Johnny Clark Wins PASS North Opener at Speedway 95
Johnny Clark fired his Car Crushing/Port City Race Cars Impala SS under Richie Dearborn and Cassius Clark on lap 136 of Sunday’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) NAPA 150 to take the opening day win at Speedway 95 in Hermon ME. Clark got into Dearborn on the backstretch in a side by side battle for the lead and Dearborn dropped his right rear off the backstretch, slipping back to fourth at the finish after leading much of the day. Cassius Clark raced back from an early race incident to capture second place. Chubbuck came home third after running up front all day . Dearborn and Adam Bates rounded out the top five.
The defending PASS North Champion beat Cassius Clark to the stripe by .389 seconds. Derek Ramstrom, Chris Staples, John Flemming, Ben Rowe and Donnie Whitten raced home sixth thru tenth. Fifteen cars finished on the lead lap. Dearborn, Ramstrom and Cassius Clark each earned heat race wins.
Cassius snatched the lead away from pole sitter Dearborn on lap six but Kelly Moore’s NAPA Chevy was charging and it looked like he might have something for Clark. They battled tooth and nail for several laps before the pair got together, spinning out of the top two spots on lap fifty six. Clark fell back to thirteenth and Moore restarted fourteenth. Scott Chubbuck was the beneficiary, restarting in the lead, but Dearborn and Chris Staples soon made their way by. Those three ran nose to tail at the halfway mark, with Johnny Clark fourth and Ramstrom fifth. Staples had a great run going, keeping the pressure on Dearborn and battling back and forth with Chubbuck for the second spot.
With twenty five to go Cassius Clark had recovered from his early spin and looked like he was ready to challenge Dearborn for the win; Johnny Clark worked his way up to third and local hero Scott Alexander was running a fine fourth as Staples faded back from the lead pack. Alexander’s day would eventually end in the tires off turn four with the finish line in his sights.
It all came to a head on a lap 136 restart and Johnny Clark showed his hand, clashing with Dearborn to grab the lead. Despite Cassius’best efforts to run him down, it was Johnny at the checkers by two car lengths.
PASS North takes a week off before heading to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough Maine on Saturday May 2nd. Post time at “The Ridge” is 3:00 PM. The PASS South Super Late Models race Saturday night at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont North Carolina.
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Unofficial Finish – PASS North super late model NAPA 150 – Speedway 95, Hermon ME – April 19, 2009
1) 54 Johnny Clark, Hallowell ME
2) 8 Cassius Clark, Farmington ME
3) 77 Scott Chubbuck, Dresden ME
4) 33 Richie Dearborn Hollis ME
5) 98 Adam Bates, Warner NH
6) 35 Derek Ramstrom Worcester MA
7) 5 Chris Staples, Brunswick ME
8) 97 John Flemming, Halifax N.S. CA
9) 4 Ben Rowe,Turner ME
10) 7 Donnie Whitten, Wells ME
11) 12 John Dabrowski, Dorchester MA
12) 36 Jay Sands, Hampton NH
13) 17 Travis Benjamin, Morrill ME
14) 75 Gary Smith, Bangor ME
15) 20 Steve Legendre, St Johnsbury VT
16) 25 Mike Thomas Lewiston ME
17) 47 Kelly Moore, Scarborough ME
18) 60 D.J. Shaw, Center Conway NH
19) 17A Scott Alexander, Glenburn ME
20) 15 David Folsom, Skowhegan ME
21) 85 Nick Ribbe, Kingston MA
22) 33H John Higgins, Glenburn ME
23) 84 Scott Mulkern, Falmouth ME
Sources: PASS North PR