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PASS
WINTERFEST AT NEW SMYRNA
-- SUNDAY, JAN. 31ST --
Winner: Brad Leighton in the RMR #55 |
Sam Watts #73, 3rd;
Winner Brad Leighton #55, & Johnny Clark #54, 2nd |
Winner Brad Leighton celebrates with the
Richard Moody Racing team.
BRAD
LEIGHTON CHECKERS
PASS WINTERFEST 150
Samsula FL (
1/31/10) Brad Leighton took advantage of a late
race restart to power around Johnny Clark for
the win in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) super
late model Winterfest 150 at New Smyrna Speedway
Sunday afternoon. Sam Watts, Jeff Choquette and
Lonnie Sommerville chased the top two to the
checkers.
The race was Leighton’s’ first with Richard
Moody Racing, the team that earned the 2009 PASS
National title with Ben Rowe at the wheel.
Johnny Clark set fast time with a lap of 17.505
seconds, followed by Sam Watts (17.534), Jeff
Choquette (17.535), Brad Leighton (17.601) and
Preston Peltier (17.629).
Eight cars completed all 150 green flag laps in
a race slowed by twelve caution periods.
Leighton, Clark, Peltier, Choquette, Watts and
Ben Rowe each took one or more turns at the
front of the field. Rowe’s day ended in a turn
one wreck, relegating the defending PASS South
and National Champion to a 14th place finish.
NATIONAL POINTS STANDINGS |
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| NEW SYMRNA OFFICIAL
FINISH |
1 - 55 - Brad
Leighton - Center Harbor, NH
2 - 54 - Johnny Clark - Hallowel, ME
3 - 73 - Sam Watts - Winter Springs, FL
4 - 33 - Jeff Choquette - Luxahatchee, FL
5 - 23 - Lonnie Sommerville - St. John, NB, CN
6 - 20 - Steve Legendre - St. Johnsbury, VT
7 - 26 - Preston Peltier - Harrisburg, NC
8 - 4s - Jay Fogleman - Durham, NC
9 - 04 - Jared Foley - Williamsburg, KY
10 - 127 - Kyle Maynard - Weirsdale, FL
11 - 5 - Kevin Ingram - Auburndale, FL
12 - 6- Dale Brackett - Strong, ME
13 - 88 - Justin Larson - Clearwater, FL
14 - 48 - Ben Rowe - Turner, ME
15 - 36 - Tim Russell - Apopka, FL
16 - 35 - Devin Jones - Mooresville, NC
17 - 08 - Joey Gase - Cedar Rapids, IA
18 - 51 - Steve Nasse - Pinellas Park, FL
19 - 62 - Brandon Ward - Winston-Salem, NC
20 - 8 - Eddie Gainey - Fort White, FL
21 - 61 - Mario Gosselin - Lake Wales, FL
22 - 15 - Clay Jones - Goldsboro, NC |
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RACE ACTION - WINTERFEST
150
NEW SMYRNA, FL - 1/31/10
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FRIDAY PRACTICE - WINTERFEST
150
NEW SMYRNA, FL - 1/29/10
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Ben Rowe, Johnny Clark, and Jay
Fogleman at the Augusta EXPO |
Multi-Time Champs Team Up For PASS National Race
FARMINGDALE, Maine -- With 10 championships between them, Maine racers
Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark are teaming up for a winter road trip.
A long winter road trip -- to Florida.
Rowe, who has four PASS North Series championships as well as PASS South
and PASS National championships on his resume, and Clark will field a
joint effort for the inaugural PASS Winterfest 150 at New Smyrna (Fla.)
Speedway on Jan. 29-30. The event is the first of five PASS National
Championship races scheduled for the
2010 season. |
"We wanted to go down and support
this race, because we think it could grow into something really big in
the future," said Clark, a four-time PASS North champion, including the
last two series titles. "If everything goes well, we should both have a
chance to win this one."
Clark's race hauler will carry both his familiar Clark's Car Crushing
No. 54 and Rowe's new Community Pharmacies No. 48. The deal to pool the
resources of Johnny Clark Motorsports and Mulkern Racing was finalized
at last weekend's Northeast Motorsports Expo held at the Augusta Civic
Center.
Rowe was named Touring Series Driver of the Year at the Expo.
"I think it's going to be a lot of fun," said Rowe, who will debut with
his new team and new crew chief, Seth Holbrook, at New Smyrna. "Me and
Johnny have never teamed up before, so it's going to be a blast."
Of the two drivers, only Clark has New Smyrna experience, having
competed on multiple occasions in the annual New Smyrna World Series of
Asphalt Stock Car Racing held each February. He compared New Smyrna's
high-banked half-mile layout to Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway,
a track familiar to PASS North Series competitors.
"It's a lot like Thompson," Clark said. "It's big and fast, and it's
definitely a fun and challenging track. It's extremely hard on brakes,
and you need one of the biggest motors you can find there."
Rowe said he'll take Clark's word for it, having never raced at New
Smyrna himself. He has, however, watched a number of races there from
the pit area.
"It does race a lot like Thompson -- at least that's what Johnny tells
me," Rowe said. "Hopefully he'll help me out when we get there and we
can go from there.
"We're going to take a bunch of guys from the north down there and see
what we can do together." |
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| Countdown On for PASS
FL WINTERFEST |
Naples
ME – Race teams from all over the eastern Seaboard will
be hitting the road this week, on route to the Sunshine
State for the inaugural PASS Winterfest 150 at New
Smyrna (FL) Speedway on Saturday January 30th.
The long haulers from the Northeast will hit the highway
first. PASS North young gun Steve Legendre has a long
trip from the Green Mountain state of Vermont, as do
four- time PASS North Champions Ben Rowe and, Johnny
Clark. PASS super late model newcomer Dale Brackett will
make a run at the five- race PASS National Championship
Series that kicks off with round one on Saturday at New
Smyrna.
Richard Moody’s RMR team earned the 2009 PASS South and
National titles with Ben Rowe behind the wheel. They
will travel south from the Maine coast and New Smyrna
will mark the first appearance of multi time touring
series champ Brad Leighton in Moody’s immaculate racer.
Ditto for Ben Rowe and Scott Mulkern; it’s the first
race for this new driver/owner combine and PASS
Winterfest is the perfect opportunity for the new team
to get acquainted. Look for both teams to be immediate
threats for the win right out of the box.
Lonnie Sommerville should get the Long haul award with a
1,700 mile tow down from the Canadian maritimes, and
Daytona area resident Mike Skinner’s team with driver
Shane Snipes could claim the shortest.
Tim Russell, Mario Gosselin, Jeff Choquette, Jay
Fogleman, Preston Peltier, Clay Jones, Devin Jones,
Brandon Ward and Justin Lawson are but a few of the
names expected to fill a talented field at New Smyrna on
January 30.
150 green flag laps with double-file restarts guarantee
fans of the fastest full fendered short track racers in
the country an exciting show from green to checker.
Race teams will have the opportunity to practice on
Friday January 29 from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Pit gates
will open at 12:00 Noon. On race day January 30 the pit
area opens at 10:00 AM, practice runs from 12:00 to 2:30
PM and Super Late Model time trials get underway at 3:30
P.M.
New Smyrna Speedway is on line at
www.newsmyrnaspeedway.net.
Address media and marketing questions to Norm Desjardins
at
(603) 539-3368. For technical information please contact
PASS
Technical Director Scott Reed at (207) 625-3230. |
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Florida Racing Season Heats Up with
Jan 30th PASS WINTERFEST 150
at New Smyrna Speedway
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NAPLES
ME (1/13) Super Late Model racers from all over the
eastern seaboard are ready to shake off the winter
doldrums and take on the high banks of New Smyrna
Speedway when the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late
Models invade the sunshine state on January 30th for The
PASS WINTERFEST 150.
The entry list is growing daily and all indications
point to a battle royal between Florida’s fastest, the
PASS super late model touring pros and a host of outlaws
that seek out the biggest races and the toughest
competition.
Tim Russell was first to file his entry for Winterfest
and the Apopka driver has to be considered one of the
favorites. He’s got plenty of extra distance event wins
at the legendary short track, and it will be tough to
beat the home track boys at their own game. Still,
there’s a bunch of tough customers that are going to
give it their best shot, including four time PASS North
Super Late Model Champion Johnny Clark, who will make
the trip from Maine to tackle New Smyrna. Lonnie
Sommerville is a journeyman racer from the Canadian
Maritimes, and he can’t wait to take on the challenge.
Brandon Ward has taken over the wheel of Jeff and Jane
Day’s potent New Day Motorsports entry, and you can
expect this combination from Winston-Salem North
Carolina to make some noise right out of the box.
Dale Brackett is making a run at the PASS National
Championship in 2010, and he will tow all the way from
Strong, Maine for round one of the five race PASS
National Championship schedule.
Local racer Shane Snipes will be behind the wheel of a
Mike Skinner owned super late model, and two of the best
from the Carolinas, Jay Fogleman and Preston Peltier,
have both committed to the January 30 race. Heath
Hindman will make the trip from Tennessee and North
Carolina’s Clay Jones has his race car prepared for the
150 green flag laps that are one of the signatures of
the Pro All Stars. Since the series’ inception in 2001,
all feature events race the advertised distance under
green; all restarts are double file, so the action is
guaranteed to be fast and furious for all 150 laps round
the tough oval.
For the hardcore race fan it will be a double header
weekend of diverse motorsport. Just up the road at
Daytona International Speedway the Rolex 24 at Daytona
gets the green at 3:30 on January 30 and the checkered
won’t drop until 3:30 PM on Sunday January 31th. It’s
one of the most grueling endurance racing around and
short track and road racing fans alike have a rare and
unique opportunity to see the best of two motorsport
worlds on the weekend of January 30 and 31. |
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Tim Russell Files First Entry
for PASS Florida Winterfest |
CHARLOTTE, NC (DECEMBER 8) – Ever
since it was announced in late October, few races have generated more
buzz than the Pro All Stars Series first ever trip to Florida. PASS
Florida Winterfest will be held at New Smyrna Speedway on January 29-30,
2010, and will bring together some of Super Late Model racing’s top
drivers from across the country to do battle in the season’s first major
event. Adding to the importance of this event will be the fact that
Florida Winterfest will also be the first PASS National points race of
2010.
Lake Mary, FL driver Tim Russell has been hard to beat in the state of
Florida in recent years winning championships in both the Sunbelt Super
Late Model Series and the Bright House Challenge Series. In 2009,
Russell won his second Florida Triple Crown Championship and, just
recently, won the prestigious Governor’s Cup 200 at New Smyrna Speedway
for the first time in his career. And now, Russell becomes the first
driver to file an entry for PASS Florida Winterfest.
“I think Florida Winterfest is gonna be huge,” said Russell. “PASS has a
great following and is a great series. Hopefully we can run good and get
a few more PASS races in Florida. We wanted to run some PASS South
events last year, but the funding wasn’t there. We’re hoping to run well
at Winterfest and maybe run a few more PASS South events in 2010.”
Despite numerous wins in Florida and a wealth of knowledge at New Smyrna
Speedway specifically, Russell knows he will have his work cut out for
him beating the PASS regulars and other Super Late Model drivers heading
to Florida from around the country.
“Based on the following PASS has and with all the cars we have here in
Florida, I think we can get at least 30 or 40 cars for Winterfest,” said
Russell. “With our past success at New Smyrna, I think we have a good
chance at winning, but we know the cars from the Carolinas along with
the Rowes and Clarks will be tough to beat.”
And, with Florida Winterfest being the first PASS National event,
Russell has not ruled out a run for the championship .“Basically we
would have to take a look at everything, weigh it all out, and see what
we might be able to do,” said Russell. |
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