Scott Mulkern: PASS North Series
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Scott Mulkern of Falmouth, Maine, will try to win his first career PASS North Series race on his home track when the series heads to the SouthernMaineMotors.com 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 5. Mulkern won the PASS North Series finale at Oxford Plains Speedway last October for his second career PASS North victory, but he came up one spot short of winning at Beech Ridge when he ran second in the PASS 300 there last September. The Mulkern Racing No. 84 SouthernMaineMotors.com/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet plans to compete in at least five PASS North Series events in 2012, including all three at Beech Ridge and two at Oxford.
WHO: Scott Mulkern, Falmouth, Maine
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 84 SouthernMaineMotors.com/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Seth Holbrook, Turner, Maine
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (PASS Outlaw division)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 2nd (September 2011)
WHAT: PASS North Series SouthernMaineMotors.com 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.375-mile flat oval)
WHEN: Practice, Thursday, May 3 and Friday, May 4, 2-6 p.m.; Qualifying, Saturday, May 5, 3 p.m.; Race, Saturday, May 5, 5 p.m.
PASS North Series
NEXT RACE: Saturday, May 12, PASS 150, Star Speedway, Epping, N.H. (.25-mile oval)
FINAL 2011 POINTS POSITION: 23rd (started 5 of 14 races)
DID YOU KNOW?
Scott Mulkern won the track championship at Beech Ridge in 1985 – the last year the facility was a dirt track.
Mulkern Racing driver Lonnie Sommerville had one win and 10 Top-5 finishes in 14 starts last season, en route to a second-place finish in the final PASS North Series standings and co-Rookie of the Year honors. It was the second straight runner-up finish for Mulkern Racing in the final PASS North standings.
Mulkern Racing will bring a two-car effort to Beech Ridge this weekend, with both Lonnie Sommerville and Scott Mulkern competing in the event.
Scott Mulkern finished second in the PASS 300 at Beech Ridge last September.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
SCOTT MULKERN, Driver of the Mulkern Racing No. 84 SouthernMaineMotors.com/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet, On Super Late Model racing Beech Ridge Motor Speedway: “I don’t race too many different tracks anymore, but it’s always been kind of like Oxford to me. The slower you go, it seems the faster you go. You just can’t overdrive it there.
“I raced the first ACT (Pro Stock) race they ever had there, and guys came in and had never raced on a track like that. Usually, you get in a race car and you want to put it to the floor and hold it there, but you just can’t do that at Beech Ridge. Once tires go away, you’re just trying to save your stuff, keep your momentum and get a real rhythm going. A lot of guys will overdrive there. Some guys never figure that out 100 percent, but it’s just about being smooth every lap.”
On keeping up with the changing track conditions at Beech Ridge: “You need to race the track a lot there. That’s almost true everywhere, but there you really have to be able to do that. It’s easy to say. When you get up beside guys and you’re almost clear, but guy comes back a half-car length, you can’t get frustrated with that. You have to stay focused, get the same (corner) entry and exit as you’ve had all along. If you’re faster car, you’ll get that spot.
“It’s really easy when you get racing beside a guy to change what you did to get to him in the first place.”
SETH HOLBROOK, Crew chief on the Mulkern Racing No. 84 SouthernMaineMotors.com/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet, On the key to running well at Beech Ridge: “It’s a really tough place on teams. You have to do your best to keep up with the race track, because it changes all the time. It’s tough to do that there, but if you can win at Beech Ridge or Oxford, you can win anywhere.”
UP NEXT
The PASS North Series continues a stretch of three races in three weeks with the PASS 150 at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., on Saturday, May 12… Mulkern Racing driver Lonnie Sommerville finished fourth in the caution-filled event a year ago. It was his first career visit to the tight quarter-mile track.
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