2022 PASS RACE

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SAT., MARCH 19th - RACING at 4:00 PM

Saturday Top 3: Hall #94 - Byron # 24 - Barker #88













*Photos by Sharon Perry*

SUPER LATE MODELS at HICKORY
OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS - 3-19-22

1) 24 - William Byron - 150 Laps
2) 88 - Brandon Barker - 150
3) 94 - Garrett Hall - 150
4) 12G - Derek Griffith - 150
5) 4NH - Joe Polewarczyk Jr. - 150
6) 13 - Austin MacDonald - 150
7) 60 - DJ Shaw - 150
8) 61 - Gabe Brown - 150
9) 29 - Trevor Sanborn - 150
10) 4 - Ben Rowe - 150
11) 32L - Treyton Lepcevich - 150
12) 74 - Ryan Moore - 150
13) 52 - Jake Matheson - 149
14) 7B - Isaac Bevin - 149
15) 72 - Ryan Kuhn - 149
16) 09D - Jeremy Davis - 148
17) 1 - Kyle Desouza - 148

18) 12 - Rodney Brooks - 147
19) 53 - Cole Butcher - 131
20) 96 - Wyatt Alexander - 126
21) 09P - John Peters - 118
22) 43 - Nick Locen - 117
23) 42 - Kyle Reid - 116
24) 17MA - Eddie MacDonald - 116
25) 21 - Joshua King - 116
26) 66VT - Jason Curtis - 96
27) 7C - Tyler Church - 73
28) 83 - Corey Hall - 68
29) 7CT - Cory Casagrande - 62
30) 18S - Michael Scorzelli - 3
31) 10 - Kate Re - 2
32) 24J - JP Jociasse - 1
DNS - 32J - Nick Jenkins

SLM ENTRIES - EB #2 - SAT. MARCH 19th

Byron Beats Out Barker for the Bunny

Hickory, NC - Cup Series star William Byron took a break from a busy weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway to race his #24 Donnie Wilson owned Super Late Model in the second of two Easter Bunny 150s Saturday. Byron a former regular at the track did not attend Friday night's event or even race at Hickory for the past seven years. Rust was a non-issue as he was able to lead 109 laps on his way to the victory by more than a half a second over Brandon Barker #88.

The first twin 150 was set by group qualifying due to rain on Friday, but Saturday fans were entertained by four heat races to set the field. Heat races are a staple of the Pro All Stars Series and PASS regulars were the ones to prevail. Gabe Brown's #61 took home the first heat race victory, Derek Griffith #12G won heat number two, Cole Butcher #53 beat out teammate William Byron in heat three and Wyatt Alexander #96 won heat number four.

This would be the lone bright spot of the weekend for Wyatt Alexander. Wyatt and the #96 team were held up by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on the way to the track from Maine on Wednesday. After they finally made it to Hickory, they unload the car and blew a motor in Thursday's practice session. The team borrowed an engine from local chassis builder Dean Clattenburg and worked throughout the night and into early Friday morning. All in all, they end the weekend with two DNF's and a torn-up racecar. Wyatt Alexander Racing team is Known as W.A.R and while they lost the battles at Hickory look for them to be back on track real soon.

Pole-sitter Gabe Brown lead the first three laps of 150 around the "World's Most Famous Short Track" before two-time Easter Bunny Winner Derek Griffith took over the top spot following a yellow flag for Kate Re of Harrison, Maine making hard contact with the turn three wall. 13 laps later both Donnie Wilson Racing entries snuck under the #12G. Griffith fell back in line in third spot and fought to regain the positions lost.

Cole Butcher, who finished second in Friday's event, was able to lead 14 laps Saturday before Byron charged to the lead. Griffith slowly made his way back to the front picking off both Butcher and Byron and led for another nine laps before a big moment in lap traffic returned the lead to Byron in the Axalta #24.

Brandon Barker in his familiar #88 was on the move. After extensive damage to his machine on Friday night Brandon had considered loading up and taking the 15-hour drive home to Windham, ME. A crew member convinced him to stay and fix the car. It proved to be a wise idea as just over halfway through the 150-lap event Barker had gained 16 positions and was running inside the top 5.

Friday night's winner Ryan Moore was battling an ill handling racecar and went a lap down to leader William Byron on lap 104. That would not be the only trouble for Moore as a few laps later Ryan spun on the front straight after contact from the #42 of Kyle Reid. Moore would rebound to finish 11th as the last car on the lead lap.

On the ensuing restart Kyle Reid has issues, and the chain reaction caused DJ Shaw's #60 to spin in turn one. A third caution fell for the incident collecting Wyatt Alexander #96, Josh King #21, and John Peters #09P. DJ Shaw was able to continue on. However, the others all ended their day prematurely.

In true Garett Hall fashion, the Norm's Used Cars #94 quietly found his way to third shortly following the restart, putting himself in prime position to finally win at Hickory after two near misses.

With 18 laps to go Butcher's race took a bad turn while running second. When asked about the incident by Racing America's Zach Evans, Cole wasn't sure what happened. "I think a tire may have went down...I could hear it bottoming (out) every lap I thought maybe a packer had fallen out or something silly. I honestly don't know; it just went straight into the turn three wall. It was a pretty hard hit but we'll come back next time".

Butcher's elimination set Garret Hall up with an opportunity to contend with Byron for the late race restart. Byron powered away but with just two laps to go Ben Rowe#4, Jake Matheson #52 and Isaac Bevin #7B went for a spin setting up a two-lap shootout.

Byron would take the victory over Brandon Barker #88, Garrett Hall #94, Derek Griffith #12G and Joey Pole #4NH.

The 33-year-old Joey Pole is the eldest driver finishing in the top five and his experience has earned him four consecutive top five finishes in the Easter Bunny 150s. Pole theoretically was one of the drivers Byron was nervous about after seeing the fast times from last night. Byron was watching lap times on race monitor and felt he had never run that fast. In his post-race interview he gave shoutouts to both Cole Butcher and Brandon Barker - a credit to the caliber of competition on the Pro All Stars Series. Byron said he will use the Easter Bunny victory as a confidence builder going into his event at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday March 20th, 2022.

After the twin 150s PASS teams will head home to prepare for the 48th annual Icebreaker at Thompson Motorsports Park in Connecticut on Saturday, April 2nd, 2022. The Icebreaker weekend will also consist of a visit from the American Canadian Tour with multiple local divisions from Sunoco Modifieds to Mini Stocks. Sunday April 3rd will feature the Outlaw Open Modified Series Icebreaker 125. A great weekend of racing to open up the season in New England. Tickets will be available for purchase at the gate, and for those unable to attend, it will be live-streamed on Racing America.

FRI., MARCH 18th - RACING at 7:00 PM

Friday Winner: Ryan Moore #74








*Photos by Sharon Perry*

SUPER LATE MODELS at HICKORY
OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS - 3-18-22

1) 74 - Ryan Moore - 150 Laps
2) 53 - Cole Butcher - 150
3) 4NH - Joey Polewarczyk Jr. - 150
4) 61 - Gabe Brown - 150
5) 13 - Austin MacDonald - 150
6) 32L - Treyton Lepcevich - 150
7) 94 - Garrett Hall - 150
8) 60 - DJ Shaw - 150
9) 7C - Tyler Church - 150
10) 1 - Kyle Desouza - 150
11) 17MA - Eddie MacDonald - 150
12) 4 - Ben Rowe - 150
13) 7N - Travis Benjamin - 150
14) 24J - JP Josiasse - 150
15) 7B - Isaac Bevin - 148
16) 18S - Michael Scorzelli - 148
17) 88 - Brandon Barker - 147

18) 09 - Jeremy Davis - 146
19) 12 - Rodney Brooks - 139
20) 32 - Jake Matheson - 135
21) 43 - Nick Locen - 134
22) 96 - Wyatt Alexander - 134
23) 09P - John Peters - 124
24) 29 - Trevor Sanborn - 98
25) 42 - Kyle Reid - 79
26) 12G - Derek Griffith - 74
27) 21 - Joshua King - 54
28) 32J - Nick Jenkins - 53
29) 10 - Kate Re - 53
30) 66VT - Jason Corliss - 50
31) 15H - Mike Hopkins - 31
32) 09R - Ryan Ripley - 17
33) 72 - Ryan Kuhn - 17
34) 7CT - Cory Casagrande - 14

SLM ENTRIES - EB #1 - FRI. MARCH 18th

Can’t Wait for Moore

Hickory, NC- While weather affected qualifying, it was more than a beautiful day at Hickory Motor Speedway for the #74 R.C. Moore Transportation entry. Driver Ryan Moore originally from Maine and current resident of nearby Mooresville, NC had a day at Hickory.

After barely cracking the top ten in speed in practice, the 2001 Oxford Plains Speedway Late Model Sportsman Champion was fourth quick in group qualifying. Initially the heat racing that has become synonymous with Pro All Stars Series racing was on the card, but with imminent weather in the forecast officials made the decision to audible to group qualifying. Following qualifying the top ten qualifiers were inverted. Ryan Moore earned a 7th place starting position.

After the invert PASS MODS graduate Ryan Ripley #09 inherited the pole position to the inside of former Oxford 250 Champion Outlaw Eddie MacDonald #17MA. While MacDonald has raced everywhere with success, this was his first attempt to conquer the famous 3/8 mile of Hickory Motor Speedway. MacDonald got the jump on the initial start and took the lead but lap 14 brought out the first caution of the race collecting Mike Hopkins, Corey Cassagrande, Jason Corliss and a half dozen other competitors.

Most were able to continue on albeit with significant damage. That was the first slow down of the event but it wouldn't be the last. Three laps after the restart the first red flag of the evening flew after an enormous impact from pole sitter Ryan Ripley head on into the turn one concrete. Ripley fortunately walked away from the incident however his beautiful Dale Shaw Racecars #09 would be done for the weekend, and barring a miracle, the weekend.

Outlaw Eddie Macdonald continued to lead until the #43 of Nick Loden came to the lead. Nick was a three-time winner in four attempts with a different touring series at Hickory in 2021 and showed significant speed. Nick's father Andy is a three-time champion at Hickory. Only Ralph Earnhardt and John Settlemyre have more.

While things were looking good for Loden the 3rd caution flag fell on the event when former PASS National Champion Mike Hopkins took a hit to the backstretch inside retaining wall after contact with the #12 of Rodney Brooks. The yellow eventually turned to a Red Flag while race track personnel had to repair the catch fence.

As the sun started to set at 7:45, Nova Scotia native Cole Butcher #53 started to come to life. Butcher took the lead from Loden on lap 51 after a single car spin and the fourth incident of the race. Shortly after, Austin MacDonald made contact with Nick Jenkins brand new Davis Chassis Works #32 on lap 54. Jenkins went for a spin causing a multi car incident collecting many contenders including the youngsters Isaac Bevin, Kate Re and defending Easter Bunny winner Derrek Griffith.

The Canadian Butcher would then be forced to hold off five-time PASS North Champion and fast qualifier DJ Shaw #60. Shaw momentarily shot to the lead on lap 54, but it was short lived as Butcher took back the lead a lap later. While they battled for the top spot, Ryan Moore and late model superstar Joey Pole started making their way forward.

On lap 74 Hendrick Motorsports employee Tyler Church takes a spin and rests the field for the sixth time. The field would keep it clean for 51 laps before early leader Nick Loden went for a spin coming out of turn number two. That set up an epic battle between Butcher, Shaw and Moore.

Five laps after the restart, the #74 of Moore gets in to the back of Butcher moving him up the track, and another lead change ensues. DJ Shaw attempts to take advantage of Butcher's misfortune and takes a spin in turn 3. Out of nowhere that puts the #94 of Garrett Hall in the 3rd position.

Moore continues to lead through the restart but after the ninth caution of the evening for a Tyler Church spin, Garrett Hall takes over the top spot for a second before chaos breaks loose once again. Ten-time PASS Champion Ben Rowe is involved in an incident and continues on before Brandon Barker takes big damage after contact with Cole Butcher. Front runners Austin Macdonald and Garret Hall both make contact with the outside retaining wall but continue on their way. This set up a restart with just four laps to go.

Moore and Butcher trade paint for a lap before Moore sails away to victory by .396 seconds over Butcher. Joey Pole in his new #4NH Richard Moody Racing ride came home third while Center Conway's Gabe Brown #61 and Austin MacDonald #13rounded out the Top 5.

Ryan Moore, his father Kelly Moore, and the #74 crew celebrated in Victory Lane. "Hickory in general hasn't been good to me but it was a pretty fun day." Ryan also credited Andrew Hicken and Fury Racecars in the victory. Andrew is quickly becoming one of the most renowned Super Late Model crew chiefs in the country after his Victory in the 48th annual Oxford 250 last August with Cassius Clark and his continued success with the King Racing #13 and performances like tonight.

While March 18th, 2022's Easter Bunny 150 will be hard to beat, the Pro All Stars Series cars and stars will be back in action Saturday, March 19th. Catch the action in person at Hickory Motor Speedway or on RacingAmerica.com at 4:00 PM.







*Photos by Sharon Perry*