Derek Ramstrom: PASS North Series Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
Reigning Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway track champion Derek Ramstrom makes his 2010 PASS North Series debut in the seaon opener at the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 1. A two-time winner on the PASS North Series in his career, Ramstrom finished 10th in the final PASS standings a year ago, despite not competing in the full schedule. He posted four top-5 and seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts, while also winning four Super Late Model features at Thompson over the course of the season there. Ramstrom made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts this season with a career-best finish of 6th at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway in March, and he also won a pair of Super Late Model features during Icebreaker weekend at Thompson earlier this month.
WHO: Derek Ramstrom, West Boylston, Mass.
TEAM: Charter Communications/Matthew’s Truck Service & Towing No. 35 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 3rd (September 2007)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 31st (September 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 3 p.m., Saturday, May 1
PASS NORTH SERIES
LAST RACE: N/A
NEXT RACE: Saturday, May 22, White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H.
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DEREK, HOW MUCH ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK INTO A SUPER LATE MODEL THIS WEEKEND?
It’s going to feel really good. Just running those couple of K&N Pro Series races with the team I was working with, it definitely helped me out mentally. I’ll definitely be more prepared for PASS racing, and hopefully the things I picked up from the K&N Series will help me there.
PASS is a great series with really good exposure. They race all around the East Coast, with a ton of different drivers and driving styles. A lot of people don’t know how good a series it really is, and I’m looking forward to running there some more.
WHAT’S THE KEY TO HAVING SUCCESS AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY? YOU HAD TWO REALLY GOOD RUNS THERE LAST YEAR.
You mean other than just staying in the top-5 all weekend? (laughs).
No the biggest thing is that you want to be able to use the outside groove. If you’re able to pass guys on the outside, you’ll be good to go. It always seems there that halfway through the race, all the good cars move up to the high line to pass. When you go to Beech Ridge, you’ve got to have the mindset of running in that top line right from the beginning — I just don’t concentrate too much on the bottom anymore.
I like Beech Ridge. It’s a nice facility, and it’s always competitive.
IS YOUR TEAM A BETTER RACE TEAM NOW THAN IT WAS AT THIS TIME A YEAR AGO?
Yeah, we are. Definitely. We’ve really come a long way over the past year. We’ve got a lot of new guys on the crew, and we really seem to have come together.
I think one of the biggest things I learned (in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series) was about driver-crew chief communication. That’s one thing where we’ve gotten a lot better with our Super Late Model, too.
Sources: Travis Barrett/Derek Ramstrom PR