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Colt James won his first
PASS South race in the season finale
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Colt James Victorious in PASS
South Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200;
Ryan Blaney and Ben Rowe
Earn
Series Championships |
The Pro All Stars Series
(PASS) South and National Super Late
Model Series seasons concluded at
Concord Speedway (NC) on Saturday,
November 26th, with the running of
the Thanksgiving Classic Mason-Dixon
Meltdown 200. When the checkered
flag flew, Colt James earned his
first PASS South victory while Ryan
Blaney won his first PASS South
championship and Ben Rowe earned his
second National series title.
34 Super Late Model drivers took
to the track for qualifying. Jay
Fogleman, who entered the event as
the South division points leader by
a mere six points over Blaney, set
fast time, followed by Heath
Hindman, James, Blaney, Eric
Darnell, Logan Ruffin, Austin
Theriault, Gray Gaulding, Preston
Peltier and Trey Mitchell. Andy
Loden, who entered the event 10
points behind Fogleman in third,
qualified 16th. National points
leader Rowe (by 38 points) timed in
19th while Cassius Clark, second in
National points, qualified 18th.
Before the green flag dropped,
Gaulding and Clark both had issues
getting going, forcing them to start
the event from the back of the pack.
When the green flag flew, Blaney
paced the field, not giving up the
top spot until well over halfway in
the event. Meanwhile, South points
leader Fogleman (tire issue) and
National points leader Rowe (shifter
broke) both had trouble, putting
them laps down to the field. Loden
also had trouble during the race,
ending his chance at the South
title.
On lap 74, a scary
incident placed the field under the
red flag when Kevin Love and Michael
Pilla made contact through the
dogleg on the backstretch, sending
Pilla up into the fence. Both
drivers walked away from the
incident.
During the final 50
laps, Blaney, Darnell and James
battled hard for the top spot,
taking turns as the leader. James
took the lead for the final time
though at lap 171, driving on to win
the Mason-Dixon Meltdown; his first
PASS victory.
“It got wild
there at the end,” said James. “It
got so spread out there I didn’t
know where I was. We finally got
that restart and I was fourth. I had
a good restart there. Me and Ryan
touched a little bit there, and had
a good run at the end. I felt like I
could pull away, but the one lapped
car kind of held me up there the
last lap.
“This is our first
PASS win. I really love this series.
I have never had any luck. I finally
had some luck tonight.”
Blaney wanted to end the season with
a third victory, but his
second-place finish was enough to
earn him the 2011 PASS South
championship over Fogleman, who
finished 17th.
“We led most
of the race and just rode around,”
said Blaney. “We pitted; they got me
in and out of the pits pretty clean.
We got back to the lead with about
40 to go. We had a restart and I
missed a shift; it messed us up
there. We got back to Colt with
about 20 to go and couldn’t find a
way around him.
“We were
trying for two years (for the
championship). We had the points
lead going into the last race last
year and we had a cracked rim and it
cost us the championship. We worked
really hard this year to get this.
It feels really good to have our
hard work pay off.”
Rowe
entered the race with a virtual lock
on the National championship, but
early problems with his shifter
almost cost him the title. Still,
the multi-time divisional champion
from Maine was able to finish 18th
and earn his second National title.
“The car was really good,” said
Rowe. “I thought we had a top four
or five car. Then on the second
restart I ripped the shifter right
off in my hand. It was stuck in
third and never made it into fourth,
so that kind of ruined our day. We
ended up fixing it. It sheered the
bolts off. It is just one of them
things.
“The National deal is
pretty neat. You have the North and
the South (championships), then the
National, which I think is above
them. It is something that we strive
all year for, and there is a lot of
travel involved. It is a whole team
effort. We have a good time, and if
you have a good time, good things
happen.”
Peltier, Darnell and
Brandon Ward rounded out the
top-five finishers in the race.
Also, after finishing 11th, Gray
Gaulding was named the PASS South
2011 Rookie of the Year.
To
view video interviews with James,
Blaney and Rowe, visit the following
links:
Colt James:
Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200 Winner
Interview HERE
Ryan
Blaney: 2011 PASS South Champion
Interview HERE
Ben
Rowe: 2011 PASS National Champion
Interview HERE
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Official Results - Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200
Concord Speedway - November 26, 2011 |
1) 15 - Colt James
2) 10
- Ryan Blaney
3) 26 - Preston
Peltier
4) 7e - Eric Darnell
5) 62 - Brandon Ward
6) 8 - Logan
Ruffin
7) 47 - Trey Mitchell
8) 44 - Justin Johnson
9)
23 - Jimmy Weller
10) 91 - Heath
Hindman
11) 2 - Gray Gaulding
12) 29 - Austin Theriault
13) 7 -
Daniel Johnson
14) 77 - Cassuis
Clark
15) 60 - DJ Shaw |
16) 84 - Kyle Beattie
17)
4s - Jay Fogleman
18) 4n - Ben
Rowe
19) 14 - Clete Caywood
20) 20 - Steven Legendre
21) 74 -
Andy Loden
22) 17a - Scott
Alexander
23) 51 - Bobby Measmer
24) 33 - Roger Newton
25) 73 -
Joey Doiron
26) 11 - Kevin Love
27) 48 - John Batten
28) 26n -
John Donahue
29) 112 - Derek
Cambell
30) 4p - Michael Pilla |
PASS 2011 South Super Late Model
Official Points |
1) 10 - Ryan Blaney - 2708
2) 4s - Jay Fogleman - 2684
3) 29
- Andy Loden - 2666
4) 26 -
Preston Peltier - 2626
5) 91 -
Heath Hindman - 2592
6) 20 -
Steve Legendre - 2524 |
PASS 2011 National Championship
Official Points |
1) 4n - Ben Rowe - 1225
2) 8/77 - Cassius Clark - 1195
3)
4s - Jay Fogleman - 1165
4) 20 -
Steven Legendre - 1144
5) 26 -
Preston Peltier - 831
6) 17a -
Scott Alexander - 752 |
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