Wiscasset Raceway - Sun., August 19th

Top Three PASS SLM at Wiscasset - l to r: Scott Chubbuck, 2nd;
Winner Johnny Clark; and Ben Rowe third.


	Jamie Williams

Experience Pays Off For Johnny Clark at Wiscasset
Former Track Regular Grabs Victory in PASS North Return

When the Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Models visited Wiscasset Raceway (ME) on Sunday for the first time since the 2004 season, fans in the packed grandstands saw some things that were different. There were some new paint schemes, new driver and team combinations, a new track owner in Doug White and new faces on the Tour.

However, one thing had not changed in three years, or longer even. That was the fact that it takes experience to be able to wheel a racecar successfully around the coastal Maine oval and when it came to experience in the field for this event, nobody could top former track regulars Johnny Clark and Scott Chubbuck, who finished first and second in the 150-lap PASS North feature.

Clark got his start in racing driving a Strictly Stock at Wiscasset in 1994. At that time, Chubbuck was one of the top guns in the Pro Stock [now Super Late Model] division.

So for Clark to beat Chubbuck to take this victory was a major accomplishment.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Clark. “I grew up watching him race, but I don’t want to make him sound old because he’s not old. I was in Strictly Stocks when he was in Pro Stocks. I always looked up to Scott Chubbuck and I still do today. We get along real good and we race each other really clean. When I first started racing, I made a couple of bonehead moves and got into him, but that is behind us now.”

“It’s a lot of fun [to race with Johnny Clark], except when he brings up stories of watching me race when he was young,” chuckled Chubbuck after the race. “It makes me feel old.”

Young, old or somewhere in between, Clark just likes racing with Chubbuck.

“He races people with respect if they show him respect,” said Clark. “He’s one of the best racecar drivers in the state, that’s for sure.”

Clark started the race in the 12th position because PASS rules dictate that a winner from this current season cannot start a feature race in a top-10 position. He wasted little time working through the pack as Rick Martin and Steve Berry both led laps early on.

“It worked out good,” said Clark. “You always say that you don’t want to start that far back and that you hate the rule, but I totally understand the rule. It makes for a better race. I enjoyed coming up through.”

Just before halfway, Clark took over the top spot and never looked back from there. Chubbuck could stay on Clark’s bumper, but he never took the lead.

“We had the car on a rail,” said Clark. “[Crew chief] Bobby [Clark] said that it looked like DJ Shaw’s car when he won the Coastal 200 here. He was on a rail and just glided around. He was just on a ride and that is basically how they had the car for me tonight. I was just along for a ride. The car was so good and you only get one of those a couple of times each year.”

That fact was not lost on Clark’s fellow competitors.

“Johnny was just better than everybody, but he’s always good here,” said third-place finisher Ben Rowe. “He’s definitely got this place figured out.”

Clark knew that he had a great car after he won Saturday night’s 50-lap weekly Pro Stock/Super Late Model event. Still, he didn’t let the pressure of having to perform get to him.

“Not at all. I took a nap a few hours before the race and just rested up,” said Clark. “They looked the car over. We’ve been so strong since we’ve come here for the two 50-lappers. I know that they are only 50 laps, but the car was just so good when the sun went down, that I was really grinning when the sun went down. That is when the car was really on a rail.

“We were joking last night that we had just won the Busch race and now we had to go and win the big race. We went out and did that.”

With his top-five finish, Ben Rowe unofficially maintains the PASS North point lead over his father Mike Rowe.

In the PASS Modified division, Chris Staples held off Troy Morse and Chris Smith to record the victory. In PASS Sportsmen, Wiscasset regular Adam Chadbourne beat Dan McKeage and Jerry Harrison to win over a strong field of entries.

The PASS North Super Late Models will return to action Sunday, August 26th, at Speedway 95 near Bangor, Maine.















*Photos by Norm Marx*

Official Finish - Super Late Models
1	54	Johnny Clark	Hallowell, ME	Clark's Cars & Parts
2	77	Scott Chubbuck	Wiscasset, ME	Hight Chevy
3	4	Ben Rowe	Turner, ME	Hancock Lumber
4	17	Travis Benjamin	Morrill, ME	Irving Oil
5	12x	Mike Rowe	Turner, ME	P.T. Watts
6	15	Stephen Berry	Gorham, ME	Gorham Sand & Gravel
7	2	Stan Meserve	Mooresville, NC	P.T. Watts
8	98	Adam Bates	Warner, NH	Weaver Bros. Construction
9	53	Alan Wilson	Hebron, ME	Wilson Logging
10	88	Alan Tardiff	Lyman, ME	Maurice St. Clair Excavation
11	03	Scott Moore	Anson, ME	Moore Logging
12	33	Richie Dearborn	Hollis, ME	Chadwick BaRoss
13	7	Curtis Gerry	Waterboro, ME	Saco Bay Tackle, Monster Energy
14	23	DJ Shaw	Center Conway	Precision JLM
15	47	Kelly Moore	Scarborough, ME	NAPA Auto Parts
16	35	Derek Ramstrom	W. Boylston, MA	West Boylston Auto Parts
17	0x	Bill Whorff	Topsham, ME	AAA Insurance
18	29d	Dave Dion	Pelham, NH	Berlin City
19	14h	Katie Hagar	Nobleboro, ME	Hagar Enterprises
20	29	Trevor Sanborn	Parsonsfield, ME	Cushman Competition
21	66	Mike Parks	Charlestown, NH	Racersbored.com
22	75	Gary Smith	Bangor, ME	Uncle Henry's
23	04	Joey Porciello	Lee, NH	Porciello Drywall
24	14	Rick Martin	Westport, MA	G. Lopes Construction
25	83	Donnie Whitten	Kennebunk, ME	LUX Enterprises
26	8	Cassius Clark	Farmington, ME	EJP Pipeline Services
27	11	Scott King	Jay, ME	Paper Trade Association
28	2c	Charlie Colby	Newcastle, ME	Colby's Auto Center
29	1	Sam Sessions	So. Paris, ME	Crete Carriers
30	40	Gary Bellefleur	Stetson, ME	Newport Industrial Fabrication Inc.

Wiscasset Stock Mini Action

Jamie Williams