Curtis Gerry stays hot in PASS Super Late Model action with Beech Ridge 200 victory
Scarborough, Maine — Curtis Gerry of Waterboro continued his recent dominance of the Maine Super Late Model scene with his second Pro All Stars Series North victory of the season Saturday in the Beech Ridge 200 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine.
Gerry, triumphant in a 150-lapper at Oxford Plains Speedway on the previous weekend, has four victories in his last five PASS North starts, s streak that began with a rich Oxford 250 score last August. At Beech Ridge Gerry started in the middle of the field and worked his way into contention by the time a scheduled competition caution with 75 laps to go, allowing teams to change two tires and make other adjustments.
Gerry quickly worked his way from third into the lead within a couple of laps and led the final 73 laps to outdistance fellow former Beech Ridge NASCAR champion Reid Lanpher of Manchester. Mike Hopkins of Hermon battled with defending PASS North Super Late Model champion Travis Benjamin for some 70 laps to earn a spot on the podium with Gerry and Lanpher.
Benjamin, who led a handful of laps before yielding to eventual winner Gerry, ended up in fourth position. Two-time PASS North champion DJ Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire drove to his third top-five finish of the season and retained his lead in the current championship standings.
Hall of Famer Mike Rowe of Turner raced with the contenders throughout the marathon, finishing up in sixth position. Multi-time PASS SLM kingpin Ben Rowe of Turner was seventh, in front of Hudson, New Hampshire’s Derek Griffith, winner of the season opener at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park last month.
Hometown Scarborough racer Garrett Hall led the race until just about the competition caution, but that break did no favors to the Blackpoint Motorsports gang, and they ended up in ninth position. Likewise, Corey Bubar of Windham looked very strong until the break. Bubar managed to stay in the top-ten. Eleven cars finished all 200 laps, including six-time PASS North Super Late Model champion Johnny Clark of Farmingdale.
Defending PASS Modified champion Ben Tinker of New Gloucester scored his second victory of the season to stay atop the PASS Mods championship point standings. Tinker needed almost half of the 40-lap distance to catch and pass the early race leader, Matty Sanborn of Windham.
Trevor Sanborn of East Parsonsfield chased Tinker through the field after both started the race at the back of the pack. Sanborn posted an impressive second-place finish in the open-wheel class. Freeport’s Jariet Harrison filled out the podium finishing positions. Gary Shackford of Center Conway, New Hampshire and Poland’s Patrick Sullivan filled out the top-five rundown.
Emerson Cayer of Contoocok, New Hampshire prevailed in a 50-lap race for North East Mini Stock Tour competitors. Berlin, New Hampshire native Cody Leblanc claimed runner-up honors. Jarrod Soucy of Marlboro, Massachusetts earned the third-place trophy.
Duane Skofield of Plaistow, New Hampshire dominated the action in the 20-lap race for North East Classic Lites. Maine racer Justin Larsen of Peru raced his ride to runner-up honors. Weymouth, Massachusetts competitor Robbie Bryant was the third-place finisher in the 20-car field.
The next PASS North Super Late Model event is the Support 50 Legs 150 at Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire on Saturday, May 5. Post time is 5:00 p.m. For more information visit proallstarsseries.com or call (207) 539-8865.
Results from the Beech Ridge 200 Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway; Scarborough, Maine; showing finishing position, car number, driver’s name, driver’s hometown:
PASS North Super Late Model (200 laps) 1 7 Curtis Gerry, Waterboro, ME; 2 59 Reid Lanpher, Manchester, ME; 3 15 Mike Hopkins, Hermon, ME; 4 7 Travis Benjamin, Belfast, ME; 5 60 DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH; 6 24 Mike Rowe, Turner, ME; 7 4 Ben Rowe, Turner, ME; 8 12 Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH; 9 94 Garrett Hall, Scarborough, ME; 10 12 Corey Bubar, Windham, ME; 11 54 Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, ME; 12 7 Glen Luce, Turner, ME; 13 88 Brandon Barker, Windham, ME; 14 2 Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH; 15 35 Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 16 40 Nick Sweet, Barre, VT; 17 23 David Farrington, Jr., Jay, ME; 18 41 Tracy Gordon, Strong, ME; 19 79 Ivan Kaffel, Raymond, ME; 20 14 Scott McDaniel, Livermore, ME; 21 4 Brad Babb, Windham, ME; 22 50 Jeff White, Winthrop, ME; 23 40 Dan McKeage, Gorham, ME; 24 63 John Salemi, Nashua, NH.
PASS Mods (40 laps) 1 19 Ben Tinker, New Gloucester, ME; 2 10 Trevor Sanborn, East Parsonsfield, ME; 3 85 Jariet Harrison, Freeport, ME; 4 60 Gary Shackford, Center Conway, NH; 5 16 Patrick Sullivan, Poland, ME; 6 28 Mark Lundblad, Jr., Conway, NH; 7 64 Matty Sanborn, Windham, ME; 8 25 Bruce Helmuth, Wales, ME; 9 2 Randy Sanborn, West Baldwin, ME; 10 14 Mark Napolitano, North Yarmouth, ME.
North East Mini Stock Tour (50 laps) 1 88 Emerson Cayer, Contoocook, NH; 7 Cody Leblanc, Waterville, ME; 3 42 Jarrod Soucy, Marlboro, MA; 4 63 Nick Maniatis, Hooksett, NH; 5 85 Michael Viens, Seekonk, MA; 6 36 Kodi Sabins, Windsor, VT; 7 55 Nick Anderson, Oxford, MA; 8 34 Nate Taylor, Preston, CT; 9 04 Justin Faford, Westminster, MA; 10 38 Chris King, Derry, NH; 11 52 Mike Soucy, Boscawen, NH; 12 48 Justin King, Derry, NH; 13 71 Matt Boucher, Andover, NH; 14 16 Seth Drown, Lyman, ME.
North East Classic Lites (20 laps, top three of 20) 1 30 Duane Skofield, Plaistow, NH; 2 44 Justin Larsen, Peru, ME; 3 11 Robbie Bryant, Weymouth, MA.