Spud Speedway’s a wild card in the PASS North title chase

Naples ME (8/17)The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) super late model and modified stars and travel to the crown of Maine this weekend for their first ever appearance at Caribou’s Spud Speedway, a new venue for the traveling circle track circus that carries serious points implications for the pair of drivers battling for the super late model title.

At Spud there won’t be any notes for the crew chiefs to fall back on, no on track experience for the drivers. So, the teams that get a handle on the quickest way around the speedway in the least amount of time will have a definite edge. As the points paying races wind down, success at Spud will be key to capturing the 2010 super late model Championship

Johnny Clark and Ben Rowe have a battle royal going on for the 2010 title. They each have four PASS championships under their belt, Clark two in a row. Rowe moved over to Scott Mulkern Racing for 2010 and the combination has worked their way into title contention as the season has progressed. Just ten points separated the pair prior to Saturday’s Seekonk Speedway stop. Rowe picked up two points on Clark in the feature as the pair crossed the stripe third and fourth, respectively. But PASS also awards heat race points and Clark came out on top in his qualifier and Rowe finished home third in his, erasing his gain from the 150 lapper. So, their individual drives for five titles moves on to Spud with Clark still on top of the standings by the thinnest of margins.

The PASS Mod championship race isn’t quite as tight but there’s plenty of jockeying for position throughout the top ten. Andy Shaw has had a phenomenal season in Dave and Krystal Weirs’ ride. He’s won fifty percent of his starts and hasn’t finished out of the top five, an enviable record that would be tough to match in any series. Wayne Whitten Jr., Jon Brill, Bill Dixon, Scott McDaniel and Allan Wilson are all locked in a tight battle behind Shaw and those drivers will battle it out for position as the Mod Squad heads into their final two races of 2010.

There’s another wild card in play at Spud in the form of two time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin, a driver that is no stranger to the bull rings in his home state of Tennessee. Marlin will be on hand Friday for a fan meet and greet and he’ll race with PASS on Saturday night.

The two day event will feature PASS Mod and super late model practice on Friday August 20, along with a complete race card for Spud’s own weekly divisions. The pit area opens at 2:00 followed by PASS practice. Racing gets underway at 7:00 PM. Fans should plan on getting out to the speedway early and meet Sterling Marlin from 5:30 until 7:30 PM.

Saturday August 21 is PASS race day; the grandstands open at 4:00 PM for advance ticket sales and 4:30 for general admission. The races go green at 6:00 PM with PASS super late model and Mod heats and 150 and 40 green flag laps of feature racing plus another night of action for Spud’s weekly racers.

Visit www.proallstarsseries.com for this weekend’s schedule, entry list point standings and a link to Spud Speedway.