Derek Griffith prevails in PASS Super Late Model race at Thunder Road
Barre, VT – Reigning Pro All Stars Series National Champion Derek Griffith of Hudson, New Hampshire nailed down his first PASS Super Late Model victory of the season in impressive fashion Sunday afternoon in the Mekklesen’s RV 150 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vermont.
Griffith’s Louie Mechalides-prepared Super Late Model was the class of the field in the second half of the competitive event on the historic, high-banked quarter-mile oval. He is the sixth different winner in six Pro All Stars Series events contested at Thunder Road.
Griffith took the lead away from defending PASS North Super Late Model champion DJ Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire. Shaw, who started 11th, looked like a good bet to prevail until Griffith put the hammer down in the outside groove and took command of the race in the closing laps.
Shaw, who had prevailed in an epic battle versus Griffith at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park last month, stayed atop the PASS North Super Late Model championship standings with his runner-up performance. Mekklesen 150 defending champion Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., of Hudson, New Hampshire, finished third in the race after restarting from the back of the field at the race’s halfway point.
Travis Benjamin of Belfast, Maine battled adversity effectively enough to record a fourth-place finish, with Scarborough, Maine’s Garrett Hall making a lot of late progress to score the final top-five finishing position.
Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, Massachusetts was credited with a 10th-place finish after dominating the first half of the race. Northfield, Vermont’s Evan Hallstrom appeared to have a career-best third-place finish locked up when his car appeared to quit running while under caution prior to the last restart. Eighth-place finisher Ben Rowe was strong early on and the Moody team appears poised to snap an extended dry spell.
The next Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model race is scheduled for this Sunday afternoon, June 2 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine. Post time is 2:00 p.m. For more information please visit proallstarsseries.com or call (207) 539-8865.
Unofficial results from the Mekklesen’s RV Memorial Day 150 Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model race at Thunder Road Speedbowl; Barre, VT; Sunday, May 26, 2019 showing finishing position, car number, driver’s name, driver’s hometown:
1 12 Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH; 2 60 DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH; 3 97 Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH; 4 7 Travis Benjamin, Belfast, ME; 5 94 Garrett Hall, Scarborough, ME; 6 47 Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH;7 40 Nick Sweet, Barre, VT; 8 4 Ben Rowe, Turner, ME; 9 59 Reid Lanpher, Manchester, ME; 10 35 Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 11 1 Evan Hallstrom, Northfield, VT; 12 5 Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT.