(Naples, ME – September 23, 2007) Where to begin. There were so many story lines on the biggest day of the PASS 400 Weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
The young guns were out in force for the DJ Equipment 300 PASS North Super Late Models with 16 year-old D J Shaw on the pole in the #60 and a slightly older Mike Fowler in the 66X on the outside as the 33 car field took the green. The first three cars on the outside row were all PASS Outlaw competitors with Donnie Lashua’s #21 and Jay Sands in the #36 lined up behind Fowler.
Another of the young guns, 16 year-old Derek Ramstrom in the #35, who started 31st, saw his day get off to a bad start as a tire problem on lap 3 saw him around in turn one and going a lap down. On the plus side, he had 297 laps to make it up.
On lap 20, Joey Porciello in the #04 started to fall back with the beginnings of engine troubles that plagued him all day. At the 30 lap mark, it was young Shaw escorted by his dad Dale in the #23, a fast charging #47 of Kelly Moore, Fowler, and Ben Rowe’s #4.
Kelly Moore took the lead on lap 47 with Ben following him through, and at the 50 lap mark it was Moore, Ben Rowe, DJ, Dad, Mike Rowe, Fowler, and another young gun in 19 year-old Adam Bates in the #98.
After a quick caution on lap 57, Ben and Mike Rowe took the top two spots, with Moore falling briefly to third, but by lap 74 Kelly had the #47 back in the groove and he took the lead again with Ben Rowe next. The #47 was not great on the restarts, but after several laps he was flying. On lap 80, Fowler had a flat right front under green, ending a promising day.
Cassius Clark in the #8 arrived in the top five before the 90 lap mark from his 20th-place start and was going to be a presence for the rest of the day. At the 100 lap mark, it was Ben, Cassius, Kelly, and the two youngsters Bates and Shaw in the top five.
Cassius took the lead on lap 116, but Kelly took it back on lap 120 as the leaders swapped the lead several times. A caution on lap #138 for a single car spin lead to a round of pit stops that juggled the top runners, and at the 150 lap mark it was Mike Rowe, Ben, DJ, Travis Benjamin in the #17, Cassius, Kirk Thibeau in the #28, Johnny Clark in the #54, and the 2007 Beech Ridge Pro Stock Champion Bub Bilodeau in the #9.
Kelly Moore made his way back to the front and took the lead again on lap 176, but 20 laps later his day came to end when he got caught in a turn one tangle not of his making with the #17 of Travis Benjamin, the #33 of Richie Dearborn who had made his way from 29th on the grid, and Johnny Clark who was an unwilling participant. Both Moore and Clark were done for the day with major damage, but the others were able to continue.
It took him almost 200 laps, but Derek Ramstrom was the recipient of the lucky dog after working his way into the top ten runners from the back after the lap three troubles. He refueled, changed tires and was back on the lead lap.
With the race two thirds done, it was Benjamin, Steve Berry in the #15, Mike Rowe, and John Flemming from Halifax, NS in the #97 the top five. On lap 209, Mike powered past Berry for the lead but this twosome was not done yet.
With 50 to go, it was Mike, Berry, Benjamin, Alan Wilson – in his #53 Outlaw car – Cassius Clark, and Ramstrom who had passed a ton of cars after the pit stop and was solidly in the top ten, with Scott Chubbuck in the #77 and Dearborn’s #33 next.
On lap 259, Porciello’s engine finally gave it up as he slowed in turn one. On the restart, Berry took the lead from Mike but Mike fought back and retook the lead a few laps later.
Rowe and Berry ran side by side for several laps with one or the other being the leader at the line as the race wound down. Berry lost a tire in turn four on lap 280 after side-to-side contact with Rowe ending what was a great showing by this up and coming team from Gorham, ME.
On the restart, it was the #2 of Mike, Cassius in the #8 with no power steering for over 200 laps, Wilson, and Ramstrom. On lap 288, Ramstrom went around Cassius for third.
Over the final ten laps, the fans were cheering for fan favorite and ultimate low bucker Alan Wilson in the #53 and Ramstrom in the #35 who fought his way back from a lap down early.
A final caution on lap 293 saw Dave Dion around off the bumper of Ben Rowe on the frontstretch in front of the entire crowd, and Ben being sent to the back and Dion recovering to go on.
Wilson tried Mike on the outside on the restart, but it was Mike’s day as he brought the P T Watts #2 home for the $10,000 winner’s share. Wilson and Ramstrom joined Rowe on the podium. Cassius Clark held on for fourth, Trevor Sanborn in the #29, another of the young crowd, came from 30th and ran a steady race to take fifth, Dearborn was solidly in sixth, Scott Chubbuck was seventh, Kirk Thibeau was eighth, and Rick Martin rounded out the unofficial top ten.
When the PASS Outlaw Late Models took the track for the Norway Savings Bank 100 lap tussle, up from the scheduled 75 lap race, it was the first the fans heard of the added 25 laps and they responded with cheers. The race got off to a stop and go start as the #2 of Charlie Colby was sent to the back for a false start when he went and polesitter J. R Baril in the #58 didn’t. On the restart Baril went out quickly to the lead followed by Joe Decker in the #01, but Baril’s time out front didn’t last long as Decker took the lead on lap seven.
Things settled down with Decker and Baril out front followed by the #44 of Jimmy Rosenfield and the #84 of Tony Ricci right behind. A series of quick spins slowed the race through the first 40 laps,
At halfway, it was still Decker, Baril, Chris Staples in the #5 up to third, Mike Fowler in the 66, followed by Rosenfield, Katie Hagar in the #14, Alan Wilson in the #53, and Walt Hammond in the #97. After a caution on lap 51, Baril took off again as he had a great car on restarts, and Ricci went by Decker for second.
Baril and Ricci swapped the lead with Decker always right there over the next twenty laps with out any one getting more than car length ahead. On lap 75, it was Baril, Ricci, Decker, Rosenfield, Staples, and Wilson.
On lap 95, Baril again took off on the restart, but this time Ricci was right there as the two went at it over the final five laps. As they came to the checkers, Ricci made one last move to the outside, but Baril held him off for the win by a few feet, with Decker, Staples, and Rosenfield right behind.
The PASS Pullen Sportsman were next up for their 100 lap feature. The cousins – Dan McKeage in the #38 and Mike Landry in the #40 – shared the top spot over the first 20 laps as Landry’s car just wouldn’t go for several laps, but then he would be right there with McKeage for the lead. The family affair went on until Terry Merrill in the #36 got by Landry for second on lap 25, and Merrill took the lead on a lap 46 restart.
Just after the halfway mark Landry’s car came to life as it did on the long runs and took the lead on the outside of Merrill on lap 53, and Shane Tatro’s 7 moved up to third n lap 58 with the #48 of Jerry Harrison making his first appearance at the front of the field.
Landry started to stretch out his lead as traffic held up the next four cars, but a blown engine in the #24 of Marty Adamson lap 84 oiled down turn three and brought the field back together.
On the restart, it was Landry again falling back as Merrill took the point, but with ten to go Landry was back up to speed and challenging Merrill for the lead. At lap 92, Landry went by Merrill and made it to the checkers before another caution would ruin his day. However, post race tech did ruin Landry’s day and Merrill was credited with the win. Followed by Tatro, McKeage, Harrison, Chris warming in the #5W, Nate Weston in the #47, Kurt Hewins in the #55, Sally Gherardi in the #77, and Jeff Cannell in the #26.
The PASS Modifieds were next up for the Price-Rite Fuel 50 lap feature. The #01 of Ron Gooden, Jr and the #66 of Tim Churchill brought the 18 car field to the green. A scary pile up in turn three brought out the caution as the #6 of Troy Morse and the #85 ended up off tune three with Morse getting some air before landing on all four wheels.
On lap 12, Chris Smith in the #1 used his local knowledge of the Beech Ridge track to take the lead with Jason Taylor in the #8 right behind. At halfway, it was still Smith, Taylor, with the #33 of Bill Dixon, the #34 of Richie Morse, and the #29 of Greg Ellis fifth in his rest run of the year.
From there on it was Smith all the way to the checkers for the rookie win, with Taylor next, Tom Oliver in the #63, Chris Staples #5, and Ellis fifth.