Mainer Wins One Major Event, Enters Another
CONCORD, NC (November 29, 2006) – Cassius Clark was supposed to end his racing season with last weekend’s Mason-Dixon Meltdown at South Boston Speedway (VA). In fact, if he had finished in any one of 31 other positions at the conclusion of the 250-lap race, he’d be up in Maine getting ready for Ice Fishing or Snowmobiling season there instead.
“That was the deal and it happened,” said Clark, who did his part and won the inaugural Super Late Model event.”
The team’s decision was made easier when Five Flags Speedway and Snowball Derby officials announced that the Mason-Dixon Meltdown winner would be awarded a set of four Hoosier Tires and a free entry for the 2006 Snowball Derby.
And since Clark had always wanted to race in the Derby, taking that offer was a no-brainer for him.
“I went down there the year that Ricky Turner won (in 2002), and after that I always wanted to go down there and race in it,” said Clark. “But it’s a long ways away, and it takes a lot of money to run there. Now we’ve got all of our ducks in a row, so we’re going to do it.”
The addition of an extra race made things a little bit challenging for Clark and his team. Instead of borrowing shop space along the road between Virginia and Florida, they towed 15 hours back to their own race shop in Maine on Sunday after the Meltdown. On Wednesday, they’ll make another long trip.
“We’re working on the car right now and plan to leave tomorrow [Wednesday] morning. We wanted to bring the car back to Maine and go through it up here. It means for a little bit of extra driving, but as long as they have a place for us to park when we get there, it will be alright.”
The team is used to juggling things with success. They used one car for the entire PASS South season and only have one engine ready to go. Exactly what they won with at the Mason-Dixon Meltdown is exactly what they are racing at the Snowball Derby.
“It’s hard, but we’ve been doing it all year long with races on back-to-back weekends. Normally we don’t have to drive 26 hours to get to the track, though.”
Even with all of the work this week, Clark has found a few moments to enjoy his victory. But he won’t spend too much time reveling in it either. He’s ready for the Snowball Derby.
“It’s starting to sink in now. It was nice to go to a track that we had never seen before, set fast time and win the race against some of the best drivers in the country.
“But that race is history. This week, we’re going to one of the biggest short track races in the country again, and we need to be prepared for that. The Meltdown win helps to boost our confidence. So does the whole year that we had [with five PASS North victories]. We’re hoping to do well again this weekend.”
The Snowball Derby features three days of practice and preliminary events that lead up to a 200-lap feature on Sunday, December 3rd. The race will go green at 2:00pm CT.