Joey Doiron Wins PASS North Series Rookie Of The Year

Joey Doiron Wins PASS North Series Rookie Of The Year

BERWICK, Maine -- When the PASS North Series season rolled to an end last weekend at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., there was one celebration nobody witnessed in front of the main grandstands.

That celebration took place in a tiny corner of the tiny track's sprawling pit area.

Joey Doiron completed his season as the series' Rookie of the Year.

"It feels pretty good," Doiron said. "For going into this season having only run these (Super Late Model) cars a couple of times ever in my life, I think it was a pretty good accomplishment for us."

Doiron posted one Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes in 12 starts this season, and he finished ninth overall in the final PASS North standings. With his efforts, he was able to check off two of his biggest goals heading into the season -- winning Rookie of the Year and finishing in the Top-10 in the standings.

It marked Doiron's second straight Rookie of the Year award in a major touring series, having done the same in 2009 while competing on the ACT Late Model Tour.

"The hardest thing was that we didn't have a lot of information on so many tracks I'd never been to before," said the 19-year-old Doiron. "We were good at Spud Speedway, Speedway 660 (in New Brunswick) and Seekonk Speedway.

"There was really only one place that we struggled badly, and that was at (Riverside Speedway) -- but we found out after that race that we'd bent the front end. Really, we can't be upset about that."

The obvious goal, Doiron said, missing from his wish list was a trip to Victory Lane.

"We've got to get better at running our new car with the (built) motor," said Doiron, who switched from an older car with a crate engine to a newer chassis with the built engine midway through the season. "We learned a lot in the last two races with that car. It's important to learn how to drive that car without burning up the tires too early, because it's a big asset to have that big power with that car."

With his Top-10 points finish, Doiron laid the foundation for a good start to the 2011 season -- both literally and figuratively. The Top-10 in the PASS North and PASS South standings this season are guaranteed starting spots in the lucrative 300-lap event scheduled for next April a North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

"That's a big deal," said Doiron, who plans to compete full-time in PASS North again next year, while also attempting some of the bigger PASS South Series events, including any PASS National Championshp races.

Having experience with the cars and tracks should help Doiron going forward.

"We ran a lot better than what our stats show from this year," he said. "But you can't change luck, per se. You can only make your own luck for so long."