Home Sweet Home For Brad Babb In PASS 300
BRMS Champ Ready To Tackle PASS North Series’ Best On Own Turf
WINDHAM, Maine – Brad Babb would like to add one more piece of hardware to the trophy case this weekend when the PASS North Series invades Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for its premiere event of the season.
Babb, the 2012 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track champion, will join some three dozen Super Late Model teams from across New England and Canada in the SouthernMaineMotors.com 300 at Beech Ridge this Sunday, September 16. Following open practice at the track on Friday afternoon, qualifying begins at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday and the main event is slated for approximately 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Babb, who won a 45-lap Pro Series feature in May at Beech Ridge, believes he has an advantage after running all summer at the .333-mile oval.
“I don’t think anyone really knows what to expect (with a new Hoosier tire compound) this weekend, but that could play right into my favor,” said Babb, whose father and grandfather are also Beech Ridge Motor Speedway champions. “I kind of agree with the guys who say that the track is pretty much the same most of the time. It changes a little bit, but we’ve got the same baseline setup that we’ve had for a while, and my dad has raced there for so long.
“It’s worked for us.”
Babb competed in the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge in early May, finishing 11th in a 32-car field. That race came just as the local season was getting started, and the 20-year-old driver of the No. 4 Babb Wood Contractors/McGoldrick Bros. Blasting Chevrolet had one eye on getting off to a good start toward his track championship push over the long summer ahead.
This time, though, Babb said he has a different mindset heading into the longest race of the season.
“Basically, I have nothing to lose this weekend. If I need to make a pass, I’m going to make a pass,” said Babb, who competes in a Dale Shaw Race Car. “I think being in contention to win is realistic, because it’s the same setup that DJ (Shaw’s) been running, and he’s always good here. He’s been good for the last month or so, and we should be just as good. If we get the tires to come in, we should be fine.
“Honestly, if we get a Top-5 I’ll be happy, but I’m going planning on trying to win.”
If he does that, it will be the perfect cap to a season that saw him become Beech Ridge’s first third-generation champion in the track’s top division – joining his father, five-time champion Bobby Babb, and his grandfather, Robert Babb Sr.
“It’s cool, obviously, to have done something my dad and my grandfather have both done,” Babb said. “It’s something I’d like to do again at some point, but right now we’re focused on running a few more PASS races and competing with these guys.”