by Jay | Jan 6, 2010 | PASS
NAPLES ME (January 6, 2010) The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models will race five times to determine the 2010 PASS National Champion.
The expanded National Championship schedule will include three new National Championship venues. PASS Florida Winter Fest will get the season underway January 29 and 30 at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway with a 150 lap event that marks the first PASS sanctioned event in the sunshine state. The popular Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory (NC) Motor Speedway on April 2nd and 3rd has been designated as stop number two on the National Championship trail.
July will see one of two northern swings with a July 22nd “Thursday Night Special” at Thompson (CT) International Speedway. September 11th and 12th are the dates for the PASS 300 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough Maine. The 2010 PASS National Champion will be crowned October 16th at the Mason – Dixon Meltdown’s new home on the ultra fast high banks of at Newport (TN) Speedway.
In addition to being designated as National Championship events, Hickory and Newport will award PASS South Championship points while Thompson and Beech Ridge will count toward the PASS North title tally.
Turner Maine’s Ben Rowe is the defending PASS National Champion; Cassius Clark of Farmington Maine earned the inaugural National title. 79 super late model racers earned PASS National Championship points in 2009.
Keep tabs on all the latest PASS news at www.proallstarsseries.com .
2010 Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model National Championship Events
Date(s) Location Event Distance
1-29/30 New Smyrna (FL) Speedway PASS Florida Winter Fest 150 laps
4-2/3 Hickory (NC) Motor Speedway The Easter Bunny 150 laps
7/22 Thompson (CT) Int’l Speedway 75 laps
9-11/12 Beech Ridge (ME) Motor Speedway PASS 300 300 laps
10-15/16 Newport (TN) Speedway Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200 laps
Schedule Subject to Change
by Jay | Jan 6, 2010 | ACT, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Waterbury, VT – The American Canadian Tour (ACT) has announced that the total point fund awards for the 2009 season will total over $85,000. The annual Banquet of Champions will be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in So. Burlington, VT on January 16, 2010.
The ACT TOUR will honor the 2009 Championship team of Brian Hoar and owner/crew chief Rick Paya, who also owns RPM Engines in Georgia, VT. Hoar will celebrate his sixth American Canadian Tour title, and car owner, Rick Paya, will also celebrate his sixth ACT title, having won previous titles as crew chief and then owner of the only seven-time ACT winner in its 25-year history, Jean-Paul Cyr. The RPM team will receive $10,000 first place point money at the annual festivities for their efforts during the 2009 thirteen (13) race campaign.
“This past year was a whole lot of fun for RPM racing. We kind of struggled at the beginning of the season, but most of that was trying to figure out what each of us (Hoar and Paya) needed to be successful,” said Rick Paya. “Working with Brian was great, especially after we got things sorted out over the initial few weeks. We kind of entered the deal hoping to get immediate results, but I think our team is better off having to go through the learning curve we experienced. We really are excited about being together for next season, and winning the 25th anniversary title of ACT would be pretty meaningful for Brian and our entire team,” concluded Paya. Both Paya and Hoar have been supporters of the ACT Late Model program since its inception in 1992.
The Thunder Road “King of the Road” title chase was another blending of veteran teams. Ironically, Jean Cyr, who won all those championships with Paya, joined the most storied crew chief of the decade at Thunder Road, Jeff Laquerre, from Barre, VT. Laquerre and his veteran father, Joey Laquerre put together a new team with the sole purpose of winning the 50th anniversary title at Thunder Road. Jeff Laquerre led the Tracie Bellerose championship chase in 2000. She was the first female to win a major division title. Laquerre followed that up with Thunder Road titles for Cris Michaud in 2004 and 2005. The Laquerre-Cyr team took a few weeks to get things sorted out, but in the end they held off Michaud, Phil Scott and David Pembroke to win the coveted 2009 title. The team will receive $5,000 in point fund money for the championship win. Total money awarded to the Thunder Road competitors in three divisions will exceed $20,000.
Previously, in November, 2009, the ACT Castrol Series awarded over $30,000 in point fund money to those that competed in the 2009 nine (9) ACT Castrol Série.
The Banquet of Champions will award trophies, prize money, and special awards to an expected crowd of 500 teams and fans. Announcements regarding the 25th anniversary season of the American Canadian Tour, along with the prestigious awarding of the annual MacTavish Award, Doc Nielsen Award, and many other special recognitions will highlight the evening’s activities. Tickets are still available by calling the ACT office at 802-244-6963.
The 2010 ACT and Thunder Road seasons will offer Late Model teams in the region over $800,000 in various purse and prizes beginning with the opening event at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH on Sunday, April 18th, the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150.
by Jay | Jan 5, 2010 | Maine
Three Maine Tracks, One Maine Champion
Spud Speedway in Caribou, Speedway 95 in Bangor and The Wiscasset Raceway are working together in 2010 to help build the Maine Racing Alliance. All three tracks have one common goal, to establish Late Model Sportsmen racing in Maine under one set of rules. Doug White, owner of The Wiscasset Raceway says, “It will take several years of working together to fully realize the goals of the Maine Racing Alliance. Our Maine Late Model Sportsmen Championship Racing series for 2010 is a great start!” The Maine Racing Alliance is hoping that more tracks get involved and join Spud, Speedway 95 and Wiscasset in creating a Maine division of racing with a statewide rules package.
There are three races planned for 2010. All three races will be 100 laps with a posted purse to be announced. The competitors will receive points at each race which will make them eligible for a points fund which will crown a Maine Late Model Sportsman Champion in September 2010. Mr. John Linnehan of the Gospel in Trenton, Maine will again be an associate sponsor of the Late Model Sportsmen Series. Mr. Linnehan will be giving out over $1000 in cash prizes at each race! Please join us in supporting Maine racing in 2010 at one of these exciting events:
The Late Model Sportsmen Championship Series 2010
* Sunday, July 25th , 2pm at Wiscasset Raceway
* Saturday, September 11th, at Speedway 95 in Bangor
* Championship Saturday, September 25th, at Spud Speedway in Caribou
This will be a very exciting series for Maine racers and fans alike! The Maine Racing Alliance is currently seeking sponsors for the 2010 series. For more information please contact any of the three tracks.
by Jay | Jan 5, 2010 | Canada, Maine, New England, PASS
FARMINGDALE, Maine — Johnny Clark is getting an early start on the 2010 PASS North Series season.
Clark, a 4-time PASS North champion, was among the first three drivers to register with the sanctioning body for the upcoming season as he seeks to become the first driver to win five championships in the PASS North Super Late Model ranks.
“There’s no reason to believe we can’t contend for a fifth championship,” said Clark, who won back-to-back series championships in 2008-2009. “The same team is coming back, with (crew chief Robert Green) heading it up. I think it’s going to be a great year for us.”
That year kicks off this coming weekend, Jan. 8-10, at the Northeast Motorsports Expo at the Augusta Civic Center, just a few miles down the road from Clark’s Farmingdale home. Clark will be on hand to sign autographs on Friday night and again on Saturday afternoon.
The racing season begins in earnest with the opener at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine, on April 18.
Clark has 19 career PASS North victories to rank second all-time in the series. He’d not only like to break the 20-win plateau this season, but he’d also like to snap a tie with Ben Rowe for the most career PASS championships.
Green, of Benton, Maine, will be back as crew chief on the familiar black, red and yellow No. 54 Port City/Clark’s Car Crushing Chevrolet which won three times in 2009.
“The bottom line is that he wants to win races and that’s it,” Clark said of Green. “That’s really it. He doesn’t go to the racetrack to make friends. That’s a little hard sometimes, because it even goes for our own team, but he simply wants to win races.
“You’ve got to respect that.”
The 30-year-old Clark also won championships in the 2004 and 2006 PASS North seasons, giving him three of the last four series titles. He’s one of only two PASS drivers with multiple championships and more than 15 career wins.
He hopes that the momentum from last year will continue to right through the first half of the 2010 season. Four of the first five series races will be held at tracks where Clark has visited victory lane — Speedway 95, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Speedway 660 in Geary, New Brunswick, and Unity Raceway.
But winning isn’t everything on the path to the championship, Clark said.
“You’ve got to be consistent all year,” he said. “The competition is so tough on this tour that you can’t really afford to have any bad races, especially early in the year.
“We’ll be ready, for sure.”
by Jay | Jan 2, 2010 | Maine, New England, PASS
PASS Stars Clark, Rowe, Fogleman highlight Northeast Motorsports Expo autograph sessions
Naples ME (January 1 2010) The New Year is upon us, and race fans from all over northern New England will converge on the Augusta (Maine) Civic Center next weekend for the Northeast Motorsports Expo, the traditional lid lifter to the new racing season. The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) will once again celebrate the New Year in Augusta with autograph sessions from racers in every division.
One of the many highlights of the January 8-10 event will be appearances by 2009 PASS North Super Late Model Champion Johnny Clark and 2009 PASS South and National Champion Ben Rowe. Clark is celebrating his fourth PASS North title, while Rowe now has the distinction of being the only driver to claim all three PASS super late model Championships.
A special guest will join Clark and Rowe in Augusta on Friday and Saturday. PASS South star Jay Fogleman will make the trip from Durham North Carolina to meet and greet northern super late model fans. Fogleman has more than 100 career wins to his credit and track championships at Orange County, South Boston and Ace Speedways. He’s won four times at Martinsville Speedway and has nine wins in the former Hooters ProCup series. In 2009 Fogleman finished fifth in the PASS South super late model standings with three wins, six top five and nine top ten finishes in his fourteen starts. Fogleman chased Rowe for the PASS National Championship title as well, finishing fifth.
PASS officials will be on hand throughout the weekend to answer questions; rules and schedules for all four PASS divisions will be available.
The autograph schedule:
Friday January 8 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Jay Fogleman, Ben Rowe, Johnny Clark
Saturday January 9 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Jay Fogleman
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark
Expect a number of additional drivers to join Clark, Rowe and Fogleman for the autograph sessions. Keep an eye on www.proallstarsseries.com throughout the week for more driver appearances.
Northeast Motorsports Expo gets underway Friday January 8th. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the show wraps up at 10:00 PM. On Saturday January 9th show hours are 10:00 AM – 9:00 Pm and Sunday January 10th the Expo runs from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM.
