PASS North Series: Bobby Timmons
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
FALMOUTH, Maine – Bobby Timmons III of Windham, Maine, seeks a third consecutive Top-10 finish in PASS North Series competition when he heads to the Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 4. Timmons posted his first career PASS Top-5 two weeks ago at Oxford Plains Speedway, the same track where he finished eighth in his series debut last October. Timmons competes weekly at Beech Ridge in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, and last season he won his first career Pro Series race at the track en route to a sixth-place finish in the final point standings. He has never competed in a PASS event at Beech Ridge.
THE FACTS
WHO: Bobby Timmons III, Windham, Maine
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 48 Community Pharmacies/Timmons Machine Dodge
CREW CHIEF: Bobby Timmons Jr., Windham, Maine
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: N/A
WHAT: PASS North Series Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: Thursday, May 2 – 12 noon, practice; Friday, May 3 – 12 noon, practice; Saturday, May 4 – 11:30 a.m., practice; 3 p.m., qualifying; 6 p.m., race
PASS North Series
LAST RACE: April 21, Ripley & Fletcher Ford 150, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (5th)
NEXT RACE: May 18, PASS 150, Autodrome Chaudiere, Vallee-Jonction, Que. (.25-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Team owner Scott Mulkern will also compete at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway this weekend in the Mulkern Racing No. 84 Southern Maine Chrysler Dodge Jeep/Community Pharmacies Dodge. Mulkern plans to run the entire PASS North Series season for the first time since 2003.
- Bobby Timmons scored his first career Super Late Model win in a 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Pro Series feature event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in July of 2012.
- Bobby Timmons qualified 16th for the PASS 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway last October and recovered from contact midway through the event to post his first career Top-10 in PASS competition.
- Bobby Timmons and his father, Bobby Timmons Jr., have spent part of the offseason building a small-block Supermodified. Timmons Jr. raced Supermodifieds during his driving career.
- Bobby Timmons spends his off weekends during the summer working on the crew for Scott Mulkern both during PASS race events and at other Super Late Model events around the country.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
BOBBY TIMMONS III, Driver of the Mulkern Racing No. 48 Community Pharmacies/Timmons Machine Dodge, On his confidence level after an impressive Top-5 run at Oxford Plains Speedway two weeks ago: “Definitely after that last race, no matter where we were going next, it would give us some confidence. But going to a place where I have a win and a lot of laps definitely helps the confidence even more.
“I didn’t want to bring up running this race until I waited for my dad to ask me what I thought about it. When he did, he asked me if I thought we should race and I said I think we should. We’ve got more experience and more laps at Beech Ridge than we did at Oxford, so I don’t really see any reason why we can’t be good again.”
On the differences between racing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and Oxford Plains Speedway: “It’s harder to pass at Beech Ridge than Oxford, so track position is key. The surface is older, and there just isn’t much grip.
“At Oxford, as the rubber got down during the weekend, the track got a little more grip, but Beech Ridge has never been that way. They put that (traction compound) in second groove, and everyone pretty much drives the middle of the race track. I think you look at Joey (Doiron) last year – he had that race won, but got a late caution and got pinched down on the restart on the bottom. It’s just hard to get by guys down there.”
On if he will change his approach this weekend: “Basically, we’re going to do the same thing. We’ll go in on Friday, run one, two, three practice runs or whatever on the set of tires we had at Oxford, just to see how this car is going to be on old tires.
“The thing about Beech Ridge is that it changes every time you go on the race track. It’s probably worse that way than anyplace I’ve ever been. From Friday to Saturday, it’s going to be a totally different track. I think that’s where running weekly there helps us – we know that it’s going to keep changing, and hopefully we know what to expect with that.”
UP NEXT
Bobby Timmons returns to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for the season opener on Saturday night, May 25… Timmons recorded one feature event win in the Pro Series and finished sixth in the final 2012 standings – just 24 points out of the championship lead.