Multi-Time Champs Team Up For PASS 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 p.m. green flag.
