Cassius Clark Takes IBG-PASS Triple 50s at Oxford

(Naples, ME – June 11, 2005) At Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, ME Saturday night, a combination of IBG-PASS touring competitors, Oxford pro stock regulars like Gary Drew, Tim and T. J. Brackett, Bill and Jeremie Whorff, Ricky Rolfe, Al Hammond, Andy Shaw, Scott King, and Scott Moore, Stan Meserve up from Mooresville, NC, Kelly Moore up from down the turnpike in Scarborough, ME, Kirk Thibeau down from Fort Fairfield, ME, Lonnie Somerville from St. John, NB and Dave Gorveatt from Charlottetown, PEI down from the Maritimes made for a full field of competitive Super Late Model/Pro Stocks in the Roy’s All Steak Hamburger Triple 50s – a 150 lap race broken into three fifty lap segments with a total field inversion after the first two segments.

In time trials, we saw 26 drivers break the track record of 15.323 seconds for a pro stock held by Scott Frazier with Cassius Clark in the E. J. Prescott #8 Ford putting down a blistering 14.722 second lap on the new surface.

The heats were won by Oxford regular Tim Brackett and PASS rookie Alan Wilson locking them into the eleventh and twelfth starting spots in the first 50 lap segment. After the redraw, Cassius Clark started on the pole for the 10 lap Mike Rowe & Sons Trucking sponsored Dash. He cruised home for the win with Mike Rowe in the Pullen Heavy Industries #24 second, Ben Rowe in the Mechanical Services #00 third, Gary Smith in the Uncle Henry’s #75 fourth, Corey Williams in the Midnight Oil #47 fifth, Travis Benjamin in the Irving Oil #17 sixth, Ricky Rolfe in the #51 seventh, 2004 PASS Champion Johnny Clark in the #54 eighth, Scott Chubbuck in the Cushman Performance #29 ninth, and Kelly Moore in the R. C. Moore Trucking #17k tenth.

The full field of 34 was completed when Gary Drew jumped into Mike Rowe’s backup car after Gary’s #71 suffered terminal mechanical woes in his heat race.

At the green for the first 50-lap segment Cassius took off and set a blistering pace with Ben Rowe up to second followed by Johnny Clark and Mike Rowe back to fourth. At lap 15, the leaders started to lap cars and on lap 28 Ben Rowe trapped Cassius behind a lapped car and took the lead with Mike Rowe following him through on lap 29. A spin by T. J. Brackett off turn two brought out a yellow on lap 33. On the restart, Mike got the better of Ben and took the lead with Cassius third, Johnny Clark fourth, Travis Benjamin fifth, and Ricky Rolfe sixth.

On lap 38, a scramble on the front stretch sent the Community Pharmacies #84 of Scott Mulkern and the #97 of Walt Hammond to the pits and set up a 12-lap dash to the end of the first segment.

At the line, it was Mike Rowe holding off Benjie for his “149th and a 1/3” win at Oxford, followed by Johnny Clark, Cassius, and Travis Benjamin fifth, with Tim Brackett, Corey Williams, Alan Wilson, Ricky Rolfe, and Scott Chubbuck rounding out the top ten in the T & K Concrete sponsored first segment. The joy was short lived however, as the field was inverted for the second fifty lap segment with Mike and friends at the back.

The second segment had J. R. Baril’s #7 on the pole with Scott King in the #11 on the outside, Followed by Matt Eaton’s #28x and Jeremie Whorff on the 00x and then Chuck LaChance in the #38 and Stan Meserve in the P. T. Watts #2x.

Baril and Whorff moved out quickly with Baril leading the first eleven laps and then Whorff taking the point on lap 12 with Meserve up to second. But the story of the segment was Alan Wilson making his way from 23rd up to fifth by lap 20 and to third on lap 25. It took Wilson until lap 30 to get by Meserve and challenge Whorff for the lead.

Wilson slid back to fifth after challenging Whorff and sliding up in turn one. A yellow on lap 40 for a tangle between Dave Gorveatt’s Interstate Batteries #77 and the 24x of Gary Drew set up a wild ten lap finish. Whorff and Meserve lead them down for the restart with Baril and Richie Dearborn’s #33 fourth followed by Wilson, Mike Rowe up from last, Cassius Clark, and Donnie Whitten in the Richard Moody & Sons Construction #83.

Wilson was not to be denied as he motored to the lead on the outside on lap 47 of the Chase Excavating sponsored second leg, bringing Mike Rowe with him to second, followed by Whorff’s #00x, Meserve, Whitten, Cassius Clark, Travis Benjamin, Dearborn, Baril, and Jeremie’s dad Bill Whorff in the #0x tenth.

At the end of the second segment, Mike Rowe was in the catbird’s seat with a win and a second with Ben Rowe, Cassius Clark, and Travis Benjamin all in the running.

In the Rhodes Concrete-sponsored final segment, after the inversion it was Corey Williams at the front after a trip over the banking in turn one relegated him to a 30th place finish in segment two. Corey and Gary Smith lead them to the flag for what was looking like a wild final 50 laps. And, truth be told, right off the bat the #53 of Wilson, Meserve’s #2x, the #08 of Donnie Lashua, and the #17 of Benjamin tangled in turn three on lap one.

On lap 8, Johnny Clark retired with mechanical problems, and on lap 25 Mike Rowe’s #24 slowed to a stop on the front stretch ending what could have been a dominating performance and win number 150 at Oxford. On the restart, Wilson went to the back of the pack after getting by Williams to get his lap back after the lap one tangle.

At halfway, it was Williams, Gary Smith, Cassius Clark and Ben Rowe up from the back to third and fourth. On lap 30, a tangle in turn three involving Whorff the elder, Whitten, Lashua, and Gorveatt, allowed Clark and Rowe to close up on Williams and Smith for the restart. After a two lap struggle with young Williams, the not-so-much older Clark pulled ahead bringing Ben Rowe with him.

At ten to go, it was Clark, Rowe, Williams, Scott Chubbuck, Smith, Tim Brackett, and Alan Wilson who was putting on the show charging to the front. Wilson picked then off one by one as he drove the outside as only this Oxford veteran can.

At the finish, it was Clark with the win to go with his fourth and sixth in the first two segments, Rowe, Williams, Smith, Wilson up to fifth, Chubbuck, Jeremie Whorff, Al Hammond, Chuck LaChance, and Tim Brackett tenth.

After the final tally was completed, it was Cassius Clark the overall winner joining his dad Billy in victory Lane at Oxford, Alan Wilson second in his best PASS finish in his rookie year, Ben Rowe third, Mike Rowe hanging on for fourth after multiple trips to the pits in the final segment with ignition electrical problems, Scott Chubbuck fifth, Tim bracket sixth, Donnie Whitten seventh, Jeremie Whorff eighth, Travis Benjamin ninth after having a flat and struggling in the final 50, and Gary Smith tenth.