IBG PASS Pullen 300 Had Many Stories
(Naples. ME – September 25) Four days of racing action at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway over the weekend ended with a tighter points race heading into the season finale at Star Speedway on Saturday night October 1st.
After 197 laps of heats, concis, C Mains, B Mains, and two features on Saturday for 211 cars, and a night’s rest in the 200 plus campers that filled the parking area, the competitors and fans were back for more action at noon on Sunday.
The action got under way with the IBG Pass Series B Main. Young Michael Pickens of Auckland, New Zealand was one of the good stories of the day. He started in the top five and quickly moved to the front.
Now, you have to know that this was Michael’s fourth day in an asphalt car ever. He races dirt midgets back home and is in the States running a USAC midget at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway. He met the current PASS champion Johnny Clark at the Roush “Gong Show”, and they worked out a deal for Michael to drive Johnny’s backup car this weekend. After Thursday’s practice, he was not sure about these asphalt cars, but after some more seat time in Friday’s practice he was getting more comfortable.
It all paid off as he won the 35 lap B Main and was in the show after an exciting last lap that saw Corey Williams pass Cassius Clark on the outside to take the last spot in the 300 lapper, which relegated Cassius to a PASS provisional. Pickens watched it all in his mirror. Not bad for someone with less than 100 laps in any kind of asphalt car on one of the trickier tracks around.
Continuing the international theme, Rollie MacDonald of Pictou, Nova Scotia, the current Maritime Carquest Series champion at age 62, was also having trouble getting the hang of the track in his first visit to Beech Ridge, but more on Rollie’s weekend later.
Ben Rowe and Trevor Sanborn brought the 37 car field to the green in the IBG PASS Pullen 300 while 15 others had to go home. Ben went out quickly with Sanborn jumping in front of Bill Rodgers as the front pack singled up. A tangle on lap seven sent Donnie Whitten’s #83 to the pits for a flat right front and the #4R of Tony Ricci off on the flatbed.
On lap 17, Mike Rowe had moved to second from his fifth-place starting spot, and on lap 23 took the lead from son Benjie. On lap 48, Benjie got high in turn four and went around in the marbles bringing out the yellow.
Rollie MacDonald in the #13 was slicing through the file from his 16th place on the grid, and on lap 58 was up to fourth, and on lap 66 went by Bill Rodger’s #53X for second and was closing on Mike Rowe. From lap 66 to 74 the two veterans went side by side until MacDonald took the lead much to the delight of the many Maritime fans in attendance.
On lap 76, Alan Wilson’s #53 was pushed off the turn three banking bringing out the caution, and Mike Rowe gave up second to pit early like he did in the Oxford 250 for tires and fuel. On the restart, the #27 of Alexandre Gingras of Quebec City came to a stop in turn two bringing out another yellow, and on the restart Bill Rodgers took the lead and pocketed some of the $50 per lap in lap leader money.
At the 100 lap mark, it was MacDonald back to the lead with Brad Leighton in the #25 up to second, followed by Richie Dearborn’s #33, Bill Rodgers, Paul White’s #15, Alan Tardif in the #8T, Gary Smith’s #75, Kirk Thibeau in the 28T, Cassius Clark in the #8, and Johnny Clark in the #54. However, things came undone on lap 108 as the #54 slowed in turn two with rear end troubles which sent him behind the wall for the day.
At the halfway mark, it was Leighton, Mike Rowe back up to second, Paul White in the #15, in another great run, to third, Alan Wilson’s #53, Ben Rowe, Tardif, Dearborn, Smith, Rodgers, and Sanborn.
Mike Rowe went by Leighton for the lead on lap 160, and five laps later Michael Picken’s weekend on the asphalt came to an end with a blown motor in the Curb Records #154. Leighton returned the favor and took the lead back on the restart.
At the 200 lap mark, it was still Rowe, Sr followed by Rowe, Jr, Cassius Clark, Leighton, Tardif, Rollie MacDonald coming back to the front after his pit stop, Wilson, Smith, Dearborn, and Thibeau.
MacDonald was up to fourth on lap 256 and to third past Cassius on lap 260. Leighton finally pitted for tires and was making his way back to the front and was up to seventh by lap 275.
With ten to go, it was Mike Rowe followed by Ben, with MacDonald all over his bumper and Cassius looking for a way around MacDonald. And Tardif, Dearborn, Leighton, and Wilson were just waiting for a mistake.
At the line, the unofficial finish was Mike Rowe for the $15,000 plus a bunch of $50 laps, Ben Rowe, MacDonald, Cassius, and Tardif followed by Leighton and Wilson on the lead lap.
With the finale this coming Saturday night at Star Speedway in Epping, NH, Ben Rowe is looking for another championship as he has an unofficial 30 point lead on his dad, with Cassius third just four behind Mike, and Johnny dropping 52 points behind Ben after he dropped out early and finished 31st.
Busch North Series Title Nears Decision At Lime Rock Park
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 26) – Stock car racers and road racers sometimes don’t seem to be speaking the same language. Stock car racers describe their car’s handling as tight or loose, they shift the transmission, and their front wheels are held in place by A-frames. Road racers talk about understeer and oversteer, shift the gearbox, and their front suspension components are wishbones.
The two worlds meet annually when the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series visits Lime Rock Park in northwestern Connecticut, the scenic 1.53 mile layout which calls itself “The Road Racing Center of the East”. In a dozen Lime Rock races, drivers with strong road racing backgrounds have won seven times- three by Butch Leitzinger, two by Bryan Wall, and two by Dale Quarterley, while talents developed on the short tracks have claimed the other five. Ken Schrader won the inaugural in 1993, Ted Christopher claimed the honors in 1997, Mike Stefanik was victorious in 1998, Denny Doyle scored his only Busch North win in 2002, and Brad Leighton triumphed in 2004.
The battle between the rival camps will resume on Saturday, October 1, in the Burnham Hydronics 200K presented by Mohegan Sun. The 82-lap contest, covering 125 miles or 200 kilometers, is next-to-last round of the Busch North Series season, and will be telecast live in high definition by HDNet. Andy Santerre leads Ryan Moore by 58 points as he seeks his fourth straight Busch North title.
Burnham Hydronics Chevrolet driver Mike Stefanik, who enters his sponsor’s race holding third place in the standings, 70 points behind teammate Santerre, says success at Lime Rock demands a combination of preparation and attitude. The preparation involves not only the car- bigger brakes, a specialized transmission, and revised weight distribution, to name just three factors- but the driver as well. Like many others, Stefanik attended the Skip Barber Racing School, whose home campus is at Lime Rock.
The winning attitude at Lime Rock is what Mike Stefanik calls “cautiously aggressive.” He explained that seeming contradiction by saying, “This whole race is a battle against making mistakes. The whole thing is staying on the blacktop. It’s so easy to drop a wheel off and throw away your whole race.” He admitted, though, that as the race enters its closing laps, “cautiously aggressive” loses a lot of its caution and picks up a fair measure of aggressiveness.
Bryon Chew, driver of the Buzz Chew Auto Group Chevrolet, is currently seventh in the point race. He recorded the best finish of his career with a second place at Lime Rock in 2002, and he echoes Stefanik’s thoughts with his own twist. “It’s a very technical place, you have to watch every turn, every move that you make. You have to get into that road racing mindset so you don’t drop a wheel (off the track),” he said.
Compared to an oval track race of equal stature, Chew declared, “I’ll be less aggressive until about ten laps from the end, and then I’ll let it all hang out.”
For every theory, there are dissenters, and Brian Hoar, number six in points, falls into that category when it comes to road racing a stock car. Asked how he prepares himself, the Goss Dodge driver answered simply, “I don’t. I just show up and turn right instead of left.” Elaborating, Hoar added “I’ve got to get on the track so I can get the hang of shifting again, and then I just work up to speed.”
The Burnham Hydronics 200K presented by Mohegan Sun weekend begins with practice on Friday, September 30, starting at 11:45 p.m. Road race style Busch Pole Qualifying follows at 4:15 p.m. Under the road race qualifying format, the field is divided into groups of four to six cars of similar performance, and each group is given several timed laps together. The fastest lap by each car during its group session is recorded as its qualifying time.
The green flag on Saturday, October 1 is set for 1:00 p.m. In addition to the live HDNet telecast, SPEED Channel is scheduled to present an enhanced replay on Saturday, November 11 at 3:00 p.m.. Viewers should check local listings for exact date and time.
NEWS OF NOTE
* Brad Leighton scored a long-awaited first road race victory at Lime Rock in 2004, passing two-time winner Dale Quarterley with only three laps remaining. Because Busch Pole Qualifying was cancelled, Leighton started 19th while Quarterley started sixth. Mike Olsen, Bill Penfold, and Mike Johnson completed the top five. The 2004 event was run on Memorial Day weekend, the only time the Busch North Series has not visited Lime Rock in October.
* The Busch Pole Qualifying record at Lime Rock is held by Bryan Wall at 53.591 seconds, 102.778 miles per hour, set in 2001.
* With the running of the Burnham Hydronics 200K presented by Mohegan Sun, Lime Rock Park breaks a tie with Watkins Glen International for the title of holding the most Busch North Series road races.
* In 24 Busch North road races to date, the leading winners are Butch Leitzinger and Bryan Wall with four wins each. Ted Christopher has three.
* Andy Santerre clinched the first of his three consecutive Busch North Series championships at Lime Rock in 2002, winning the title over Matt Kobyluck by just nine points.
* With two races remaining in the 2005 season, Matt Kobyluck has won three races, Andy Santerre, Ryan Moore, and Mike Stefanik two races, and Dave Dion and Ted Christopher one race each.
* The Busch Pole Award lead is shared by Kobyluck and R. Moore with three poles each. Mike Johnson has two while Stefanik and Sean Caisse have one pole each. Qualifying was cancelled at NHIS in September.
* Lime Rock Park was built in 1957 to the design of local resident John Fitch, the only American ever to drive for the Mercedes-Benz factory team. Fitch, who still visits the track regularly, is also the inventor of the safety barrier system using sand- or water-filled barrels seen on many highways.
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