PASS South News
SOUTH: PASS South Stars Ready to Battle “Invaders” at Orange County
What is the definition of the word “invader”? According to MSN’s Encarta “invader” has six meanings: 1. enter country by military force; 2. enter and spread through something; 3. go somewhere in numbers; 4. spoil something; 5. cause disease; 6. grow rapidly and harmfully. Now, obviously all of these definitions do not apply to this weekend’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) National Series event at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, NC, but depending on which side you take, some do.
Let’s analyze this from a few different standpoints. If you’re a regular in the PASS South Super Late Model division, then their PASS North brethren would be invaders. Using a Civil War analogy, whether North or South, it’s all PASS, but the Northern guys are invading home territory for the PASS South guys. Orange County Speedway has been on the PASS South schedule since 2006. In that time, Southerners had the early advantage with Tennessee’s Wade Day winning the first Orange Blossom Special. However, in the last two Orange Blossoms, Mainers Corey Williams and Trevor Sanborn have gotten the best of Dixie’s finest Super Late Model drivers.
Then, of course, you have the individual rivalries that come between PASS North and PASS South Series drivers. You have the young winners of PASS North like DJ Shaw, Adam Bates, and Trevor Sanborn taking on the youngest winner in series’ history, PASS South’s Zach Stroupe. You’ve got the only two time winners in each of the respective series, PASS South’s Alex Haase and PASS North’s Ben Rowe, ready to face off against one another. And then you’ve got classic PASS battlers like Texan Ryan Lawler and Maine icon Mike Rowe ready to wage war like they did for the PASS South championship in 2006.
But, perhaps the ultimate invaders are the drivers coming in to race at Orange County who aren’t full-time competitors in PASS South or PASS North. Drivers from North, South, East, and West ready to come in and steal the $10,000 top prize from the PASS regulars. Among those invaders expected are Jeff Fultz, Logan Ruffin, Preston Peltier, Grant Enfinger, and, perhaps the driver with the best chance, Jason Hogan. Hogan has competed in PASS South off and on over the last three years and finished second to Trevor Sanborn in June’s Orange Blossom Special at Orange County.
“We came up just a spot short there last time, I probably could have gotten into Trevor (Sanborn) a little bit to rattle his cage if I wanted to, but he had raced me clean all race long so that’s the same way I wanted to race him,” said Hogan. “Going into this weekend we should have a little bit better car than last time which means as long as we can qualify up front and stay there then we should have a good shot at winning the thing.”
The driver with the most to gain or lose this weekend is Corey Williams. Williams took the win in the first PASS National Series event at Hickory Motor Speedway and leads the National points heading into this weekend. Luckily, for Williams and all the drivers participating in the National Series, they will be able to drop their lowest finish of the four race series.
The Inaugural Southern Sizzler 200 will also present a number of new challenges to the great field of Super Late Model drivers heading to Orange County Speedway this weekend. The biggest challenge will be the extra 50 laps that will make up the 200 lap race and the pit strategy used to get the cars into contention at the end of the race. Teams will have the option to change four American Racer tires during live pit stops. That will put an emphasis not only on teams to make fast pit stops, but when should they make those stops to get the most out of the fresh rubber.
In addition to the Southern Sizzler 200 for the PASS Super Late Models, the Tag Out Late Model Stocks will also be competing at Orange County Speedway in a 150 lap race paying $3,000 to win. It will be a points race for the Orange County regulars and should attract a good field of Late Model Stocks from the region.
Action starts on Friday at Orange County Speedway with gates opening at 2 PM and rotating practice for Late Model Stocks and PASS Super Late Models from 5 PM to 8 PM. On Saturday, Pit Gates open at 11 PM with rotating practice for both divisions from 2 PM to 4 PM. Qualifying will begin at 5 PM, racing starts at 7 PM, and the Southern Sizzler 200 will get the green flag at approximately 9 PM. Orange County Speedway is located on NC Highway 57 in Rougemont.
The PASS North Series will be in action again Saturday, July 26th at the Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH. PASS South’s next race will be the rescheduled South Carolina Clash on Saturday, August 2nd at the Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC. The previously scheduled event for that date at Lanier National Speedway has been cancelled.
For information on any PASS division, visit www.racewithpass.com. For marketing or media questions contact Alan Dietz at 704-231-2039 or for technical information contact Scott Reed at 207-625-3230
Zach Stroupe (top) and Trevor Sanborn (bottom) are both looking to make it back to victory lane this season. (51 Sports Photos
