PASS Sportsman Series: Dan McKeage
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
GORHAM, Maine – Dan McKeage of Gorham, Maine, returns to the PASS Sportsman Series for the PASS Sportsman 100 as part of the PASS 400 weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Sunday, September 15. McKeage won the last PASS Sportsman Series race at Beech Ridge back in May, and he heads into the second-to-last race of the season just 33 points behind the series leader, Carey Martin. He’s hoping a home-track advantage – McKeage is a past track champion at Beech Ridge and finished second in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series standings there this season – will help him close the gap on Martin heading into the season finale in two weeks.
THE FACTS
WHO: Dan McKeage, Gorham, Maine
CREW CHIEF: Dan Bubar, Windham, Maine
TEAM: Naughty 40 Racing No. 40 Top Gun Construction Chevrolet
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (May 2013)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 1st (May 2013)
WHAT: PASS Sportsman Series 100
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: Sunday, September 15, 12:15 p.m.
PASS Sportsman Series
LAST RACE: August 4, PASS Sportsman Series 75, White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, N.H. (4th)
NEXT RACE: September 28, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 2nd
DID YOU KNOW?
Dan McKeage won the 2010 PASS Sportsman Series championship.
Dan McKeage finished second in the 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series standings at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway this season.
Dan McKeage won the only previous PASS Sportsman Series race this season at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
Dan McKeage won the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championship at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
DAN McKEAGE, Driver of the Naughty 40 Racing No. 40 Top Gun Construction Chevrolet, On whether there’s a home track advantage for him this weekend at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway: “I think when it comes to Carey (Martin) going to Oxford, he’s got a home-track advantage there – so I’d like to think I’ve got a little bit of a home track advantage when we go to Beech Ridge.
“When it comes to the cars, I think the Super Late Model and the Sportsman cars are right along the same lines. You’re still trying to get four tires to the track, and one tire to the next, they’re all going to change. Whatever we would do in the Super Late Model, we would do in a Sportsman in terms of getting it to work on the race track. Hopefully, we’ll have a good car this weekend – if we want to have an advantage. I mean, I think it wouldn’t be such an advantage to Carey to go to Oxford if he didn’t have a good car there. He has a good car everywhere it seems, but he’s good there, for sure.”
On why this is a big race for the Naughty 40 Racing team: “I definitely is. As far as things go, if you finish in the Top-2, it just pays for your tires most weeks. This is a race where you can actually come out ahead, which is rare in racing. If you win this race, you’ll more than break even.
“But it’s more than that. It’s more special to us here. It’s our hometown crowd, this is our favorite place to race, and we definitely want to put on a good show.”
On getting away from the stress of weekly points racing at Beech Ridge this weekend: “I guess you could say that, but I didn’t really put too much pressure on myself doing the weekly thing. It was more stress-free this year than it had been in the past. The nice thing about it this weekend is that we don’t have to leave Beech Ridge on Saturday night after racing and then get geared up for the next morning and driving to a track three hours away.
“We’ve had a couple of weeks to get ready and get prepared and get gung-ho for this weekend.”
UP NEXT
The PASS Sportsman Series concludes its season on September 28 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine… Dan McKeage finished eighth in a rain-shortened event at Oxford in July.