the track but saved it, and Richie went low. Dearborn then got mixed up with several cars coming through the mess as they dodged Mike’s slide up the track, and he ended up in the wall off turn four, ending a strong run to the front.
Johnny Clark masterfully maneuvered his way through the Dearborn-Rowe incident and took the lead, with Lashua and Clark right there with him. Ben Rowe went back to fourth, with Corey Williams, Donnie Whitten, Mike Rowe back going in seventh, and Pete Frappier in the David Joyce #05 next.
Things settled down, and at halfway Johnny had pulled out to a half a straightaway lead over Ben who had made his way by Lashua and Cassius. On lap 89, the #83 of Donnie Whitten spun between turns three and four, and the #17X of Baril, the #47 of Corey Williams, the #43 of first timer Bill Kimball of Bennington, NH, the #88X of David Bath, and the #37X of Joey Porciello all piled in. Whitten was able to drive away but everyone else was through for the night.
On lap 98, Cassius Clark saw his chances for the win and the championship go away as he had a tire going down. He spun on the backstretch but the green stayed out as the leaders went by and he went a lap down. On lap 103, Cassius finally stopped on the frontstretch, bringing out the yellow, and going down another lap.
At the 125 lap mark, it was Johnny, Ben, Travis Benjamin quietly up to third after avoiding the earlier incidents, Lashua, Gordon fifth, Mike Rowe back to sixth after a smoky 360 degree spin coming out of turn four that scattered the field but did not bring out the yellow, Whitten seventh, Frappier eight, Tardif ninth, and Cassius tenth.
On lap 127, Ben tried Johnny on the outside but had to get back in line because Travis was right there threatening to fill the hole on the bottom. The top nine were nose to tail lap after lap as we closed in on the final ten.
On lap 141, Ben went around coming out of turn four by himself as the cars behind him scattered. They all made it through and Ben fell back to eighth. After the race, Ben said his radio fell out of the harness and hit his foot which distracted him just enough to get down too low on the track and into the speedy dry.
Over the final laps, it was Johnny with Travis now pressing him hard, with Mike Rowe up to third after a great run with no power steering over the last 60 laps. With two to go, Travis made a run at Johnny on the outside but couldn’t get it done as Johnny finished his championship year as a winner. Travis was second and Mike third. Ben came home eighth and captured his third PASS championship, unofficially finishing just 20 markers ahead of his dad.
Cassius Clark survived a bad night and hung on to third by ten points over Johnny Clark. Alan Wilson’s early exit did not cost him fifth and the Rookie of The Year title, Donnie Whitten jumped over Corey Williams to sixth, Donnie Lashua ended a solid year in eighth, Travis Benjamin was ninth, and Richie Dearborn was tenth in the final standings.
Congrats to Ben Rowe on winning his third IBG-PASS title and Mike Rowe for being the leading winner(5) and second place finnisher in the season long grind. Mike ran real strong all year but just wasn't able to climb out of that hole he got into after destroying two race cars in the May event at Thompson. All in all it was a very good year for IBG-PASS. I am sure the Busch North (ok Grand National East) would like to see some of the car counts and close racing that was featured on the PASS circuit this year.
