Griffith Goes from Last to First for PASS Win at WMMP
N. Woodstock, NH – Hudson’s Derek Griffith went from the outhouse to the penthouse in less than an hour to score his fifth Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model win of the season at White Mountain Motorsports Park on Saturday, September 21. Griffith took the lead from six-time PASS North Champion Johnny Clark of Hallowell, ME on a restart with 11 laps remaining in the PASS 150 and sped off to his second victory in six days.
The victory capped off a “worst-to-first” drive for Griffith through the stout field. Griffith was caught up in a multi-car pile-up on just the second lap of the race and headed pit-side during the resulting caution. He returned at the rear of the field and then drove through the pack for the win.
Clark had dominated the event from the pole as he hunted for his first win in three years. The veteran led the first 46 laps before surrendering the top spot to Waterford, CT’s Dillon Moltz, who had charged to the front from ninth in the 25-car starting field. Moltz pulled away in the middle stages after getting inside Clark while Griffith steadily battled his way through the pack.
Griffith was back up to sixth when the fifth caution flew on lap 88 after Trevor Sanborn came to halt with a flat tire. Clark got the jump over Moltz on the restart to regain the lead while Griffith sliced his way to the third spot.
A three-car battle ensued for the lead before Clark started to pull away. Griffith eventually moved around Moltz for the second spot on lap 117 and set to work reeling in Clark. The Hudson native was right on Clark’s bumper when Reid Lanphear blew a right-front tire and pounded the turn-one wall to bring out the sixth caution on with 13 laps to go.
Griffith pulled a crossover move on Clark one lap after the restart, but Clark was still just ahead of him when Michael Scorzelli spun to bring out the seven and final caution. When the green flag flew for the final time with 11 laps to go, Griffith overpowered Clark on the outside, taking the lead for the first time all night and never giving it up.
Clark settled for second with Moltz taking third. Ray Christian III finished fourth after starting shotgun on the field. Gabe Brown, Corey Bubar, Wayne Helliwell Jr., Ben Rowe, Jeremy Davis, and Mike Rowe rounded out the top-10. Point leader D.J. Shaw sustained heavy damage in a lap-8 crash and ended up 17th. The result allowed Griffith to close within three points of Shaw in the championship chase.
Lebanon, ME’s Mike Carignan sped to his second win of the season in the PASS Modifieds. Carignan started fifth in the 40-lap feature and was already up second when point leader Spencer Morse spun on lap seven to bring out the second caution. He then got the jump over Matty Sanborn on the restart and survived one more yellow just past the halfway mark to collect the victory.
Conway’s Mark Lundblad finished second in his first PASS Modified start of the season while Lovell, ME’s Kate Re took third. Veteran Bill Dixon of North Waterboro, ME came home fourth. Waterford, ME’s Morse recovered to come in fifth and maintain his point lead. Tyler King, Zack Bowie, Ryan Nelson, Sanborn, and Colby Benjamin completed the top-10.
South Paris, ME’s Skip Tripp went flag-to-flag for the win in the Honey Badger Bar & Grill Street Stock Series. Tripp earned the pole in qualifying for the 50-lap feature and ran away from the field after two early caution flags. Leeds, ME’s Billy Childs began closing on Tripp in the late stages, but the charge came too late as Tripp sped to the victory.
Oxford, ME’s Kyle Hewins held off a snarling pack of Street Stocks to claim the final spot on the podium. Shawn Knight, Dan Brown, Jordan Russell, Cody Webster, Cam Huntress, Michael Haynes, and Skip Stanley also earned top-10 finishes.
Graniteville, VT’s Stephen Donahue took his first Foley Oil & Propane Late Model win of the season in their make-up feature from September 7. Donahue steadily ran down Lyndonville, VT’s Scott Corey over the first half of the 50-lap event and finally wrestled the lead away from him on lap 27. Four cautions then came out between laps 30 and 38, but Donahue held onto the top spot each time and then ran away down the stretch.
South Barre, VT’s Mike Bailey held off Groveton’s Quinny Welch for second. Welch’s third-place finish put the final notch in his “King of the Mountains” campaign as he was crowned the 2019 Late Model champion. Jerry Lesage, Stacy Cahoon, Scott Corey, Christian Laflamme, Oren Remick, Matthew Morrill, and Matt Anderson finished fourth through 10th.
Easton’s Jason Wyman earned the biggest 7-Eleven Dwarf Car win of the season by pocketing $500 in the Dwarf Car Special. Wyman ran in the top-three for much of the 30-lap feature before making his move on St. Johnsbury, VT’s Colby Bourgeois. As the field approached the two-to-go signal, Wyman swung around Bourgeois and edged him out at the checkered flag.
Gilmanton’s Tommy Smithers finished third. Norm Forest and Keith Normand rounded out the top-five.
White Mountain Motorsports Park wraps up the 2019 racing season on Saturday, October 5 at 1:00pm. The afternoon includes the $3,000-to-win Rusty’s Towing and Recovery Enduro 200, the $1,500-to-win Four Cylinder Nationals for the North East Mini Stock Tour, and $500-to-win special for the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Mini’s. Admission is $15 for adults and free for kids ages 12 and under.
For more information, contact the White Mountain Motorsports Park offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.whitemountainmotorsports.com. You can also follow us on Facebook at @WhiteMtnMotorsports.
PASS 150
OFFICIAL RESULTS
PASS SUPER LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps
1. Derek Griffith (12G) Hudson, NH, 150 Laps
2. Johnny Clark (54) Hallowell, ME, 150 Laps
3. Dillon Moltz (5M) Waterford, CT, 150 Laps
4. Ray Christian III (93CT) Uncasville, VT, 150 Laps
5. Gabe Brown (47) Center Conway, NH, 150 Laps
6. Corey Bubar (12) Windham, ME, 150 Laps
7. Wayne Helliwell (27) Dover, NH, 150 Laps
8. Ben Rowe (4) Turner, ME 150 Laps
9. Jeremy Davis (09) Tamworth, NH, 150 Laps
10. Mike Rowe (24) Turner, ME, 150 Laps
11. David Oliver (21), Standish, ME, 149 Laps
12. Bobby Therrien (5X), Hinesburg, VT, 149 Laps
13. Andy Saunders (80) Ellsworth, ME, 148 Laps
14. John Salemi (63) Nashua, NH, 147 Laps
15. Michael Scorzelli (18) Feura Bush, NY, 145 Laps
16. Reid Lanpher (59) Manchester, ME, 135 Laps
17. D.J. Shaw (60) Center Conway, NH, 127 Laps
18. Calvin Rose Jr. (8) Turner, ME, 113 Laps
19. Austin Teras (29X) Gray, ME, 98 Laps
20. Evan Hallstrom (1VT) Northfield, VT, 88 Laps
21. Trevor Sanborn (29) E Parsonsfield, ME, 87 Laps
22. Travis Benjamin (7), Morrill, ME, 32 Laps
23. Weston Griffith Jr. (33) Crown Point, IN, 32 Laps
24. Gary Smith (75) Bangor, ME, 30 Laps
25. Billy Rodgers (53) Old Orchard Beach, ME, 2 Laps
PASS MODIFIEDS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Mike Carignan (21) Lebanon, ME
2. Mark Lundblad (28) Conway, NH
3. Kate Re (10) Lovell, ME
4. Bill Dixon (33) North Waterboro, ME
5. Spencer Morse (34) Waterford, ME
6. Tyler King (11) Gray, ME
7. Zack Bowie (00) Poland, ME
8. Ryan Nelson (13) Oxford, ME
9. Matty Sanborn (64) Windham, ME
10. Colby Benjamin (52) Belmont, ME
11. Tyler Stygles (50) Bradford, ME
12. Jairet Harrison (85) Freeport, ME
13. Spencer Vaughn (7) Canton, ME
14. Randy Sanborn (2) W. Baldwin, ME
HONEY BADGER BAR & GRILL STREET STOCK SERIES
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Skip Tripp (21) South Paris, ME
2. Billy Childs (1) Leeds, ME
3. Kyle Hewins (51) Oxford, ME
4. Shawn Knight (25) South Paris, ME
5. Dan Brown (83) Turner, ME
6. Jordan Russell (4) Norway, ME
7. Cody Webster (96) Standish, ME
8. Cam Huntress (27X) Rochester, NH
9. Michael Haynes (67) Livermore Falls, ME
10. Skip Stanley (64) Oxford, ME
11. George Haskell (99) Casco, ME
12. Matt Theriault (03) Lewiston, ME
13. Brian Dolloff Jr. (6) Jay, ME
14. Brian Caswell (47) Waterboro, ME
15. Matt Gain (61X) Limington, ME
16. Matt Dufault (61) Turner, ME
FOLEY OIL & PROPANE LATE MODELS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Stephen Donahue ( 2vt ) Graniteville, VT
2. Mike Bailey ( 1me ) S. Barre, VT
3. Quinten Welch ( 78nh ) Groveton, NH
4. Jerry Lesage ( 74vt ) Winooski, VT
5. Stacy Cahoon ( 83vt ) St. Johnsbury, VT
6. Scott Corey ( 22nh ) Lyndonville, VT
7. Christian Laflamme ( 10me ) Whitfield, NH
8. Oren Remick ( 21nh ) Monroe, NH
9. Matthew Morrill ( 9nh ) Moultonborough, NH
10. Matt Anderson ( 49nh ) Franklin, NH
11. Jon Savage ( 78vt ) Whitfield, NH
12. Ricky Roberts ( 3vt ) Washington, VT
13. Allie Menard ( 06nh ) Dorchester, NH
14. David LaBrecque ( 57nh ) Thornton, NH
7-ELEVEN DWARF CAR SPECIAL
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Jason Wyman ( 88 ) Easton, NH
2. Colby Bourgeois ( 33 ) St. Johnsbury, VT
3. Tommy Smithers ( 60 ) Gilmanton, NH
4. Norman Forest ( 01 ) Dunbarton, NH
5. Keith Normand ( 8 ) Groveton, NH
6. Cody Wyman ( 00 ) Bath, NH
7. Chad Dufour ( 52 ) Littleton, NH
8. Bobby Brown ( 27 ) Lincoln, NH
