Ryan Moore Survives Physical Easter Bunny Opening Night

There may still be another night to go in the Easter Bunny 150s at Hickory Motor Speedway, but you wouldn’t have guessed it from the racing on night one.

After a physical 150-lap affair for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models, Ryan Moore stood victorious for his first career win in the event.

The win also marked Moore’s first win on PASS’ National tour, at a place that has typically stymied him. Prior to Friday night, Moore’s only top-five finish under the PASS banner at the North Carolina bullring was a fourth-place finish in 2013.

On a night with plenty of spins, crashes and contact, the veteran from Scarborough, Maine methodically worked his way through the field to take the win.

“It was really rough,” said Moore in victory lane. “I think I got more right-side damage from the 94 [of Garrett Hall] under caution than I got the whole race. I don’t know what that was all about.

“Everybody’s so good and works so hard on these things. Everyone really wants to win. It’s all good. I don’t mind pushing and shoving.”

Cole Butcher finished second in the lone Donnie Wilson Motorsports entry for the night, with William Byron planning to join the party on Saturday. He hopes to be one spot better when the PASS drivers return for another 150 laps on Saturday night.

“We were probably one of the best cars. At the end, Ryan just had a little bit more front-end grip than we did. I probably used it up a little bit, that was my own fault. We’ll move on to tomorrow.

“Probably a little driver error, and just needed a little more front-end rotation with 20 laps to go.”

Longtime fans of Super Late Model or Pro Stock racing in the Northeast might have had to double-check when they saw Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. in something other than a black No. 97. Instead, he was in a second Richard Moody Racing entry alongside Ben Rowe and drove the yellow and black No. 4 to a third-place finish.

“Unbelievable,” said ‘Joey Pole’ after the race. “This is more than I could ask for in my first race with the team. I can’t thank Richard Moody and his whole team enough, and my guys for joining in on this team.

“It was an awesome result. Hopefully we can get it handling a little bit better and have something for the 74 tomorrow night.”

Another night of racing is on tap at Hickory for the second night of the Easter Bunny 150s on Saturday. Fans unable to attend the event will be able to watch the action live on Racing America, with coverage presented by PFC Brakes.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS - EASTER BUNNY 150 #1

1. Ryan Moore
2. Cole Butcher
3. Joey Polewarczyk
4. Gabe Brown
5. Austin MacDonald
6. Treyten Lapcevich
7. Brandon Barker
8. Garrett Hall
9. DJ Shaw
10. Tyler Church
11. Kyle DeSouza
12. Eddie MacDonald
13. Ben Rowe
14. Travis Benjamin
15. JP Josiasse
16. Isaac Bevin
17. Michael Scorzelli
18. Jeremy Davis
19. Rodney Brooks
20. Jake Matheson
21. Nick Loden
22. Wyatt Alexander
23. John Peters
24. Trevor Sanborn
25. Kyle Reid
26. Derek Griffith
27. Joshua King
28. Nick Jenkins
29. Kate Re
30. Jason Corliss
31. Mike Hopkins
32. Ryan Ripley
33. Ryan Kuhn
34. Cory Casagrande
DNS. Cory Hall