Dale Shaw Becomes Inaugural PASS Race Winner at Lee USA Speedway
First Race-May 20th at Lee USA Speedway
LEE, NH — Busch North Series regular Dale Shaw won his first Pro Stock race in quite some time when he won the inaugural race for the Pro All Stars Series held at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday. Shaw, winning from the pole, led every lap of the event, which was shortened from 150 to 129 laps due to curfew.
“The Plum Potter Automotive car was really hooked up today,” Shaw said in Victory Lane. “I want to thank Tom Mayberry for starting the tour. He’s a really nice guy; I look forward to racing with him as much as I can as the Busch schedule permits. Jimmy McCallum gave me a heck of a run today, but he ran me clean all day.”
With 47 cars in the pit area, time trials set the lineup for both the dash for the pole and heat races. Jim McCallum set fast time with a lap of 15.154 seconds, beating Steve Knowlton (15.187) and Sam Sessions (15.205). The top ten were represented by youngsters from the stands who drew starting positions for the dash for the pole. Shaw got the front spot for that race, and went on to win followed by McCallum, Knowlton, Mike Rowe, Sessions, Johnny Clark, Dick Houlihan, John Flemming, Adam Friend, and David Avery.
The rest of the cars were slotted into heat races, which were won, by Ralph Nason, Larry Gelinas, Scott Watts, and Ben Rowe. The last chance consolation race, won by Dan Bezanson, set the field of qualified cars. Three drivers who had purchased PASS licenses and intended to support the series, but had not qualified for the race, were added to the field as provisional starters.
Shaw was in the lead from pole at the green but McCallum was never too far behind in the early going. Early cautions involved the cars of Andy Shaw, Gary Smith, Bill Rodgers, Dave Gorveatt, George Philbrick, Tom Oliphant, Chuck LaChance, and Eddie MacDonald, but most cars remained in the race through the first third of the scheduled distance.
Mike Rowe moved up to second on a lap 9 restart but lapped traffic proved to be his downfall as he was involved in an accident with Larry Gelinas and Chuck LaChance on lap 41, leading to his having to make several pit stops for bodywork and other attention. Steve Knowlton’s top five run was also over early, as mechanical problems claimed his car before halfway.
Adam Friend put on a show, getting around McCallum for second on a lap 62 restart and running down Shaw for the lead only to spin trying to duck underneath Shaw coming out of turn two. Friend rejoined the race as caution flew, resuming as the last car on the lead lap.
Lap 70 was the start of a long green flag run that saw spirited charges from both Richie Dearborn and Friend. Dearborn took the restart in fifth but dogged both Sam Sessions and then Dick Houlihan to wind up third as the laps were winding down. Friend was outside the top ten on the restart, but had worked his way up to sixth until lap 118 saw him spin off turn four. No yellow came out as Friend was quickly back on track, but fell off the lead lap.
Town curfew ordered everything to be done by 8PM, and the race appeared to be going over that time limit. Town police allowed the race to continue to lap 150 since it was going smoothly, but a yellow on lap 127 for a crash involving Norman Wrenn and Johnny Clark forced a green-white-checker finish. With only seven cars on the lead lap, the field was doubled up for a last run to the finish, which went without incident as Shaw won over McCallum, Dearborn, Houlihan, Sessions, Louie Mechalides, Bezanson, Kenny Wright, Danny Bubar, and Jarod Robie.
“My car was real good 75% of the time,” Shaw said after the race. “At that point it loosened up terrible. When Jimmy got caught behind lapped traffic, I could drive it at three-quarters throttle. Then I thought we’d get a late caution I said that I’m not going to wear this thing out, I’m going to wait and save the car.
“Adam Friend, I thought he was going to win that race,” Shaw continued. “He was hooked up and right when he caught me my car was so loose.”
Shaw had praise for the Pro All Stars Series.
“I think it’s a great series, and I think that as long as Tom [Mayberry] sticks it out, that it’s going to be successful because everybody likes him,” the winner said. “He’s a racer, and I think that makes all the difference in the world. He’s not coming into this thinking he’s going to get rich, he’s probably expecting to lose money. But he’s hoping to build something, and I’ll support it whenever I can if it helps him out. A lot of different cars from a lot of different places ran together very competitively.”
McCallum was happy with his runner-up finish.
“I’m happy with it, I’m thrilled with it in fact,” he said after the race. “Can I put a four-barrel on it for the next race?”
Dearborn ran a strong race to finish third after starting 27th.
“It felt real comfortable at the end of it,” he said. “We didn’t want to use our tires up too early so we could make that late-race charge there; we did our best. That was a lot of fun. The guys raced me clean.”
Place; Car #; Name; Town
1; 60; Dale Shaw; Center Conway, NH
2; 2x; James McCallum; Fall River, MA
3; 33; Richie Dearborn; Hollis, ME
4; 1; Dick Houlihan; Berkley, MA
5; 0; Sam Sessions; South Paris, ME
6; 29; Louis Mechalides; Tyngsboro, MA
7; 64; Dan Bezanson; Plaistow, NH
8; 02; Kenny Wright; Newfields, NH
9; 4; Danny Bubar; Windham, ME
10; 29x; Jarod Robie; Candia, NH
11; 92; Adam Friend; Pittsfield, ME
12; 80; Scott Watts; Seabrook, NH
13; 77; Dan Gorveatt; Prince Edward Isle
14; 3; Jerry Babb; Windham, ME
15; 54; Johnny Clark; Hallowell, ME
16; 24; Mike Rowe; Turner, ME
17; 1x; Henry Hudson III; Harrison, ME
18; 09; Darren Ripley; Appleton, ME
19; 99; George Philbrick; Rochester, NH
20; 97; John Flemming; Ontario, Canada
21; 37x; Thomas Oliphant; Manchester, NH
22; 1m; Norman Wrenn; Nashua, NH
23; 00; Ben Rowe; Turner, ME
24; 75; Gary Smith; Bangor, ME
25; 9; Eddie MacDonald; Rowley, MA
26; 53; Bill Rodgers–
27; 10x; Ralph Nason; Unity, ME
28; 37; Larry Gelinas; Scarborough, ME
29; 38; Chuck LaChance; Cushing, ME
30; 88x; Steve Knowlton; Ipswich, MA
31; 10; David Avery; No. Woodstock, NH
32; 24x; Rich Martin; Westport, MA
33; 66; Andy Shaw; Center Conway, NH
Race Notes:
Sunoco Race Fuels PASS Pole Award: Jim McCallum
Time Trials: 1-Jim McCallum-15.154; 2-Steve Knowlton-15.187; 3-Sam Sessions-15.205
Redraw for Dash Starting Order: 1-Dale Shaw
Dash Finish:
1-Dale Shaw
2-Jim McCallum
3-Steve Knowlton
4-Mike Rowe
5-Sam Sessions
6-Johnny Clark
7-Dick Houlihan
8-John Flemming
9-Adam Friend
10-David Avery
Heat Winners: Ralph Nason, Larry Gelinas, Scott Watts, Ben Rowe
Consi Winner: Dan Bezanson
Time Trials:
TIME TRIALS SEQUENCE; TIME TRIALS FINAL RESULTS
Order; Car #; 1st Lap; 2nd Lap; Fast Time; Order; Car #; Fast Time
1; 08; 15.874; 15.916; 15.874; 1; 2X; 15.154
2; 3; 15.636; 15.513; 15.513; 2; 88X; 15.187
3; 60; 15.523; 15.249; 15.249; 3; 0; 15.205
4; 38; 15.683; 15.803; 15.683; 4; 60; 15.249
5; 00; 15.440; 15.340; 15.340; 5; 97; 15.260
6; 33; 15.610; 15.374; 15.374; 6; 54; 15.265
7; 0; 16.002; 15.205; 15.205; 7; 92; 15.266
8; 53; 15.714; 15.434; 15.434; 8; 10; 15.275
11; 4X; 15.773; 15.772; 15.772; 9; 1; 15.293
9; 24; 15.443; 15.304; 15.304; 10; 24; 15.304
10; 1; 15.475; 15.293; 15.293; 11; 29; 15.325
12; 09; 15.779; 15.606; 15.606; 12; 37; 15.338
13; 45——; 13; 00; 15.340
14; 6; 15.706; 15.482; 15.482; 14; M80; 15.340
15; 9; 15.620; 15.376; 15.376; 15; 75; 15.341
16; 29; 15.451; 15.325; 15.325; 16; 24X; 15.343
17; 77; 15.852; 15.634; 15.634; 17; 33; 15.374
18; 88X; 15.331; 15.187; 15.187; 18; 9; 15.376
19; 99; 15.698; 15.539; 15.539; 19; 17; 15.403
20; 02; 15.522; 15.631; 15.522; 20; 4; 15.404
21; 54; 15.421; 15.265; 15.265; 21; 53; 15.434
22; 17; 15.606; 15.403; 15.403; 22; 10X; 15.436
23; 82——; 23; 66; 15.436
24; 64; 15.690; 15.514; 15.514; 24; 29X; 15.471
25; 29X; 15.575; 15.471; 15.471; 25; 1M; 15.473
26; 10; 15.520; 15.275; 15.275; 26; 6; 15.482
27; 71; 16.380; 16.301; 16.301; 27; 3; 15.513
28; 75; 15.616; 15.341; 15.341; 28; 64; 15.514
29; 1X; 15.877; 15.579; 15.579; 29; 37X; 15.521
30; 10X; 15.563; 15.436; 15.436; 30; 02; 15.522
31; 92; 15.418; 15.266; 15.266; 31; 99; 15.539
32; 66X; 15.856; 15.541; 15.541; 32; 66X; 15.541
33; 35; 15.942; 15.667; 15.667; 33; 1X; 15.579
34; 24X; 15.522; 15.343; 15.343; 34; 09; 15.606
35; 52; 15.690; 15.753; 15.690; 35; 77; 15.634
36; 66; 15.631; 15.436; 15.436; 36; 35; 15.667
37; 1M; 15.797; 15.473; 15.473; 37; 38; 15.683
38; 97; 15.580; 15.260; 15.260; 38; 52; 15.690
39; 37; 15.411; 15.338; 15.338; 39; 28; 15.755
40; 4; 15.404; 15.426; 15.404; 40; 4X; 15.772
41; 37X; 15.701; 15.521; 15.521; 41; 74; 15.872
42; M80; 15.435; 15.340; 15.340; 42; 08; 15.874
44; 28; 16.371; 15.755; 15.755; 43; 71; 16.301
43; 74; 16.118; 15.872; 15.872; 44; 45; NT
45; 2X; 15.326; 15.154; 15.154; 45; 82; NT
Sources: ProAllStarsSeries.com