Joey Doiron: PASS North Series
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
PASS North Series newcomer Joey Doiron of Berwick, Maine, begins his charge to become the series 2010 PASS Rookie of the Year with the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 1. The series schedule was originally slated to start last month at Speedway 95 before inclement weather intervened. Doiron — a senior at Noble High School — was the ACT Late Model Tour Rookie of the Year last season and has just two career PASS North races on his resume. Both of those attempts came at Beech Ridge, where he spent a few seasons racing in the track’s support classes on Saturday nights before advancing to touring racing.
WHO: Joey Doiron, Berwick, Maine
TEAM: JBJ Machine/Rescue Welding/Dale Shaw Race Cars No. 73 Dodge
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 20th (June 2009)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 20th (June 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 3 p.m., Saturday, May 1
PASS NORTH SERIES
LAST RACE: N/A
NEXT RACE: Saturday, May 22, White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H.
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JOEY, WHAT HAS YOU SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEKEND’S RACE AT BEECH RIDGE?
I’ll tell you — it was how competitive we were last year and the way we were running when we ran out of gas late in the race there. It’s where I grew up going to watch, and it’s kind of like going back to where I grew up, which is pretty neat.
I like the backstretch wall at Beech Ridge, even though a lot of people hate it. I didn’t really care for Oxford because people can run up against the dirt — but at Beech Ridge you can’t do that, because if you try that move you’ll run into the wall and wreck.
It’s the kind of track where you can run right around the speed bumps (in the inside lane) or you can run up in the second groove. Before the PASS race last year in June, I was a bottom feeder. Then I watched Ben (Rowe) blow my doors off on the outisde, so I moved up and followed him and was able to go around cars.
IT MUST BE A GOOD FEELING OPENING THE SEASON AT A TRACK WHERE YOU HAVE A CERTAIN COMFORT LEVEL.
I think anything other than a top-10 finish this weekend would be disappointing. If we don’t get wrecked, I’d be disappointed if we didn’t run in the top-10. I honestly believe that if we get some luck, we can definitely be a top-3 car even.
When we were going to start the season at Speedway 95 (before an April rainout), I was 75 percent confident. But going to Beech Ridge to start the year, I’m like 95 percent. I’d much rather start at Beech Ridge and White Mountain Motorsports Park than go to Speedway 95 or Unity Raceway or someplace else that I’ve never been. I just don’t know the tracks there, so I have no expectations.
At Beech Ridge, we could go in and we know we might have a top-5 car. That’s a great feeling.
ARE YOU ANXIOUS TO GET YOUR ROOKIE SEASON STARTED?
We went to White Mountain last week to test with Dale Shaw, and we really found a good baseline setup to go (to Beech Ridge) with. We were pretty much running what D.J. (Shaw) ran for times, and he was probably the quickest one up there that day.
I definitely think we can probably get up to like sixth or seventh in the standings at the end of the year. I consider that to be something that’s doable, especially if we run like we expect to at places like Beech Ridge and White Mountain where I have some experience already.
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