Scott Mulkern Wins PASS North Season Finale
Veteran Super Late Model Driver Snaps 7-Year Drought
OXFORD, Maine – Scott Mulkern of Falmouth, Maine, led the final 15 laps en route to his second career PASS North Series win with a victory in the season-ending PASS Championship 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday.
The race was called by rain after 118 laps. Two unsuccessful attempts were made by series officials to dry the track before the win was granted to Mulkern and the No. 84 Southern Maine Motors/Community Pharmacies Dodge.
“It means a lot. That’s where you want to be,” said Mulkern, who dedicated the win to his father, Will Mulkern, who died in June after a battle with cancer. “I just had a great car. Gary (Crooks)’s preparation at the shop and Seth Holbrook at the track is unbelievable.”
Mulkern’s only previous PASS North Series victory came in 2004 when he won at Thompson International Speedway. He has raced part-time in the series that last few years.
The win led a great day for Mulkern Racing. Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John, New Brunswick, finished seventh in the No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders Chevrolet to clinch second in the overall PASS North Series standings and win the 2011 Rookie of the Year award.
“Second in the points and Scott winning the race, it’s a great day for Mulkern Racing,” Sommerville said. “Big picture, it’s good for building on next year and what we’re going to do in the future. At some point, this team is going to be unstoppable.”
Mulkern started 25th in the 33-car field after both he and Sommerville encountered problems in first-round qualifying. But the bad starting spot didn’t slow Mulkern, who had cracked the Top-5 by the midpoint of the event with the aid of just two early caution flags.
When the caution flew again on Lap 96, Mulkern was in second and just seven laps later he took the lead from Travis Benjamin. He lost the lead briefly on another restart before cruising to the win.
The only thing that slowed Mulkern was the rain, but even that came too late to stop him from securing the well-earned victory.
“I’ve always been pretty good here (at Oxford),” Mulkern said. “People might not know it because I always seemed to shoot myself in the foot, but I’ve had some really good cars at this track. It’s hard to win here. I thought I could do it with the right people and the right effort.”