Rowe Earns PASS Win at Speedway 95
Seventh Race-September 2nd at Speedway 95
HERMON, ME — Turner Maine’s Ben Rowe took advantage of lapped traffic to slip by Chuck LaChance and held off repeated challenges from LaChance and eventual runner-up Louie Mechalides to score a 5 car-length victory in the Pro All Stars 150 at Speedway 95. The win gave Rowe a sweep of the two PASS appearances at the Hermon, Maine oval and his fourth trip to PASS victory lane in 2001.
Pro All Stars points leader Sam Sessions topped 35 other time trialers to earn his first Sunoco Race Fuel Fast Time Award with a lap of 14.674 second, 25 thousandths of a second quicker than Larry Gelinas. The luck of the draw gave PASS newcomer Kirk Thibeau the number one spot for the Pole Dash and Thibeau took advantage, winning the 10-car shoot-out over Scott Chubbuck, Mechalides, Rowe and Sessions.
When the green flew for the 150 green flag lap feature, Thibeau took command but soon gave way to a charging Louie Mechalides. Mechalides held the point throughout a long stretch of green flag racing, with Thibeau and Scott Chubbuck in hot pursuit. Racin’ Ralph Nason put on a passing clinic in the race’s early stages, charging up from the 13th starting position to run second when the caution flew on lap 38. On the restart, moisture laid down on the backstretch sent Nason, Thibeau and Larry Gelinas spinning; all three had to restart at the tail end of the line-up. Rowe avoided the mess to move up to the second spot and took advantage of Speedway 95’s high line to power by Mechalides for the lead. Chuck LaChance also made a move on Mechalides to take over the second spot. A third turn pile-up sent Dave Avery, Phippen, and Scott Modery to the pits and set the stage for LaChance to challenge Rowe for the point. LaChance made the outside pole work to his advantage and took the lead away from Rowe, while Nason’s charge from the back ended when he failed to come back up to speed on the restart. At the halfway point LaChance held the advantage over Rowe, Chubbuck, Mechalides, Bub Bilodeau, Dave Gorveatt, Duane Seekins and Aaron St. Peter.
A caution on lap 75 ended Thibeau’s night and set the stage for another Rowe/LaChance shoot out. LaChance took the point once again, but Rowe was looking inside and outside on LaChance and made the winning move, powering under LaChance for a lead he would never relinquish. Louie Mechalides took advantage of a lap 125 restart to wrestle second away from LaChance. At the checker, it was Rowe’s 00 over Mechalides, LaChance and Chubbuck, with Kenny Wright coming back from a spin for fifth. Bub Bilodeau, Sessions, Aaron St. Peter, Johnny Clark and Larry Gelinas rounded out the top ten.
The Pro All Stars travel to Scotia Speedworld on Saturday September 8th for the C & R Auto Supply 150.
Results
(Top Nine on the Lead Lap)
1-00-Ben Rowe
2-29-Louie Mechalides
3-38-Chuck LaChance
4-15-Scott Chubbuck
5-02-Kenny Wright
6-7-Bub Bilodeau
7-0-Sam Sessions
8-6-Aaron St. Peter
9-54-Johnny Clark
10-37-Larry Gelinas
11-01-Andy Saunders
12-17-Scott Alexander
13-33-Richie Dearborn
14-92-Adam Friend
15; 77; Dave Gorveatt;
16; 90; Duane Overlock
17; 37x; Tom Oliphant
18; 25; Mike Thomas
19; 99; George Philbrick
20; 35; Gary Johnson
21; 83; Donnie Whitten
22; 75; Gary Smith
23; 19; Duane Seekins
24; 10x; Ralph Nason
25; 28; Kirk Thibeau
26; 10; David Avery
27; 11; Scott Modery
28; 59; John Phippen
29; 09; Daren Ripley
Dash Winner: Kirk Thibeau
Pole Award: Sam Sessions
Sources: ProAllStarsSeries.com