Capital City Clash to be One for the Ages
¼-Mile Bullring could produce the best racing of the PASS South season
NAPLES, ME (June 18, 2008) – Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina, but something about that is about to change. While the state buildings will remain intact, on Friday, June 20th, Raleigh will transform into the capital of Super Late Model racing in the South when the Pro All Stars Series South tour heads into Wake County Speedway.
The stars of the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South will invade the ¼-mile track and go toe-to-toe with the track’s regular competitors in the “Capital City Clash,” 150 lap event. Wake County is the only track in North Carolina that still runs a weekly Super Late Model program.
Alex Fleming is the 2007 Super Late Model track champion at Wake County and is also a regular on the PASS South circuit. The 19-year-old will certainly be a fan favorite on Friday night, as well as a threat to win the inaugural series visit to the track.
“This is going to be one for the fans to remember,” said Fleming, of Raleigh, NC. “It’s a quarter-mile track, and when you put 20-plus Super Late Models out there it will be a whale of a show. Everyone I have talked to knows that this is going to be one of the best shows to watch this year on the East Coast.
“We are counting on this race to turn our season around. We have yet to finish a race because of a lot of unforeseen circumstances and we know this is our best shot. I grew up five minutes from the track, so I know all the ins and outs of the place. I will have an advantage for a while, because it takes teams a little while to get used to the track when they come in for the first time. All these teams will catch on quick; I just hope there is something that I know about the place that they will not pick up on and that will be my advantage. Everybody around town thinks we are the car to beat; we have a little bit of a leg up just because of the seat time, but all the good teams will be just as good as they always are.”
The 150 green flag lap show will attract a lot of big names to Wake County Speedway. Currently, several NASCAR-related teams compete in PASS South, including Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch, NASCAR on SPEED commentator Bob Dillner, and Craftsman Truck Series crew chief Richie Wauters. Each of their drivers is expected to be at Wake County this weekend.
“It will be awesome to see the local guys compete against the outsiders that come in with the PASS South series. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against the big teams like (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver) Kyle Busch’s team with Alex Haase. The local guys have the knowledge, but the big teams have the money to make them go fast.”
Current PASS South point leader Corey Williams, who works for former NASCAR Busch Series winner Andy Santerre, leads the pack into the smallest track the tour will compete on this year.
“I’ve heard it’s a pretty tight place,” said Williams, who won the season-opening Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway in March. “I think it will be fun, and it’ll be a great race for the fans. I’m used to running the little bullrings from up in New England, so I’m hoping that helps.”
Williams competed in the PASS North circuit before moving south to try to advance his racing career. He has been one of the hottest Super Late Model drivers in the country over the past year and is looking forward to the fender-to-fender action.
“We’ve been to places like Halifax, Nova Scotia, and that’s a tight, little place, so I think running those type of tracks will be a little bit of an advantage,” added Williams, who is from Boothbay Harbor, ME. “We haven’t tested there yet, so we are trying to go there with an open-mind.
“I know guys like Alex Fleming, who races there weekly, is going to do pretty well. They have the upper-hand at what they need to do to finish the race, and that will be tough to beat. We just want to be there at the end.”
The Wake County Speedway pit gates will open at 1:00 pm on Friday, June 20th, with practice commencing at 3:00pm. Qualifying is slated for 7:00 pm with racing action, including two local support divisions, going green at 8:00 pm.