Rowe Wins PASS Thriller
Third Race-June 30th at Speedway 95, Bangor, ME
HERMON, ME — Ben Rowe topped a talent-laden Pro Stock field to win Saturday’s Pro All Stars Pine Tree 150 at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine. Rowe snatched the lead away from Chuck LaChance with ten to go and battled Gary Smith to the wire for the $4, 000.00 victory.
33 cars took their shot at the Sunoco Pole award and home track hero Aaron St. Peter topped them all with a lap of 14.732 seconds.
Louie Mechalides drew the number one flag for the PASS Pole Dash and led green to checker to earn the number one starting position.
Mechalides and St. Peter brought the 29-car field to the green and Mechalides jumped to the lead with St. Peter hot on his heels. The two swapped the point on several occasions, racing side by side and putting on a great display of racing for the fans. St. Peter eventually bested Mechalides before a flat tire sent him to the pit area.
It was now Larry Gelinas’ turn at the point and he looked invincible, building up a comfortable lead that would be taken away each time that the caution flag flew. As the laps wound down it was clear that the blistering pace Gelinas set had taken its toll on his tires. LaChance snatched the lead away from Gelinas on lap 137, with Rowe hot on his heels and Gelinas now third.
With 10 laps to go LaChance and Rowe were battling nose to tail when lapped traffic and tight racing led to contact between the pair. Rowe took over the top spot bringing Gary Smith, Gelinas, and Sam Sessions with him and LaChance recovering from the altercation to come home fifth.
Daren Ripley earned the sixth spot, while Richie Dearborn earned the Northern Race Tires Rookie of the Race award for his seventh place finish. Louie Mechalides, Kenny Wright, and Adam Friend rounded out the top ten.
Johnny Clark and Scott Alexander earned heat race wins, Duane Seekins won the consi.
OFFICIAL ORDER OF FINISH
PASS PINE TREE 150-Speedway 95-Hermon, ME.
1; 00 –Ben Rowe, 2; 75-Gary Smith, 3; 37-Larry Gelinas, 4; 0-Sam Sessions, 5; 38-Chuck LaChance, 6; 09-Darren Ripley, 7; 33 Richie Dearborn, 8; 29-Louie Mechalides, 9; 02-Kenny Wright, 10; 92-Adam Friend, 11; 54-Johnny Clark, 12; 97-John Flemming, 13; 17-Scott Alexander, 14; 77-Dave Gorveatt, 15; 37x-Tom Oliphant, 16; 71-Dan McKay, 17; 1x-Henry Hudson, 18; 10-David Avery, 19; 19-Duane Seekins, 20; 11-Scott Modery, 21; 66-Andy Shaw, 22; 77x-Jim Goodman, 23; 59-John Phippen, 24; 27-Nick Nichols, 25; 6-Adam St. Peter 26; 35-Gary Johnson, 27; 2x-Jim McCallum, 28 A-1-Jim McGinnis, 29; 10x-Ralph Nason
Sources: ProAllStarsSeries.com