Naples, ME 7/7/09- It may have been a good thing that it was a PASS South double header this weekend, for Justin Wakefield at least. After a twenty-second place finish in race one of the double header, Friday night at Greenville-Pickens, Justin Wakefield made the statement, “I don’t know if I ever want to drive a racecar again.” Well it was a good thing he did and it was probably a good thing it was only two days later because at night’s end the thoughts he had of Greenville were nothing but a foregone conclusion as he celebrated in victory lane for the first time in 2009.
The team traveled through the night to be at Hickory first thing Saturday morning to repair the extensive damage incurred at Greenville which included putting a nose on the #98 Jubilee Conferences Ford Fusion. After renting a welder from a local store and some hardnosed work to the Ford, the team was ready to go by the first round of practice on Sunday.
“This is awesome to be able to bring home this win after how bad we were at Greenville. Everyone was down, I was down on myself, but we battled back and made it happen. I have to say thanks to everyone on this Carswell Motorsports team after working their tails off to get this car back together, without them we wouldn’t have even made it to Hickory,” stated Wakefield after the race.
Rounding out the top three were a pair of young drivers who posted career bests in super late model competition. Texas native Trey Mitchell who just two nights ago didn’t get the results to back up his impressive run at Greenville-Pickens made up for it at Hickory the hard way. Mitchell recovered from a poor qualifying effort and having to avoid several on track incidents during the race to finish second. Fourteen year old Devin Jones who finished third under the guidance of new team mentor Chase Pistone had his own issues to battle back from including front end damage that occurred during the midpoint of the race.
It may have been Mitchell and Jones who got the finishes but just like many times this year Preston Peltier was the driver to beat as he lead the most laps throughout the 150 lap event before contact with Ryan Blaney in the closing laps sent the #26 of Peltier spinning and the #10 machine of Blaney to the pits with a flat tire. Peltier was able to recover for a fourth place finish in the final five laps of racing action while Blaney wasn’t as lucky.
Point leader Ben Rowe competed in his own car after his PASS North car owner Richard Moody decided not to make the haul to all the remaining south races leaving him with many questions heading into this weekend. Rowe raced a quiet yet productive race on both nights expanding his points lead and leaving him in the top spot at the halfway point of the season.
The PASS trucks series also rolled back into action during the Independence 150 week end at the Hickory Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon. Jody Measamer claimed his first series win by inches at the finish line over series point leader Grant Davidson who won at the track earlier in the year. Trevor Hignutt making his PASS truck series debut finished third, followed by Ben Ebling in fourth, and Marty Griggs rounded out the top five. With just four races remaining in the inaugural PASS truck series season every race counts toward being crowned the first series champion. The point battle will heat up even more next race out at the Southern Sizzler weekend at the Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC on Saturday August 8th.
Next up for PASS South is the Daniel Boone Classic at the Newport Speedway in Newport, Tennessee on Saturday July 18th. The event will mark the series one and only stop in the state of Tennessee in 2009. For more information including tickets visit the track’s website at www.newportspeedway.com or call 423-623-2182.
For more information including schedules, standings, and results for all PASS sanctioned touring series visit their home on the web at www.racewithpass.com . For marketing or media questions contact Norm Desjardins at 603-539-3368 or for technical information contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230.
Unofficial Results – PASS South Super Late Model Independence 150 – Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory North Carolina – July 5, 2009
1. 98 Justin Wakefield 2. 47m Trey Mitchell 3. 35 Devin Jones 4. 26 Preston Peltier 5. 4N Ben Rowe 6. 93 Tayla Orleans 7. 47 Corey Williams 8. 18x Billy Leslie 9. 51W Bryce Walker 10. 51 Michael Pope 11. 64 Joe Winchell 12. 1 Jimmy Gamon 13. 10 Ryan Blaney 14. 10L Johanna Long 15. 91 Heath Hindman 16. 101 Jeremy Frankoski 17. 8 Cassius Clark 18. 48 John Batten 19. 83 Jeff Choquette 20. 66 Jeff Fultz 21. 18 Bradley McCaskill 22. 05 Alex Fleming 23. 4s Jay Fogleman 24. 2 Zach Stroupe 25. 20 John Stancill