Race 1 2005 - WMMP 4-17-05

*PASS 2005 Season Opener at White Mountain 4/17*

				PASS MODS Top 3: L to R: Dana Grover, 2nd; Wayne Allard, 1st; & Richie Morse 3r

Race Action





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Roster Shots












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Ben Rowe Takes PASS Cabin Fever 150 at White Mountain

(Naples, ME – April 17, 2005) Opening day is always special, especially when the snow is finally gone, the temperature is in the low 70s, the pits are full of shiny new cars, and there’s a great crowd in the grandstands.

Mike Rowe thought it was pretty special too as he put his #24 Pullen Heavy Industries Chevrolet on the pole with a 12.282 second lap around the high-banked quarter mile, with 2004 PASS Rookie of the Year Donnie Whitten right behind with a 12.325. The rest of the top five were Tracy Gordon at 12.339, 2004 Champion Johnny Clark at 12.382, and Ge Ge Gravel at 12.401.

After the draw for the ten-lap Dash to set the first five rows, Mike Rowe drew the pole with Richie Dearborn who timed in at a 12.420 for seventh drew the outside, but it was Johnny Clark who drew the third spot and moved to the outside pole at the finish as Rowe held the point. The second row was Tracy Gordon and Ge Ge Gravel with Dearborn’s’ #33 inside of Whitten’s # 83 in the third row. Ben Rowe in the #00 was next followed by Scott Mulkern in the Community Pharmacies #84, with Donnie Lashua and Patrick Laperle of St. Denis, PQ in the fifth row.

Before the 150 lap feature, the cars were lined up on the front stretch with the drivers out, and the fans were invited down for a 20-minute autograph session. It ran a little long, but no one seemed to care on a sunny Sunday afternoon under a blue northern New England sky.

At the drop of the green, Rowe took off but Clark stayed on the outside for three laps before Rowe held tough in turn one and pulled ahead. By lap 30, Mike started lapping the back markers and was pulling away. At lap 50, Tracy Gordon had made his way to second with Ben Rowe and Mulkern in tow. Johnny Clark had fallen back to fifth, with Dearborn next and Cassius Clark in the EJ Prescott #8 up to seventh from his 14th-place starting spot.

On lap 61, however, the day took a turn for the worse for Mike Rowe as he tangled with Ricky Rolfe’s #72 as he was lapping the #72, bringing out the first yellow. Mike and Rolfe both spun, but Mike got back going and fell into line around eighth as Rolfe made his way to the pits for a quick check.

On the restart it was the #00 of Ben Rowe and the #14g of Tracy Gordon going at it for four laps before Ben pulled ahead. At the halfway mark, it was Rowe, Gordon, Johnny Clark, Cassius Clark, Mike Rowe back up to fifth, with Mulkern sixth.

The second caution came on lap 84 as the 47X of Corey Williams and the #08 of Donnie Lashua got together in turn two with Lashua getting the worst of it.

After a quick yellow on lap 87 for a spin by the #17 of Travis Benjamin after contact with the #97 of Walt Hammond, the field settled down for a long green-flag run with the #00 at the point. However, Cassius in the #8 was coming after getting by Gordon’s #14g on lap 92.

Benjie and Cassius ran nose to tail and opened up a slight lead, but by lap 142 Mike Rowe had made his way up to third and was only a car length behind Cassius Clark and the #00 when the #97 developed a leak and wet down the inside groove through turns three and four with less than ten laps to go. Scott Mulkern who was five car lengths behind Rowe in fourth at the time went to the outside and powered past both Rowe and Clark as they both slipped a little, with Johnny Clark trying to follow Mulkern. With two to go, Mulkern was challenging the #00 on the outside but Benjie held on for the win by less than a car length. For a guy who spent most of the early afternoon in the men’s room loosing the battle to the flu bug, it was quite a show of determination and will.

After Mulkern it was Cassius Clark, followed by Johnny Clark, Mike Rowe in fifth, Richie Dearborn, Tracy Gordon, Patrick Laperle, Travis Benjamin, and Ge Ge Gravel rounding out the top ten. Alan Wilson in the T & K Concrete # 53 was 11th and was named the Northern Tire Rookie of the Race

P	Car #	Driver	Hometown	Laps	Best Lap	Owner(s)	Sponsors
1	00	Ben Rowe	Turner, ME	150	12.527	Tom & Eileen Estes	Mechanical Services, Titan Mechanical, Aero Heating & Ventilating
2	84	Scott Mulkern	Falmouth, ME	150	12.590	Scott Mulkern	Community Pharmacies
3	8	Cassius Clark	Farmington, ME	150	12.607	Ed Chapman	EJP, S&S Trucking, Chapman Trucking, Nichols Trailers
4	54	Johnny Clark	Hallowell, ME	150	12.555	John Clark III	Clark's Cars & Parts, DNK Select Used Cars
5	24	Mike Rowe	Turner, ME	150	12.443	SP2 Motorsports	Pullen Heavy Industries, LUX Enterprises
6	33	Richie Dearborn	Hollis, ME	150	12.540	Dick & Deb Dearborn	Chadwick BaRoss, Dearborn Construction
7	14g	Tracy Gordon	Strong, ME	150	12.500	Tracy Gordon	Cap Trust Financial, SNF Crane
8	91	Patrick Laperle	St. Denis, QUE	150	12.591	Julio & Rita Miglioli	Precision JLM Inc, Patriote Auto
9	17	Travis Benjamin	Morrill, ME	150	12.676	Travis Benjamin	Belfast Variety, Morrill General
10	54g	Gege Gravel	Groton, MA	150	12.618	BGRL Mototsports	-
11	53	Alan Wilson	Hebron, ME	150	12.720	Tim & Cathy Douglas	T & K Concrete
12	72	Ricky Rolfe	Albany, ME	149	12.725	Scott Robbins	Rowe Auburn.com
13	73	Chris Ross	Malta, NY	148	12.770	Team King Ent. Inc	Archibee Construction
14	66	Bobby Cabral	Kingston, NH	146	12.719	Steve Webster	WDW Machine, Market America
15	81	Michael Ruttkamp	Wilton, CT	146	12.748	Stephen Ruttkamp	Blue Buff Co.
16	97	Walt Hammond	Canaan, NH	143	12.705	Hammond Bros.	Enfield Plumbing & Heating
17	7	JR Baril	Haverill, MA	139	12.664	Robert B. Howard	P&H Crane & Hoist
18	08	Donnie Lashua	Canaan, NH	129	12.636	Daniel Brown	Jack's Competition Engines
19	47	Corey Williams	Boothbay, ME	82	12.735	Tom Mason	Midnight Oil
20	75	Gary Smith	Bangor, ME	79	12.627	Gary Smith	Uncle Henry's.com, Bud & Ray's Auto Body, Stick It Vinyl
21	28x	Matt Eaton	Little Deer Isle, ME	71	12.662	Eaton Racing	Tire Warehouse
22	83	Donnie Whitten	Wells, ME	34	12.686	Richard Moody	Richard Moody & Sons Construction Co. LLC
23	29	Scott Chubbuck	Brunswick, ME	17	12.593	Jay Cushman	Cushman Competition
24	07	Mark Patten		10	12.819
25	02	Eric Hudson	Goffstown, NH	2	13.172	Oh-Too Racing Enterprises Inc.	Newmarket Sand & Gravel
26	14	Rick Martin	Westport, MA	DNS	-	G. Lopes Motorsports	G. Lopes Construction


	Car #	Driver	Hometown
1	15	Wayne Allard	Stetson, ME
2	99	Dana Grover	Waterford, ME
3	34	Richie Morse	Waterford, ME
4	07	Greg Veinote	NewBurgh, ME
5	72	Chad Dow	Fairfield, ME
6	8	Jason Talyor	Searsmont, ME
7	9	Mark Lucas	Harpswell, ME
8	14	Katie Hagar	Nobleboro, ME

Saturday's WMMP Practice: