Wiscasset Quik Stop 150 - April 19, 2003

L to R: Chuck Lachance - #38 - 3rd; Joe Bessey - #6 - 1st;
Kathy from the Wiscasset Quik Stop; Ben Rowe - #00 - 2nd.

Lap 45

Mid Race

Lap 143

Bessey is Best in Quik Stop 150

Joe Bessey returned to victory lane in grand style Saturday, coming from the back half of the field to wrestle the lead away from Dale Shaw and fight off the advances of 2002 PASS Champion Ben Rowe to capture his first Pro All Stars Series victory in the Wiscasset Quik Stop 150 at Maine's Wiscasset Raceway.

Bessey drove his own Aubuchon Hardware/Brickmill Marketing/Pottle's Transportation Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the win over Rowe in Tom and Eileen Este's Mechanical Services/Hi-Tech Racing/Superior Image Embroidery Chevrolet. Cushing Maine's Chuck LaChance raced home a close third in his Fuller Automall Ford Taurus.

Thirty-seven cars were on hand for Sunoco Race Fuels time trials and Johnny Clark was fastest through the beams with a lap of 14.914 to capture the fast time award, nipping Shubenacadie Nova Scotia's Scott Fraser by less than a tenth of a second. Richie Dearborn drew the number one spot for the "quick ten" heat and went wire to wire for the victory to grab the pole position over Ben Rowe, Fraser, Scott Mulkern and defending Quik Stop 150 winner Kenny Wright.

Heat race wins went to Travis Benjamin, Doug Averill and Dale Shaw. Dick Houlihan was victorious in the consolation round. Benjamin suffered engine woes in the qualifier and was unable to answer the call for the feature event.

Thirty of the fastest Pro Stocks in the Northeast lined up to take the green and Ben Rowe quickly jumped to the lead over pole sitter Dearborn from his number two starting position. "The Champ" looked strong in the early stages of the 150, controlling the field on numerous restarts and keeping Scott Mulkern, Fraser and Kenny Wright in his mirror. Rowe lost the lead to Dale Shaw on a lap 43 restart when he and Frasier made contact, sending much of the field scrambling behind them as Shaw shot to the bottom and took over the lead. Bessey was beginning to make his presence felt at this juncture, taking the low line to move up to the 5th spot. The incident sent Fraser into the tire barrier and to the pits for repairs.

Rowe was now in second with Sam Sessions third followed by Johnny Clark and Bessey. Bessey took advantage of his inside spot on the restart to move past Rowe, Sessions and Clark but another on track skirmish sent Sessions to the pits for repairs three laps later under caution. Rowe put on a charge to reclaim the second spot as Bessey slipped back briefly to fourth. Bessey made his move on Clark for third and LaChance followed Bessey down low into the fourth spot.

At the half way mark it was Shaw leading with Rowe second and Bessey third. Rowe came up to challenge Shaw's G.O.D. Dodge, looking underneath Shaw for the top spot. The pair made slight contact allowing Bessey to slip by Rowe for second and mount a challenge for the point. Bessey made the race-winning move under Shaw as the two rubbed their way through turns three and four and held off numerous attempts from Rowe to maintain his grip on the top spot.

Bessey survived three restarts in the final ten laps of the event, including one for a grinding crash that destroyed Cassius Clark's Chapman Trucking Ford just as the young man from Farmington looked to be on the way to his first top five PASS finish. Clark was unhurt in the incident.

It was Bessey at the stripe by eight car lengths followed by Rowe and LaChance who muscled his power steering-less Ford home third. Shaw brought the G.O.D. Dodge home in forth with and Gary Smith in The Sky Burrell/Uncle Henry's Chevrolet fifth. Scott Chubbuck raced home sixth in the Cushman Competition Ford followed by Mark Watson, Randy Turner, Kenny Wright and Sam Sessions.

Bessey was pleased with his first visit to Wiscasset Raceway. "This one's for all of the people who still believe in Old Joe and grass roots racing," said Bessey from Victory Circle. "Chalk up another win for the over forty crowd!"

The Pro All Stars Series returns to action on Saturday May 10th for 150 green flag laps at Unity Raceway in Unity, Maine. Log on to www.UnityRaceway.net for more information.