Johnny Clark: PASS North Series
Speedway 660 Race Preview
Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, looks to make it back-to-back PASS North Series victories when the series heads to the Pro All Stars Series 200 at Speedway 660 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on Saturday, June 12. Fresh off a win at White Mountain Motorsports Park last month — his first career victory at the track — Clark hopes to check another track off his bucket list this weekend. While he’s never won at Speedway 660 in PASS competition, Clark has won the prestigious $20,000-to-win Peterbilt 250 at the track in 2007. He enters the weekend fourth in the standings, just eight points out of first.
WHO: Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, Maine
TEAM: Clark’s Car Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet
BEST CAREER SPEEDWAY 660 FINISH: 3rd (2003)
LAST RACE AT SPEEDWAY 660: 14th (September 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. (1st-place finish)
NEXT RACE: Sunday, June 20, Unity Raceway, Unity, Maine
POINTS POSITION: 4th
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JOHNNY, SPEEDWAY 660 IS THE SITE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST WINS OF YOUR CAREER.
Yeah, absolutely. I guess you kind of judge races by how much they pay, and obviously, that’s a big one. But you know, there have been other times there that were just as important to me. I remember going there in 2003 and finishing third behind Scott Fraser and Ben Rowe — and at the time, we were just getting going with this PASS deal and that was a really big deal to me.
HOW DO YOU APPROACH RACING AT SPEEDWAY 660?
I think it’s a lot like Unity Raceway. It has a little more banking, a lot sharper turns, the track is smoother and it’s a little faster there — but other than that it’s just like Unity (laughing). It is like Unity in how you race guys there, though. In that way it’s a lot like Unity.
AFTER HAVING A COUPLE OF WEEKENDS OFF BETWEEN EACH OF THE LAST COUPLE OF RACES, YOU’RE ABOUT TO START A STRETCH OF 5 RACES IN A 6-WEEK STRETCH. ARE YOU READY FOR THAT?
We are. I think it’s going to be good for us. We’re ready to start grinding at it now. I’m definitely not going to complain about having time off. Everyone’s volunteer on the crew, and they get to do stuff with their families and enjoy some time off. But I speak for the whole team when I say that we’re ready to get this on and start clicking off races.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE UNTIMELY PASSING OF BUB BILODEAU AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY LAST WEEKEND?
Shocking. Just shocking, really. It’s something you don’t ever really think about — you’re not supposed to have a heart attack at the race track. Hey, we all know that things happen and you might get into an accident or have something like that. But he was 53 years old. It’s not like he was old.
He always had a smile on his face, no matter what — and, boy, I used to make him mad. A lot. Back in 1997, 1998, 1999 — that’s when I first got to know him. I was young, and I remember one day I dumped him once in the heat race and once in the feature. He would never let me forget that — he was always smiling and joking about it later on, but he didn’t let me forget it either.
I was down there (at Beech Ridge) on opening day this year and got to talk to him for a little while. We were still joking around about payback and him getting revenge and all that. I’m just glad I got to spend a few minutes with him that night.
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