NAPLES, Maine – After a well-earned week off, the Pro All Stars Series North super late models return to action this Saturday night at New Hampshire’s Star Speedway.
The tight quarter-mile, located in the Granite State, made its name by hosting supermodifieds. This weekend it will be the PASS super late models headlining in the Little Webb’s Tire & Fuel 150.
The start to the season has been one of the most competitive ever in PASS history. To start the season, five different drivers have taken checkered flags at tracks located from Maine to North Carolina. Of those five drivers, only the Thompson winner, D.J. Shaw, has won a championship in PASS super late model competition.
Hailing from nearby Center Conway, N.H., Shaw’s early season win sees him leading the PASS North standings by 11 points over Oxford Plains winner Garrett Hall. Two other New Hampshire drivers, Derek Griffith and Gabe Brown, are within 20 markers of the points leader. With Star being a track that Shaw has referred to as one of his weakest, the opportunity to gain on the championship leader is there for his competitors.
With the exception of 2013, PASS has competed every year at Star Speedway since 2011, and actually started racing there with the series inception in 2001. Ralph Nason was the winner of that first PASS event at Star and since then, 11 different drivers have taken the checkered flag there, making Star a wildcard this weekend based on its unpredictable past. Former champions Mike and Ben Rowe, Shaw, Johnny Clark and Travis Benjamin have all managed to win at Star in years past.
Several drivers will join some of those former champions at Star Speedway on Saturday afternoon, including Granite State residents Derek Griffith, Gabe Brown, Joey Polewarcyzk, Bryan Kruzcek, Jimmy Renfrew Jr. and Dan Winter. Former Star winner Derek Ramstrom will make the tow from Massachusetts, along with PASS National Championship contender Jake Johnson.
Joining Clark, Ben Rowe and Hall from Maine will be Scott Chubbuck and Reid Lanpher. Cory Casagrande will be coming up from Connecticut, while Vermonters Nick Sweet and Bobby Therrien will also be seeking out the checkered flag.
All the action gets under way on Saturday at Star Speedway with rotating practice for all competing divisions beginning at 1 p.m. Heat races are slated to begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by Little Webb’s Tire & Fuel 150 for the PASS North super late models, along with 350 Super Modifieds, Six Shooters, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks.