Naples ME (10/3/2009) – Ryan Blaney will need to bring a note to school on Thursday October 15th. He needs to be excused from class on Friday, but he’s not going to the dentist’s office or on a family vacation. On Friday October 16th he will be at “SoBo”, Virginia’s famed South Boston Speedway to prepare for Saturdays Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South portion of the Mason-Dixon Meltdown, a 250 lap super late model feature that brings together the top guns of super late model racing every fall.
The racing teenager sits second in the PASS South standings, trailing series point leader Ben Rowe by 56 markers in the chase for the title. His statistics are impressive; in twelve starts, Blaney has four top five and eleven top ten finishes, two pole awards, and 87 laps led. Those are impressive numbers, even for a young man that comes from a family of champions on both dirt and asphalt.
Blaney’s got one stat that he wants to change at South Boston, and that’s the goose egg in his PASS win column. His results show that he’s been out front and he’s been close to the top of the podium. A pair of third place finishes at Dillon and Orange County is his best to date, certainly nothing to sneeze at in a series so deep in talent. But, he’s won in every form of racing he’s attempted and he’s got the talent and team to make it to the top of the heap. He’s a rookie in the high horsepower super late model machines and his remarkable consistency has given him the kind of track time he needs to make his way to victory lane. Blaney knows that sitting in the pits watching with a wrecked race car does nothing for his learning curve, or for the respect he needs to race side by side with veterans like Ben Rowe, Jay Fogelman, and Preston Peltier.
Blaney and his team have two more shots at Pro All Stars victory lane, the Mason-Dixon Meltdown Saturday October 16th at South Boston and the PASS season finale, The Howler at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Don’t count the young racer out at either venue. Ryan Blaney is a winner, from a family of winners. There’s little question that this talented racer will continue to carry on that tradition.
The engines will roar to life at South Boston Speedway on Friday, October 16 and Saturday Oct. 17. Highlighting the weekend’s activities will be a 250-lap race for Blaney and the touring PASS Super Late Model competitors. The PASS race is round four of the four race PASS National Championship Series, where Ben Rowe leads the title chase over Mark Gibson and Blaney. The weekend also features 250 laps for the region’s best NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock Car Division competitors
Practice for both divisions will be held on Friday, October 16, from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM. Grandstand gates will open at 3:00 PM on Friday October 16 and will be followed by time trials for both races at 4:00 PM.
The Grandstand gates swing open on Saturday October 17 at 11:00 AM. A NASCAR Late Model last chance 50-lap race will get the green flag at noon and will be followed by a Fan Appreciation Session on the four-tenths mile asphalt oval. The first feature race of the day will get the green flag at 3:00 PM.
Check out the track’s website for the complete schedule of events at www.southbostonspeedway.com . Visit the Pro All Stars Series on line at www.racewithpass.com or www.proallstarsseries.com .