Pro All Stars Series
PASS, ACT Late Models Headed to Hickory for Easter Bunny Doubleheader
Mar 14, 2023
Four races in two days? That’s the plan for D.J. Shaw at Hickory Motor Speedway, competing with both the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models and American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models during Easter Bunny Weekend.
Shaw discussed the plan for the four races scheduled for March 17-18 while appearing on Racing America’s “The Bullring.”
On both Friday and Saturday, there will be a 125-lap ACT race and a 150-lap PASS feature. As the defending ACT champion and a five-time PASS North title holder, few are better equipped to take on all four races than Shaw.
Of course, for Shaw and the rest of his cohorts from the Northeastern United States and Canada making the trip to Hickory, it’s a great chance to get out of the bitter winter cold and hit the track.
“I’m definitely ready to scratch the itch and get back behind the wheel here,” said Shaw. “Hopefully, we have a good outing and everything works out on the positive side to start the year.”
While Hickory may be far from Shaw’s New Hampshire home, racing there feels like a slice of the northeast in his eyes. Between being a shorter bullring at 0.363 miles and its rough abrasive surface, Hickory reminds him of many of the tracks in New England.
“It’s old and abrasive and rough. There’s not a lot of rough places in the south without the harsh winters we have up here. It’s one of the places the northern guys are on a more level playing field. It definitely feels more like home than most of the southern tracks I’ve been to previously.”
Jumping between the ACT Late Model and the PASS Super Late Model will be familiar territory for Shaw. The two divisions often race in combination with one another, and Shaw pulled “double-duty” at tracks like New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Oxford Plains Speedway, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and White Mountain Motorsports Park last year.
“We’ve been fortunate to do it here for the last few years,” explained Shaw. “I just have a couple of great teams, they keep both ships righted and make it easy. I just jump back and forth.”
Shaw says the two cars are not as different to drive as one might imagine. The PASS Super Late Model is naturally quicker, but otherwise the differences are negligible in his eyes.
READ MORE: PASS, ACT Late Models Headed to Hickory for Easter Bunny Doubleheader
“It’s not too bad. The ACT cars, you hustle the car more. Everything’s a little bit slower, but all in all they are pretty comparable.
For Shaw, the bigger difference between the two series comes in matters such as race procedures and regulations.
“I struggle with the ACT restarts. The PASS restarts are unique, but it’s the way I’ve always done them. The biggest difference for me is the restarts, things like that are a little bit different. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and I guess I’m an old dog now.
“It’s the way I was brought up, so I’m a little biased, I guess. We go on the flagman rather than on the starting box or anything like that. It makes the front row even and fair, I like it. You don’t have the ability to jackrabbit or do those things that tear up cars unnecessarily like you see in a restart box, even at the Cup level.”
