NORTH WOODSTOCK NH (9/22) Derek Ramstrom won a restart battle with Mike Landry on lap 48 of Saturday night’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North 150 at White Mountain Motorsports Park and the young veteran stayed out front the rest of the way to capture his second PASS North Super Late Model feature win of 2012. Travis Benjamin chased Ramstrom to the line and Scott Dragon claimed the final spot on the podium. Ben Rowe had a solid day, finishing fourth, and Johnny Clark completed the top five.
The race was Ramstroms’s fifth career PASS North Super Late Model win. His first win of 2012 came at his home track, Thompson (CT) International Speedway, where he recently captured his third Super Late Model division Championship.
Two caution flags in the first two laps set the tone for a caution filled night that saw eight yellow flags fly and a red flag for a spectacular wreck by Kevin Roberge. Roberge emerged uninjured after a hung throttle sent him up the wall and almost out of the speedway in turn one.
The early race wreck had championship implications as well. Series point leader Cassius Clark took a hit in the right front corner and never was a factor. Benjamin went into the evening trailing Clark by eight markers, but his strong feature finish combined with a second in his qualifier unofficially vaults Benjamin to the top of the standings.
Gary Smith and Mike Landry captured the qualifiers and the pair led the field at the drop of the green. Lonnie Sommerville took the point on lap eighteen but Landry raced by five laps later. Landry moved from the PASS Sportsman ranks to a weekly Pro Series ride at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and he ran with the super late model top guns all night long before sliding back to sixth at the finish.
Mechanical issues took out several contenders. Joey Doiron pitted from third to try and cure a problem and he returned to action only to have his ride quit five laps later for a nineteenth place finish. Richie Dearborn returned to PASS action behind the wheel of Brad Watson’s 80 and the new pairing was strong, running up front until the car gave out, leaving him sixteenth in the final running order.
DJ Shaw looked like he might repeat his August White Mountain win. Shaw was racing second and chasing down Ramstrom when a tire puncture ruined his run. He stopped on the speedway and brought out a caution but the one lap penalty handed down by race control for an intentional yellow took him out of contention. Shaw was twelfth one lap down at the finish.
Ramstrom’s margin of victory was 1.423 seconds; eleven of the twenty-one starters completed all 150 laps. PASS newcomer Dave Pembroke laid claim to the fastest race lap, a 12.461 circuit on the quick quarter mile.
The final round of the PASS North super late model title fight moves to Oxford Plains Speedway Saturday and Sunday September 29-30. The PASS Sportsman and PASS Mods join the super late models on the Sunday card. The Oxford/PASS Fall Finale goes green Sunday at 1:30 PM.
The complete weekend schedule is available at www.proallstarsseries.com and www.oxfordplains.com. Find PASS on Facebook at Pro All Stars Series.
Unofficial Results – PASS North Super Late Model 150
White Mountain Motorsports Park – North Woodstock, NH – 9/22
1 35 Derek Ramstrom Worcester MA 2 17 Travis Benjamin Morrill ME 3 10 Scott Dragon Milton VT 4 4 Ben Rowe Turner ME 5 54 Johnny Clark Farmingdale ME 6 20 Mike Landry Oakland ME 7 48 Lonnie Sommerville NB CA 8 77 Cassius Clark Farmington ME 9 75 Gary Smith Bangor ME 10 06 Dan Colby Lyman NH 11 2 Matt Matheson Geary NB CA 12 60 DJ Shaw Center Conway NH 13 44 Dave Pembroke Middlesex VT 14 84QC Martin LaTulippe Vallee Jonction QC 15 26 John Donahue Graniteville VT 16 80 Richie Dearborn Hollis ME 17 39 Chad Dow Fairfield ME 18 53 Alan Wilson Hebron ME 19 73 Joey Doiron Berwick ME 20 16 Kevin Roberge QC 21 87 Matt Harris Fredericton NB CA