CHARLOTTE, NC (December 9) – Obviously we when look back at the 2008
season for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Models, we
look back at what were the high points: Alex Haase's three wins and
the championship, Justin Wakefield winning two straight, PASS North
regular Trevor Sanborn's sweep at Orange County, and John Stancill
challenging for the National championship in his rookie season. But,
this week, we look back at 2008's "hard luck" drivers. Drivers that
helped make the 2008 PASS South season a success just by being there.
At the same time, challenging for the championship and wins, while not
quite being able to get there.
First up is Raleigh, North Carolina's, Alex Fleming. Alex came into
the 2008 season pumped for his first full year competing in PASS
South. And why not? Fleming dominated the previous year at the Wake
County Speedway, his hometown track, to become the 2007 track
champion. It seemed at each and every race Fleming was among the
fastest in practice, but more times than not, fell out early due to
engine problems or a crash. His dedication was never in question,
though. Often times, Alex traveled to each race with only his dad,
David, there to help. In April, Alex competed in a local show at Wake
County on Friday night, and then drove all night, deep into Georgia to
race with PASS at the Watermelon Capital Speedway. Alex even managed
to lead some laps there before being taken out in an accident when
Zach Stroup spun. It wasn't until August that Fleming was able to
finish a race and when he did, he did it in style, by finishing second
in the South Carolina Clash at Dillon. At season's end, Fleming and
his family owned team learned a lot and were able to finish sixth in
PASS South points and lead 57 laps during the season.
Next, we look at Signal Mountain, Tennessee's Heath Hindman. Heath
broke into PASS South in a big way in 2007 as an unlikely candidate to
challenge Ryan Lawler for the championship. Not because people
thought he couldn't do it, but because a lot of folks didn't know
about him. It didn't take long, though, as Hindman was a consistent
challenger week in and week out, eventually scoring his first PASS
South win in the Over the Mountain 150 at the Hickory Motor Speedway.
Hindman would go on to finish the 2007 season fourth in points after a
crash in the season finale at Concord took him out early.
This year, Hindman was not about to creep up on the competition.
Everyone in PASS South was well aware of the soft spoken mountain man.
Hindman started the season off strong finishing fifth at Hickory and
scoring three top five's in the first five races. Among those top
five's was a third place finish at Wake County Speedway where Hindman
appeared to have the fastest car in the waning laps of the race. This
is where Hindman's luck began to sour. At many of the following
races, Hindman paced practice only to be stricken by a myriad of
problems. At the Southern Sizzler at Orange County, Hindman fell out
early after being taken out in an accident with Preston Peltier and
Alex Haase. At Dillon, Hindman again paced practice and had his car
set up for a Saturday night race. What happened? The race was rained
out and ran on a sweltering hot Sunday afternoon. Despite struggling
with an ill handling car, Hindman managed a sixth place finish. At
Caraway, fastest again in practice, but out early with a mechanical
problem. And, then there's the Daniel Boone Classic at Newport
Speedway in Hindman's home state of Tennessee. Arguably, it was the
greatest disappointment of the year for Hindman and his team. Heath
blistered the track in qualifying with a sub-13 second lap and the
fastest time of the session. In the race, the only person to pass him
was Alex Haase on a restart. Eventually, Hindman dropped back to
fourth after a dust up on another restart and would end the night on a
wrecker after a hard crash with Corey Williams. Hindman closed out
the 2008 season finishing fifth in points with three top fives, two
pole awards, and having led 72 laps.
Finally, we look at the 2007 PASS South Most Popular Driver,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina's, Mark Gibson. Mark came to PASS South
with a lot to live up to. His dad, G.W., was a former Daytona winner
in the now defunct NASCAR Dash Series. His owner, Jeff Day, has owned
winning Super Late Models for years with drivers such as the late John
Paul Linville. The learning curve for Mark has been steep making the
leap from Legends cars to PASS South in 2007. But, Mark proved he's
got what it takes finishing sixth in PASS South points in his debut
season. The 2008 PASS South campaign started slowly for Gibson and
the Yarborough Transfer team as they did not score a top five finish
until finishing fourth at Wake County Speedway in June. In the next
three races, Mark finished fourth at Greenville-Pickens, 13th at
Orange County, and seventh at Dillon. Then came the Piedmont Pride
125 at the Caraway Speedway. Mark dominated leading 99 of the first
100 laps. After losing the lead to Alex Haase on a late race restart,
Gibson caught Haase and made contact with him sending Haase into a
spin. Despite being penalized by PASS South officials for rough
driving, Gibson still managed a fourth place finish. The rest of the
year would be a struggle for Gibson, losing an engine in practice a
Newport, struggling to a 15th place finish at The Howler 150 at
Greenville-Pickens, and then falling out early due to an accident at
South Boston. Nonetheless, Gibson had his best career PASS South
points finish coming home fourth in the final standings with three top
fives.
Hopefully for these drivers it's like the old saying says, "You have
to crawl before you walk." If that proves to be he case, these
drivers might leave their troubles behind and make a run towards the
2009 PASS South Super Late Model championship.
Although the 2008 season is over, it won't be long before the 2009
season begins. The 2009 PASS South schedule was recently released and
will begin on Saturday, March 14, 2009, with the Fourth Annual South
Carolina Clash at the Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC. The 2009
PASS North Super Late Model schedule is nearing completion and will be
released in the coming weeks.
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