Early Entrants Abound for Expanded PASS Winter Meltdown at Dillon
CHARLOTTE, NC (January 13) – With just three weeks left to go until the “Original” Winter Meltdown goes green, Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model teams from across North America are beginning to make their final preparations. This year’s fourth running of the early-season event looks to be the biggest yet as the Meltdown moves to its new home at Dillon Motor Speedway. Northern drivers have dominated the three previous runnings of the PASS Winter Meltdown with New Hampshire’s Brad Leighton taking the checkered flag at New Smyrna Speedway in 2010 and Maine’s Joey Doiron claiming the victory at Auburndale Speedway in 2013 and backing that up with a victory at Greenville last year.
Once again being on Super Bowl weekend, the PASS Winter Meltdown will be short track racing’s first major points event of the year. The “Original” Meltdown will feature the 12th Annual South Carolina Clash for the PASS Super Late Models and will be bigger than ever before. The South Carolina Clash will now be 200 laps, paying $6,000 to win, and will give competitors the option to change two tires with 75 laps to go. The Winter Meltdown will also feature a 75 lap event for the Late Model Stocks paying $1500 to win and an event for the Pro 4s. The PASS Winter Meltdown will go green on Saturday afternoon, February 4 at 2 PM and will serve as the first race of 2017 for the PASS South Super Late Models and the PASS National Championship Series. Saturday’s action will be preceded by an optional practice day for all divisions on Friday afternoon, February 3.
The first batch of PASS Super Late Models entries has been released and includes drivers from all over the United States. Tate Fogleman, the 2015 PASS South Super Late Model champion, scored his first series win last year at Hickory and will be joined by former South Carolina Clash winner and 2014 PASS South titlist, Tyler Church. Both North Carolina drivers will be seeking to become the first two-time series champion. New York youngster Christian Eckes will make his second trip to Dillon Motor Speedway for the Winter Meltdown. Eckes had several big, late season wins in 2016, including the Snowball Derby and Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park in Super Late Models and the Myrtle Beach 400 in a Late Model Stock Car.
Teenager Kodie Conner from Kannapolis, NC will be back after an impressive rookie season in 2016 that saw him finish second at Dillon early in the season. Conner went on to follow that performance up by just missing out on the PASS South championship to Matt Craig. New England racers hope to continue their dominance in the Meltdown again this year and are well represented in the early entries. New Hampshire’s Derek Griffith and Bryan Kruczek are both former winners in PASS North, while Jay, ME’s Dave Farrington, Jr. will also be making his first start at Dillon as he looks to chase both the PASS National and PASS North series championships in 2017.
Third-generation racer Hayes Goodson, from nearby Darlington, is a former winner at Dillon in Late Models and Supertrucks and returns to his home track driving the iconic #16 his father, Hal, made famous, while Mike Speeney will make the move from Tour-type Modifieds over to PASS Super Late Models for his first start.
Action gets underway at Dillon Motor Speedway Speedway on Friday, February 3 with gates opening at 1 PM and rotating practice for the PASS Super Late Models, Late Models, and Pro 4s from 2 – 5 PM. On Saturday, February 4, gates will open at 8 AM, with rotating practice from 10 AM – Noon, qualifying at 12:30 PM, and feature events set to go green at 2 PM.
Entry forms for the PASS Winter Meltdown at Dillon Motor Speedway can be found at ProAllStarsSeries.com. The 2017 license forms for the PASS Super Late Models are also available at ProAllStarsSeries.com. Drivers purchasing licenses for the 2017 season will receive bonus points for each race they are pre-registered for and will also save money towards any events that they enter early.
The Pro All Stars Series is recognized as North America’s premier sanctioning body for asphalt Super Late Models and boasts such marquee events as the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway and the legendary Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. For media or marketing questions, please contact Alan Dietz at 704-231-2039 or alandietzpass@live.com. Please visit ProAllStarsSeries.com for more information and don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.
Sources: Alan Dietz/PASS PR