Ben Rowe: PASS North Series
Speedway 660 Race Preview
4-time PASS North Series champion Ben Rowe of Turner, Maine, attempts to win for a second straight time at Speedway 660 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, when the series competes in the Pro All Stars Series 200 on Saturday, June 12. Rowe won this race a year ago with his former team, and he aims to put Mulkern Racing in victory lane for the first time this season. He’s won twice in series history at Speedway 660 and enters this weekend third in the PASS North standings — one of only two drivers with top-5 finishes in each of the season’s first two races. His father, Mike, is the other.
WHO: Ben Rowe, Turner, Maine
TEAM: Community Pharmacies No. 48 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER SPEEDWAY 660 FINISH: 1st (2 times; most recently: June 2009)
LAST RACE AT SPEEDWAY 660: 1st (June 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series Pro All Stars Series 200
WHERE: Speedway 660, Fredericton, New Brunswick (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 7:05 p.m., Saturday, June 12
PASS NORTH SERIES
LAST RACE: Saturday, May 22, PASS 150, White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H. (5th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: Sunday, June 20, Unity Raceway, Unity, Maine
POINTS POSITION: 3rd
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BEN, THIS SEEMS TO BE ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE TRACKS THAT DRIVERS EITHER LOVE OR HATE. THERE’S NO IN-BETWEEN.
It’s a nice track, and it’s a lot of fun to drive — kind of like Oxford or Beech Ridge. I think it’s a fun little place, the fans really get into it up there, and it makes it worth the long trip getting there.
I like Fredericton. It’s kind of round and it’s got a lot of grip if you get the car right. I think you can race two-wide there in these cars, and it puts on a lot of good races.
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS NEXT STRETCH OF 5 RACES IN 6 WEEKS?
I hope so. We’re testing again (Wednesday) at Beech Ridge, just trying to get where we need to be as we get ready for this stretch. We’ve got three or four cars that could be ready to race in a day’s time if we need them, so equipment-wise we’re ready. We’re just not quite ready speed-wise.
IN YOUR MIND, WHERE IS THE TEAM LACKING AFTER JUST TWO RACES TOGETHER?
I’m not quite sure. It’s something very tiny. Maybe it’s just me getting too fussy with things, but I know there’s more there for us to pick up. We know everyone else is working hard to get better, and we are, too. That’s why we’ve done so much testing and we keep on testing, so we can try and get this thing as good as it can be.