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After time-trialing in 7th and drawing the 8th starting
spot, Ben ran in the top 3 to top 5,
taking the lead from Southern Star Jeff Choquette at one point.
After the mid-point
mandatory caution for tire changes for all cars, the race fell into
a series of cautions.
On lap 104, Ben wound up in the middle of a tangle in turn one,
sitting on the hood
of the #08 of Joey Gase. With some quick tape work in the pits, Ben
was back on
track. But at the restart, a tag in the right rear sent the #48 into
the bottom wall
of turn one. With substantial damage the #48 returned to the pits
behind a wrecker.
Ben was scored with a 14th place finish. |
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| Florida Trip Brings Rowe, Team Together |
NEW SMYRNA
BEACH, Fla. -- Ben Rowe could have left Florida in a bad
mood. Instead, he left encouraged.
A twice-wrecked race car during
the 4-time PASS North Series champion’s first voyage
with Mulkern Racing did cast a mild pall over the trip
to New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway last week, but Rowe saw
the silver lining.
"I’m really happy, and I can tell
you I’m excited about the season," Rowe said after
finishing 14th in the Winterfest 150, the first of five
races in the PASS National Series for 2010. "We had a
good run going, the entire team worked really hard and
we’re going to be ready for the start (of the PASS North
season)."
Rowe was fastest in the final
practice, qualified eighth in the 22-car field and was
the leader of the race at the halfway break -- all in
his first race with his new team and in his first race
at New Smyrna’s fast half-mile track.
He took the lead in the No. 48
Community Pharmacies Chevrolet on lap 65 and held it
until a lap 76 restart.
Rowe, of Turner, Maine, watched
as leaders Johnny Clark and Brad Leighton moved ahead
early in the second half of the event, planning to let
them burn through their equipment while waiting to make
a late-race run for the lead. Instead, he was caught up
in a wreck on lap 104 that was a harbinger of things to
come.
Rowe saw Leighton wave his hand
out the window to indicate he was slowing down for an
apparent caution flag -- but as Rowe checked up, he was
hit from behind and ended up in the turn one wall.
"It was just miscommunication
between (Leighton) and his spotter," Rowe said, noting
that the race director never called for a caution. "I
talked to Brad after the race, and he felt bad. He
thought he’d been told there was a caution out."
Just three laps later, after
restarting at the rear of the field with what was
largely cosmetic damage, Rowe was involved in a second
incident -- this time a much harder hit into the
frontstretch wall that ended the No. 48’s day.
"I was just racing with guys I
should never have been back there racing with," Rowe
said.
Still, after the disappointment
of seeing a possible winning car sidelined, Rowe was
excited.
"I was real happy," said the
reigning PASS National and PASS South champion. "The
entire team -- Tony Ricci, Scott Chubbuck, Mark Lyden,
Shawn Plowman, every single one of the guys -- all
worked their tails off… There wasn’t anything anyone
could have done different, it was just one of those
deals that happens.
"But I’m really, really looking
forward to going to the track again with those guys."
When that will be exactly Rowe
isn’t sure.
"There’s some things we want to
do to the car," he said. "It was my first time in a
Junior Hanley car. My first time with bump stops like
that. Maybe we can get to another (National or South)
race before the North season starts, but we’ll just have
to see how much we can get done." |
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A Big Thank You to the New Smyrna
crew for their hard work and time:
- Tony Ricci (who worked especially hard to get the car
together and fitted for Ben
in the weeks prior to the race
given the "last minute" decision to go)
- Scott Chubbuck - Shawn Plowman - Mark Lyden
Thanks to John and Johnny Clark for transporting the race
car
Thanks to Ben for making the trip and his effort,
competitive spirit and commitment behind the wheel.
We look
forward to the upcoming season!
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| PRACTICE FOR THE PASS WINTERFEST 150 - NEW
SMYRNA SPEEDWAY - 1/29/10 |
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Multi-Time Champs Team Up
For
PASS Winterfest National Race |
FARMINGDALE,
Maine -- With 10 championships between them, Maine racers
Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark are teaming up for a winter road
trip.
A long winter road trip -- to Florida.
Rowe, who has four PASS North Series championships as well
as PASS South and PASS National championships on his resume,
and Clark will field a joint effort for the inaugural PASS
Winterfest 150 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Jan. 29-30.
The event is the first of five PASS National Championship
races scheduled for the 2010 season.
"We wanted to go down and support this race, because we
think it could grow into something really big in the
future," said Clark, a four-time PASS North champion,
including the last two series titles. "If everything goes
well, we should both have a chance to win this one."
Clark's race hauler will carry both his familiar Clark's Car
Crushing No. 54 and Rowe's new Community Pharmacies No. 48.
The deal to pool the resources of Johnny Clark Motorsports
and Mulkern Racing was finalized at last weekend's Northeast
Motorsports Expo held at the Augusta Civic Center.
Rowe was named Touring Series Driver of the Year at the
Expo.
"I think it's going to be a lot of fun," said Rowe, who will
debut with his new team and new crew chief, Seth Holbrook,
at New Smyrna. "Me and Johnny have never teamed up before,
so it's going to be a blast."
Of the two drivers, only Clark has New Smyrna experience,
having competed on multiple occasions in the annual New
Smyrna World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing held each
February.
He compared New Smyrna's high-banked half-mile layout to
Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway, a track familiar to
PASS North Series competitors.
"It's a lot like Thompson," Clark said. "It's big and fast,
and it's definitely a fun and challenging track. It's
extremely hard on brakes, and you need one of the biggest
motors you can find there."
Rowe said he'll take Clark's word for it, having never raced
at New Smyrna himself. He has, however, watched a number of
races there from the pit area.
"It does race a lot like Thompson -- at least that's what
Johnny tells me," Rowe said. "Hopefully he'll help me out
when we get there and we can go from there.
"We're going to take a bunch of guys from the north down
there and see what we can do together."
Teams hit the track on Friday, Jan. 29 for an extended
practice session. Qualifying and feature racing will be held
on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Winterfest 150 is tentatively
scheduled for a 7:30 PM green flag. |
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