Johnny Clark: PASS North Series
White Mountain Motorsports Park Race Preview
4-time PASS North Series champion Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, looks to bounce back in the PASS 150 at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., on Saturday, May 22. Clark, who is attempting to become the first driver to win three straight PASS titles, finished 6th in the season-opener at Beech Ridge. He’s never won at the high-banked quarter-mile White Mountain track despite finishing second there on numerous occasions — making it just one of two tracks on the schedule where he’s never won a Super Late Model race. Last season, Clark locked up the 2009 PASS North championship with a 5th-place finish at White Mountain.
WHO: Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, Maine
TEAM: Clark’s Car Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER WHITE MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS PARK FINISH: 2nd (several times; most recently: September 2008)
LAST RACE AT WHITE MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS PARK: 5th (September 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 150
WHERE: White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (.25-mile oval)
WHEN: 4 p.m., Saturday, May 22
PASS NORTH SERIES
LAST RACE: Saturday, May 1, PASS 150, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (6th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: Saturday, June 12, Speedway 660, Fredericton, New Brunswick
POINTS POSITION: 5th
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JOHNNY, YOU MAKE NO SECRET ABOUT THE FACT THAT THIS IS NOT ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE TRACKS. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS WEEKEND?
We’re not giving up, that’s for sure. We’re going with something a little different setup-wise, something similar to what we’ve done before but think we’ve been just a little off with.
There’s no track we go to that’s that small and that fast for as small as it is. It’s extremely high-banked. A place like Thompson (Conn.) is high-banked, too, but White Mountain’s still just a quarter-mile. But it’s fast for a quarter-mile.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE LONG DAY AT BEECH RIDGE EARLIER THIS MONTH TO OPEN THE SEASON?
I was really hoping we were going to find some things when we got back that we could put a finger on for why we were so off at Beech Ridge. But, when you think about it, it tells you a lot about this team — how many other teams would be as disappointed as we were with a 6th-place finish? It was just kind of a typical day there for us.
I know that I’d take a win at White Mountain any way possible. I don’t care if at end of the day I didn’t have a car that was the fastest car out there. I just want to win there, period.
WHAT’S THE KEY TO SUCCESS AT WHITE MOUNTAIN?
I can tell you more about what won’t work at White Mountain than what will work at White Mountain.
The car’s got to turn in the middle of the corner. If the car doesn’t turn, you’re going to push up in the middle and never get any traction going down the straightway. If you miss that corner, it’s going to mess up your whole lap, and it will probably take you another lap or two just to get back in your rhythm.