Oxford, ME - After two days of preliminary racing with the OPS Acceleration Series and OPS weekly Championship Series, Sunday June 12th was the date for the big dance featuring 40 Super Late Models, a stout field of PASS MODS, and the Limited Sportsman.
Brandon Varney #1, Garrett Lamb #38 and Dan Brown #83 were the favorites in the PASS MODS 40 lapper as they had finished in the podium in the Saturday night PASS MODS event. Varney in fact was two for two in PASS MODS events this season. While Varney easily cut his way to the front on Saturday night, Sunday would prove to be a bigger challenge.
Varney won heat #1 for the MODS, but due to Pro All Stars Series lineup rules, was relegated to a 11th place starting position. Heat race #2 winner Ryan Ripley #09 would inherit the pole position with 2019 PASS MODS Champion Spencer Morse #34 starting on his outside.
When the green fell it was all Ripley. Taking off to the early advantage Ripley was followed by Zach Bowie's #00 owned by Billy Lake and the #25 of Shawn Knight. Morse #34 chopped the #83 of Dan Brown atrociously and fell in to fourth. Soon Garrett Lamb #38 and Dan Brown would over take Morse for the 4th and 5th spot.
That's about how they would finish. There was a lot of slicing, dicing and sliding that made racing interesting throughout the pack, but, as the MODS ran 40 laps without a caution, no one had the opportunity to catch the #09. Ryan Ripley took home the win on his birthday and in fact got to have his cake and eat it too. Zach Bowie earned his best career MODS finish, and Shawn Knight finished third, still chasing his first PASS victory.
In the DLM Landscaping Limiteds Jordan Russell would take home the checkers in the Car #4Sale. Jordan purchased the car in the off season and has been more focused on his street stock and mending his broken foot. The decision to hit the track in the Limited paid off as he beat out Alex Smith #0 and Saturday night's winner Frank Wear #20 for the victory.
The Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models always put on a show, and with 40 cars taking the green for the feature what a show it was. Trevor Sanborn #29s, Joey Doiron #21d, Kyle Desouza #1, and Rowland Robinson Jr. #20 took home heat wins and would lead the field to green. Before the green Nick Sweet took his #40vt for service on the pit lane. Relegating him to a starting position that matched his number.
While up front Sanborn got the edge on lap one, Doiron had a bad fast #21d car. After falling in behind Sanborn initially, Doiron took a trip to the second grove and cleared Sanborn for the lead on lap 6. Trevor was hanging on for dear life losing a spot every five laps until a lap 27 caution slowed the field for an incident involving Scott McDaniel and Evan Hallstrom. The #29s team took the opportunity to pit. Normally a pit stop in a PASS race is a kiss of death. Too many good cars and track position is so hard to obtain. However, the #29s bunch do not quit.
Loading...
Doiron and Desouza brought the field back around to the green. Doiron started to check out, while Saturday night's RB Performance OPS Super Late Model winner Rowland Robinson Jr. put a little pressure on Desouza for the second spot. Desouza retained the spot while Dennis Spencer #12, Max Cookson #39 and Johnny Clark joined the front pack.
Lap 45 brought out the second caution of the race. Evan Beaulieu took a spin at the top of turn two where the Crash Pad Bar and Lounge in turn one got a great view at his pink #56 as he celebrates a baby girl on the way.
On the restart Doiron held the lead while Joey Pole's #4NH made a daring move to thread the needle and take away the second spot from Desouza and Robinson. It worked for a little while, but Desouza would reclaim the second spot ten laps later after some hard side by side racing.
On lap 61 Scott McDaniel #14 went around in turn 3 slowing the field for the third time. Doiron once again pulled away with Joey Pole following him through underneath Desouza. Two-time Oxford Plains weekly SLM winner Max Cookson moved into the third spot with defending PASS North champ Johnny Clark #54 and Dennis Spencer #12 also breaking in to the top five as Pole starts to fade. With 57 laps to go Kyle Salemi #63 had a RF tire go down and was unable to make it into the pits, bringing out the yellow.
The field made it two laps more before the big one struck. Triggered by the #5m of Dillon Moltz looping in turn 3, the incident would end the day for Brandon Barker #88 and TJ Brackett #61 while it laid heavy damage to many others, namely DJ Shaw #60s whose body was destroyed. The #60s car was patched up under caution, and DJ was able to salvage a 13th place finish. A day that could have been a killer to his championship hopes turned out to be a decent points day.
On the lap 55 restart Max Cookson fired off quick and made a daring move to the inside of Doiron and Desouza for the lead. It worked and a few laps later Desouza took the second spot from Doiron.
Meanwhile further back in the field "The Outlaw" Eddie MacDonald #17ma tangled with Gabe Brown #50b which causes a tire rub. Eddie was already struggling to find speed, and the body damage put his 44 PASS North Overall point lead further in jeopardy. Eddie would soon go straight off the top of turn three with the left front tire flat.
With just 32 laps remaining, Cookson could almost taste the Gatorade in Costal Auto Parts Victory Lane. However, another incident involving Corey Bubar #12s and DJ Shaw would slow the field yet again. With just 27 laps remaining, Cookson took the green with Johnny Clark to his outside and Joey Doiron hot on his tail.
Side by side they head through one and two. Doiron peaks the nose on the backstretch and going into turn three they are three wide for the lead. In a move similar to the one Cookson used earlier, Doiron looked low for the top spot and took it. Cookson tried to clear himself low In front of Dennis Spencer. It didn't work. The #39 and #12 stayed in body contact from turn three until the #39 spun around on the main straight. It would ruin both Spencer's and Cookson's days and bring out the 7th caution of the event.
Through the melee Nick Sweet # 40vt had charged his way all the way to the fourth position from the tail of the field. Joe Pastore #20p made his way into the top five as well. Trevor Sanborn #29s had also clawed his way back into the top ten before a Corey Bubar Spin in turn four would reset the field once again.
This time Doiron left the rest of the field and sailed off to the victory, collecting his 12th career PASS North Victory. Johnny Clark finished second and Kyle Desouza showed the weekly guys aren't no slouches to round out the top 3.
The Pro All Stars Series will be back in action next Sunday, June 19th at Spud Speedway in Caribou, ME. The Feed the County 150 is one of the most exciting races of the season. In previous races at Spud Speedway Johnny Clark, Derek Griffith and D.J Shaw have taken home the checkers, but it's anybody's race. With over 20 Super Late Models, a full field of PASS MODS, and a bunch of street stocks, the packed house at Spud Speedway will be in for a treat. If you haven't been to Spud you need to go. If you've, been, you already know how special it is, and I'm sure we will see you there.
-Pro All Stars Series Press Release
-Photo credit: Norm Marx/PASS