Hickory NC – ( April 11) Ben Rowe hung out at the front of the pack
for the first 116 laps of Saturday night's Pro All Stars Series (PASS)
South Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory (NC) Motor Speedway, but on lap 117
he turned on the jets , moving past Lonnie Sommerville for the final
time to take down the win. The Turner Maine hot shoe joined his dad
Mike Rowe as an Easter Bunny 150 winner. Rowe also takes the early
lead in the PASS National Championship standings as The Easter Bunny
150 was designated as round one of the four race series for 2009.
Jeff Fultz came home second with Aric Almirola third and Ryan Blaney
all the way up from the 21st starting spot to capture fourth. Trey
Mitchell, Hal Goodson, Clay Jones, Tim Nooner, defending race winner
Corey Williams and Gene Kirella completed the top ten. Nineteen
drivers completed all 150 laps, and twenty one of the thirty starters
were on track for the checkers.
42 cars signed in at the back gate and 39 answered the call for time
trials. Local hero Matt McCall posted the only sub fifteen second time
to take the top spot with a lap of 14.933 seconds in David Stremme's
35, edging out 2008 PASS North champion Johnny Clark's lap of 15.021.
Jeff Fultz, Ben Rowe, and Gene Kirella completed the top five. The top
twenty were only separated by three tenths of a second, and they were
all locked in to the Easter Bunny on time.
It's not often that you see talents like Jay Fogleman, Heath Hindman,
Trey Mitchell and Ryan Blaney in the last chance qualifiers, but the
deep field made cracking the top twenty extra tough. Ryan Blaney and
Trey Mitchell each won a fifteen lap last chance qualifier to make the
feature; Brad McCaskill, Jimmy Doyle, Jay Fogleman and Brad Bischoff
all locked in through the LCQs as well. Justin Wakefield and Heath
Hindman received PASS South provisional spots, and Adam Bates received
the PASS North provisional. David Pollen Jr. completed the thirty car
field via a promoter's option.
Rowe pulled the number one spot at the top ten redraw, and Clay Jones
drew number two for the outside pole. Lonnie Sommerville, Devin Jones,
Aric Almirola, fast timer Matt McCall, Gene Karilla, , Johhny Clark,
Hal Goodson and Jeff Fultz filled out rows two through five.
Rowe took command at the drop of the green but Lonnie Sommerville
quickly came up to challenge Rowe, taking away the point on lap
eighteen. Aric Almirola slipped past Rowe for second and took the
lead on lap 31 when Sommerville bobbled coming off turn four. Rowe
decided he liked the view from the front of the pack and took back the
point on lap 36. Title contender Justin Wakefield's bad day got even
worse when engine problems sidelined the Georgia speedster to end his
day 30th.
It was a seesaw battle amongst the leader with Rowe, Almirola and
Sommerville taking turns racing side by side and swapping the lead.
At the half way mark it was Rowe, Sommerville, Jeff Fultz, Almirola,
Matt McCall, Ryan Blaney, Johnny Clark, Corey Williams, Clay Jones and
Trey Mitchell. Somerville had the advantage on the restart though,
with Rowe, Amirola, Fultz and Matt McCall all in hot pursuit as the
laps wound down. McCall's shot at the win ended on lap 114 with a flat
right front. Rowe took control for the final time at lap 117 and
quickly opened up a margin on Sommerville in second. The final caution
at lap 141 saw Sommerville's shot at his first PASS win come to an end
when he came to the pits with front suspension issues. Rowe raced
under the checkers first for the second time in as many PASS south
starts. The official margin of victory was .564 seconds.
PASS North will kick off their 2009 campaign on Sunday April 190 at
Speedway 95 in Hermon Maine. Race number three for the PASS South
super late models goes green on Saturday April 25th at Orange County
Speedway in Rougemont North Carolina.
For more information visit PASS on the web at
www.proallstarsseries.com or www.racewithpass.com .
Unofficial order of finish – PASS South Easter Bunny 150 – PASS
National Championship round one- Hickory Motor Speedway – Hickory NC –
April 11, 2008
1. Ben Rowe
2. Jeff Fultz
3. Aric Almirola
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Trey Mitchell
6. Hal Goodson
7. Clay Jones
8. Tim Nooner
9. Corey Williams
10. Gene Kirila
11. Johnny Clark
12. Mark Gibson
13. Ryan Moore
14. John Batten
15. Heath Hindman
16. Bradley McCaskill
17. Preston Peltier
18. David Pollen
19. Michael Pope
20. Adam Bates
21. Devin Jones
22. Lonnie Sommerville
23. Brad Bischoff
24. Matt McCall
25. Jimmy Doyle
26. Spencer Wauters
27. Jay Fogelman
28. Cassius Clark
29. Alex Fleming
30. Justin Wakefield
Aric Almirola finished third in Dean Howards' 14H
PASS Easter Bunny 150 Winner Ben Rowe
Lonnie Sommerville was fast
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