SLM
TOP THREE - L TO R: Preston Peltier #26, 2nd; Winner
Ben Rowe #48; and Johnny Clark #54, 3rd.
3rd at the Thompson
PASS 75 on 7/22
Johnny
finished third in the combination PASS North
Series/PASS National Championship Series PASS 75 at
Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, Conn.,
on Thursday, July 22. at Lee USA Speedway in Lee,
N.H., on Tuesday, July 13. The finish markes the
seventh top-five finish in eight races for Clark,
the PASS North points leader. He started 12th and
quickly moved into the top-four, where he raced
nose-to-tail with the leaders for most of the event. STARTED:
12th - FINISHED: 3rd - LED: 0 times
for 0 laps
NEXT RACE: Saturday,
July 31st, Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H.
JOHNNY, HOW WOULD
YOU DESCRIBE YOUR NIGHT?
The car
was as good as any we've had at Thompson. The top-4
cars, we were all bumper to bumper. It was too bad,
because we were just a tick off. We needed a restart
or two to try and mix it up with those guys a little
bit, but we never gone one. YOU AND JAY FOGLEMAN HAD A
SPIRITED BATTLE FOR THIRD NEAR THE END.
As soon as you'd want to get to the
inside of (Fogleman's car), they'd want you to run a
lane lower than you needed to. He was holding his
hand out the window. As much banging as we were
doing he probably should have put two hands back on
the wheel.
We were just a tick off to stay
in front of (winner Ben Rowe) and then he was able
to go all the way.
Thompson
International Speedway Race Preview
PASS North Series points leader Johnny Clark of
Farmingdale, Maine, rolls into round three of the
PASS National Championship Series with the PASS 75
at Thompson International Speedway in Thompson,
Conn., on Thursday, July 22. The .625-mile
high-banked track is the nation's oldest paved oval
and also the largest facility the series visits. The
75-lap event counts as a points-paying event for
both the five-race PASS National Series as well as
the PASS North Series. Clark owns a 19-point lead
over Ben Rowe in the PASS North standings, having
posted six top-5 finishes through the first seven
races -- including a fourth-place run at Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway last weekend. Clark is fourth through
two events in the PASS National standings, 40 points
behind North Carolina's Preston Peltier, after
finishing second in the season opener at New Smyrna
Speedway in Florida and a disappointing 26th at
Hickory, N.C., in April.
PASS
National Series - POINTS POSITION: 4th LAST RACE: April 3, Hickory
Motor Speedway, Hickory, N.C. (26th-place) NEXT RACE: Sept. 12, Beech
Ridge , Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile)
PASS
North Series - POINTS POSITION: 1st LAST RACE:
July 17, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough,
Maine (4th-place) NEXT RACE: July 31, PASS 150,
Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. (.25-mile oval)
JOHNNY,
YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO RUN WELL AT THOMPSON. CAN YOU
FINALLY WIN ONE THERE?
We've always
been decent there, but we've never been stellar by
any means. You can say we've run respectfully there
-- but you can't say, 'OK, here we go, we're going
to Thompson. We're going to win.' I'm hoping we can
change that.
It's so similar to New Smyrna
(Fla.) Speedway. We led by half a lap there in
January. We just don't see any of those big,
hig-banked half-mile tracks up here, so to go there
and do that at New Smyrna really gives me a lot of
confidence going into Thompson.
DO YOU STILL CONSIDER
YOURSELF IN THE PASS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT?
We're behind, and we know that. We have to win
at Thompson. We need the points. Of course if we do
that, it's going to help us in North, too.
We
have to win to have a prayer at the National
championship. I'd say you can have one mulligan --
but it's only five races in the series, so I'm not
even sure you can say that. I'm not even sure you
can say you can have a mulligan in the North,
either, anymore.
We're putting in a new
motor, new transmission, everything -- we're going
with all our freshest stuff to go to our best track.
4th at BEECH RIDGE
After a scoring
review and the DQ of the #44 of Trevor Sanborn after
tech, Johnny scores a fourth at Beech Ridge and
Ben Rowe finishes in 9th.
Johnny stands in
1st with 1538 markers, Ben with 1519, and
Cassius Clark at 1437 in 3rd.
2nd at LEE USA Bastille 200 on 7/13
Johnny finished second
in the PASS North Series Bastille 200 at Lee USA
Speedway in Lee, N.H., on Tuesday, July 13. The
finish marked the fifth top-2 for Clark in as many
starts this season, and allowed the series points
leader to extend his lead over Ben Rowe unofficially
to 10 points through six races. Clark led the
Bastille 200 on two occasions for a race-high 113
laps but was passed by eventual race winner Mike
Rowe on a restart with 12 laps remaining.
WHAT: PASS North Series Bastille 200 WHERE: Lee
USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
STARTED: 11th - FINISHED: 2nd
- LED: 2 times for 113 laps
NEXT RACE:
Saturday, July 17th, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway,
Scarborough, Maine
JOHNNY, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR NIGHT?
The car was just phenomenal. It was on rails. We
had a tire issue or something (early), a bleeder --
I don't know what happened. We dropped backto third
after taking the lead, but we pitted and put those
right sides on and the car was just phenomenal the
whole second half.
I had over a straightaway
lead (with 25 laps remaining), and I was so far
ahead I couldn't see second place. I knew it was
going to come down to a last-minute restart, and
that's what happened. You just can't win them all.
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A
CHANCE TO HOLD OFF MIKE ROWE ON THE FINAL RESTART?
If I could beat him into (turn) one and have the
line on him... there would have been contact -- just
like there was contact when he went by after he got
a fender on me. He knew that, too -- that whoever
got a fender on who was going to take the line away.
(Rowe) did exactly what he needed to do to win
the race... It was just one of these deals. If I'd
gotten just a little bit better restart on the
tires, it might have been different.
A DISAPPOINTING FINISH, NO
MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT.
You just
hate to lose them that way after such a dominating
performance.
But the last five races, we have
three wins and two seconds. That's pretty good.
We're just going to keep plugging away.
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway
Race Preview
Points leader Johnny
Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, joins the PASS North
Series as it heads back to Beech Ridge Motor
Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, for the PASS 150 on
Saturday, July 10. Clark saw his three-race winning
streak come to an end last weekend at Canaan Fair
Speedway, but he still holds an eight-point lead
over Ben Rowe in his chase for a record fifth PASS
North Series championship. He's has three wins, four
top-5s and has yet to finish any worse than sixth
through the series' first five races. Clark finished
sixth at Beech Ridge back in May in the season
opener and hopes to improve upon that this weekend.
Clark is a former winner at the track, having
claimed the PASS 300 in September of 2008.
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE FINISH: 1st (September 2008)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE: 6th (May 2010)
LAST
RACE: July 3, Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H.
(2nd-place) NEXT RACE: July 13, Bastille 200, Lee
USA Speedway, Lee, N.H. POINTS POSITION: 1st
JOHNNY, BEECH RIDGE HAS
ALWAYS BEEN A TRICKY TRACK FOR YOU GUYS. WHAT ARE
YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS WEEKEND?
I
guess we're excited to go in there and prove that
this place can be a great race track for us. We're
on a roll here at the start of the season, and we're
pumped about that and excited about the way things
are going right now.
I don't see why we
should go and have a 'typical' Beech Ridge race for
us and be OK with coming home seventh or eighth at
the end of the night. We expect to go in there and
compete, and we should go there and be fighting for
the win.
DID YOU LOSE
ANY MOMENTUM LAST WEEKEND BY FINISHING SECOND AT
CANAAN?
Absolutely not. If you let
yourself believe things like that, then I guess I
can see how it could happen to teams that they'd
start thinking they'd lost their edge. But we don't
let that happen, because we don't look at it like
that at all.
We're right on schedule and
right on track with where we want to be. Absolutely,
you're only as good as your last race, but this team
looks ahead at how we can win the next race -- week
after week. We still have plenty of racing left and
we always go to the next race to try and win.
WHY DOES BEECH RIDGE
PRESENT SUCH PROBLEMS FOR TEAMS?
You've got to stay on top of the track, because it
just changes so much there. You don't always know
what it's going to do, but you have to do your best
to stay on top of it.
From practice to
qualifying to feature time, we've made a lot of
changes to the car in the past and it's worked out
for us. If we'd have stayed the same, we'd in real
trouble when the race started. It's just important
to keep working at it all day.
2nd at Canaan Fair
Speedway - 7/3/10
PASS SLM TOP THREE - L TO R: RICHIE DEARBORN #33,
3RD; WINNER
BEN ROWE, #48; & JOHNNY CLARK #54, 2ND; with BRAXTON ROWE
Johnny finished second
in the PASS North Series Firecracker 150 at Canaan
Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., on Saturday, July 3.
Clark's runner-up finish snapped a three-race
winning streak for the fourt-time series champion
and current points leader. Clark started 11th and
moved into second by the one-third point of the
event and even led for a brief stretch before giving
the lead over to eventual winner Ben Rowe just past
the halfway point..
STARTED: 11th - FINISHED:
2nd
NEXT RACE: Saturday, July 10, Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine
JOHNNY, ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED
TO SEE YOUR WINNING STREAK COME TO AN END?
Well, you can't win them all. I mean,
you'd like to, but to finish second in the big
picture isn't that bad for us.
YOUR CAR NEVER SEEMED TO COME
TO LIFE.
We just were too tight. The
got the car pretty good at one point for the start
of the race, but it just kept getting tighter. I
knew pretty much at the beginning that we were going
to be in a little trouble.
I took the lead
for a little bit at one point, but Ben was
definitely better than us tonight. I don't know if
we had been on like we'd been the last few races if
we couldn't have beaten him, but we just weren't as
strong.
Johnny Goes for a
PASS North Series Record 4th Straight Win at Canaan
Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, goes for a PASS
North Series-record 4th straight victory this
weekend when the series runs the Firecracker 150 at
Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H, on Saturday,
July 3. A record-setting victory at Canaan would be
fitting for Clark, who won his first 150-lap PASS
event at the track back in 2004, one of his 22
career series wins. This marks the first series
visit to Canaan since 2006.
BEST CAREER
CANAAN FAIR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (May 2004) LAST
RACE AT CANAAN FAIR SPEEDWAY: 14th (May 2006)
LAST RACE: June 20, Unity Raceway, Unity, Maine
(1st-place finish) NEXT RACE: Saturday, July 10,
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine
POINTS POSITION: 1st
JOHNNY, WHAT ARE YOUR
THOUGHTS ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A FOURTH-STRAIGHT
VICTORY THIS WEEKEND?
It's a pretty
cool opportunity to have, and we want to make the
best of it. I knew that we would be capable of
winning races, but you never think you'll win three
in a row. We'll just try and treat it like any other
race.
It's kind of a neat deal when you think
about it -- but I don't want to think about it
coming to an end. So, that being said, we're going
there to win the race.
WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF
CANAAN FAIR SPEEDWAY?
Setup-wise and
the way you drive it, I treat it a lot like
Wiscasset (Raceway). It's fast, and it's kind of a
power track the way Wiscasset is. At least, that's
how it was a few years ago when we were there. The
pavement's nice and smooth, so it should still be
the same.
I think we're going to be good,
because we have been at those kinds of tracks. I'm
really excited to get there.
WHAT'S BEEN THE KEY TO YOUR
WIN STREAK EARLY IN THE SEASON?
I
think it's just the communication between (crew
chief Robert Green) and I has been really good. He's
done a really good job of trusting what I want in
the car when I try and explain to him what I'm
feeling. I feel so lucky to have someone like him
right now in my career -- 10 years ago, I wouldn't
have been able to use him the right way.
We've learned a lot of the same things over the
years, and the communication between us is really
clicking right now and we're able to find 'it' on
race day.
UNITY Sun. 6/20
THREE
IN A ROW!
Johnny Wins
Father's Day 150 At Unity Raceway
UNITY, Maine -- Johnny Clark of Farmingdale,
Maine, won his record-tying third straight PASS
North Series race on Sunday, leading the final 114
laps virtually unchallenged en route to victory in
the Father's Day 150 at Unity Raceway.
The
win was the fourth of Clark's career at Unity, and
his second on Father's Day.
"It's really kind
of unbelievable," said Clark, who now has 22 career
series victories. "We were going for three in a row,
and I figured we'd blow it here because everyone
always expects us to be so good at this place. I
didn't know if we'd be able to pull it off."
Clark opened his streak of consecutive wins with a
150-lap win at White Mountain Motorsports Park last
month and then took the Pro All Stars Series 200 at
Speedway 660 in New Brunswick last weekend. He's
tied the series record of three consecutive wins set
by both Ben Rowe (2001) and Sam Sessions (2002).
He will have the opportunity to break the record
when the series heads to Canaan, N.H., on July 3.
Clark started 11th and moved all the way to
third in the span of just 15 laps. He took the lead
from Sanborn on a lap 37 restart, moving around him
in the preferred outside groove.
Sanborn
would prove to be Clark's only challenger for the
rest of the day, but Clark held him off on a couple
of restarts in the final stages of the race --
including one with four laps remaining.
"I
knew Trevor was going to be tough, because he was
really good in practice all day," Clark said. "It's
just that the car was so good, I was able to get it
done."
Clark previously won at Unity Raceway
in 2007 and again in May of 2009. He won the
lucrative DNK Select 250 at the track in 2004.
Johnny Clark: PASS North
Series Unity Raceway Race
Preview
Johnny Clark of
Farmingdale, Maine, heads into his favorite track on
the schedule when the PASS North Series invades
Unity Raceway for the PASS 150 on Sunday, June 20.
With back-to-back wins in his hand, Clark enters the
week having inherited the series points lead in
search of his record fifth PASS North championship.
Clark led the final 140 laps at Speedway 660 last
weekend. Not only does he own two career victories
at Unity, but he's also won on Father's Day at the
track before -- back in 2007.
WHO: Johnny
Clark, Farmingdale, Maine TEAM: Clark's Car
Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet BEST CAREER
UNITY RACEWAY FINISH: 1st (2 times, most recently
June 2007) LAST RACE AT UNITY RACEWAY: 6th
(August 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS
150 WHERE: Unity Raceway, Unity, Maine (.333-mile
oval) WHEN: 3 p.m., Sunday, June 20
PASS
NORTH SERIES LAST RACE: June 12, Speedway 660,
Fredericton, New Brunswick (25th-place finish)
NEXT RACE: Saturday, July 3, Canaan Speedway,
Canaan, N.H. POINTS POSITION: 1st
JOHNNY, YOU CLICKED OFF WINS
AT TWO TRACKS WHERE YOU'D NEVER WON IN PASS
COMPETITION. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU ABOUT THIS NEXT
STRETCH OF RACES?
It's been a lot of
fun, I can tell you that. It's always more fun when
the car's running like it should and everything's
clicking for you as a team. That's exactly what's
happening, which is really nice. We're just going to
ride it as long as we can and try to win as many of
these things as we can.
It's going to be
interesting to see how we do at a track like Unity
where everyone's expecting us to do well. The next
few tracks on the schedule are all tracks we've won
races at -- Unity, Canaan, Groveton, N.H. -- they're
all decent tracks. We're just going to go out and
try to win as many of the races as we can, just like
we always try to do.
WHAT'S THE SECRET TO RUNNING WELL AT UNITY?
I don't know what the secret's been, I really
don't. Growing up around some of these tracks has
really helped me. I think there's one really good
way to get around Unity, and I think there's a
couple of people that know how to do it -- Travis
Benjamin, Scott Chubbuck, Randy Turner and a few
others. There's just a feel you have to be looking
for when you get there, and when you find it it's
pretty good.
I just love going there, I can
tell you that. I'm really looking forward to it. I
can't wait for Sunday. I wish it was tomorrow.
660 Sat. 6/12 FIRST!
TWO IN
A ROW!
Johnny
dominated the final three-quarters of the Pro All
Stars Series 200 on Saturday night June 12th at
Speedway 660 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, en route
to posting his second straight PASS North Series
win. Clark passed Cassius Clark on lap 61, pitted
for two tires during a competition caution at the
halfway point and battled little more than lapped
traffic over the final stages of the race. It was
Clark's first PASS victory at Speedway 660, but his
second career win at the facility -- where he won
the Peterbilt 250 in 2007.
STARTED: 11th -
FINISHED: 1st - LED: 1 time for 140 laps
JOHNNY, IT SEEMS LIKE IT
WAS JUST YOUR DAY AT SPEEDWAY 660.
It
absolutely was. The car was just awesome.
We
were so good there last year, we felt like we got a
little redemption this time. When we took the lead,
it was a lot like what happened last year when we
came from mid-pack to second and then broke. We were
really good that time and just never made it to end.
I'm not saying we would have dominated that race
like we did this one, but I do feel like we had
equally as good of a car this time around.
CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THE
RACE?
Cassius (Clark) was all over me
for 30 laps after the pit stop. He had a really good
car, but then I was able to pull away after that. I
probably had a half-straightaway to a straightaway
lead, but lapped traffic was awful. There are some
guys that you get along with -- they all get out of
the way and do it in a way that's respectful. But at
one point I went three-wide with some lapped cars.
At one point, I split two lapped cars just 50
laps from the finish. That was a little wild.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO HAVE
WON TWO OF THE FIRST THREE RACES OF THE SEASON?
It's been a lot of fun, I can tell you that.
It's always more fun when the car's running like it
should and everything's clicking for you as a team.
That's exactly what's happening, which is really
nice. We're just going to ride it as long as we can
and try to win as many of these things as we can.
Johnny Clark: PASS North
Series Speedway 660 Race Preview
Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, looks to
make it back-to-back PASS North Series victories
when the series heads to the Pro All Stars Series
200 at Speedway 660 in Fredericton, New Brunswick,
on Saturday, June 12. Fresh off a win at White
Mountain Motorsports Park last month -- his first
career victory at the track -- Clark hopes to check
another track off his bucket list this weekend.
While he's never won at Speedway 660 in PASS
competition, Clark has won the prestigious
$20,000-to-win Peterbilt 250 at the track in 2007.
He enters the weekend fourth in the standings, just
eight points out of first.
WHO: Johnny Clark,
Farmingdale, Maine TEAM: Clark's Car
Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet BEST CAREER
SPEEDWAY 660 FINISH: 3rd (2003) LAST RACE AT
SPEEDWAY 660: 14th (September 2009)
WHAT:
PASS North Series Pro All Stars Series 200 WHERE:
Speedway 660, Fredericton, New Brunswick (.333-mile
oval) WHEN: 7:05 p.m., Saturday, June 12
PASS NORTH SERIES LAST RACE: Saturday, May 22,
PASS 150, White Mountain Motorsports Park, North
Woodstock, N.H. (1st-place finish) NEXT RACE:
Sunday, June 20, Unity Raceway, Unity, Maine
POINTS POSITION: 4th
JOHNNY, SPEEDWAY 660
IS THE SITE OF ONE OF THE BIGGEST WINS OF YOUR
CAREER.
Yeah, absolutely. I guess you kind of
judge races by how much they pay, and obviously,
that's a big one. But you know, there have been
other times there that were just as important to me.
I remember going there in 2003 and finishing third
behind Scott Fraser and Ben Rowe -- and at the time,
we were just getting going with this PASS deal and
that was a really big deal to me.
HOW DO YOU
APPROACH RACING AT SPEEDWAY 660?
I think it's
a lot like Unity Raceway. It has a little more
banking, a lot sharper turns, the track is smoother
and it's a little faster there -- but other than
that it's just like Unity (laughing). It is like
Unity in how you race guys there, though. In that
way it's a lot like Unity.
AFTER HAVING A
COUPLE OF WEEKENDS OFF BETWEEN EACH OF THE LAST
COUPLE OF RACES, YOU'RE ABOUT TO START A STRETCH OF
5 RACES IN A 6-WEEK STRETCH. ARE YOU READY FOR THAT?
We are. I think it's going to be good for us.
We're ready to start grinding at it now. I'm
definitely not going to complain about having time
off. Everyone's volunteer on the crew, and they get
to do stuff with their families and enjoy some time
off. But I speak for the whole team when I say that
we're ready to get this on and start clicking off
races.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE UNTIMELY
PASSING OF BUB BILODEAU AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR
SPEEDWAY LAST WEEKEND?
Shocking. Just
shocking, really. It's something you don't ever
really think about -- you're not supposed to have a
heart attack at the race track. Hey, we all know
that things happen and you might get into an
accident or have something like that. But he was 53
years old. It's not like he was old.
He
always had a smile on his face, no matter what --
and, boy, I used to make him mad. A lot. Back in
1997, 1998, 1999 -- that's when I first got to know
him. I was young, and I remember one day I dumped
him once in the heat race and once in the feature.
He would never let me forget that -- he was always
smiling and joking about it later on, but he didn't
let me forget it either.
I was down there (at
Beech Ridge) on opening day this year and got to
talk to him for a little while. We were still joking
around about payback and him getting revenge and all
that. I'm just glad I got to spend a few minutes
with him that night.
PitRowRadio.com -
"Inside PASS" - Mondays at 7 PM
This
week's guests on "Inside PASS" will be White
Mountain winner Johnny Clark and PASS South driver Clay
Jones, plus a preview of PASS South's next stop
coming up at Concord Speedway.
Johnny Clark to
Appear on Speed 51 Radio Show Speed 51 Radio has confirmed
PASS North White Mountain race winner Johnny Clark
as a guest for Tuesday night's show. Clark will
appear on the Racing Electronics hotline to discuss
his victory and the defense of his 2009 PASS North
champion. This week's show will take place live at
Victory Lane Karting in Charlotte, North Carolina
for the Kings Cup go-kart event. The show takes
place from 6-8
PM ET Tuesday and will be broadcast live on
RaceTalkRadio.com
White Mnt'n Sat. 5/22
Top
Three: L to R - Louies Mchalides # 80. 2nd;
Winner Johnny Clark #54; and Trevor Sanborn
#44, 3rd; with Braxton Rowe.
Johnny Clark
Claims First Win at White Mountain
Motorsports Park
NORTH
WOODSTOCK, N.H. -- After 12 years of
trying, Johnny Clark finally got what he
wanted in New Hampshire's White
Mountains.
Clark led the
final 37 laps of the PASS North Series
150 on Saturday night, claiming his 20th
career North Series victory -- and his
first-ever at White Mountain Motorsports
Park. The 4-time series champion
recovered from a scrape with Richie
Dearborn on a late-race restart before
driving to victory lane.
"This feels so
good," Clark said of the win on the
high-banked quarter-mile track.
"Honestly, the way the car was, I felt
like I had a dominant car the whole
race. Man, this thing was just unreal."
Louie Mechalides
finished second, while Trevor Sanborn
was third.
Clark started
17th in the 28-car field and cracked the
top-5 by lap 50 -- without the aid of a
caution flag. On a lap 59 restart, he
put the No. 54 Clark's Car Crushing/Port
City Racecars Chevrolet into third, and
he eventually took the lead following
the race's final caution on lap 110.
On the lap 111
restart, Clark nosed ahead of Dearborn
on the outside lane before the two cars
made contact on lap 112. Clark washed up
the turn three banking, but held onto
second place -- eventually running
Dearborn down two laps later.
"I just can't
believe it's taken that long to figure
this place out," Clark said. "I just
can't believe how awesome this is."
JOHNNY, CAN YOU BELIEVE YOU
FINALLY WON AT WHITE MOUNTAIN?
It's taken 12 years of coming to
White Mountain to finally win one. Man,
it feels so good. Honestly, the way the
car was, I felt like I had a dominant
car pretty much the whole race. I was
kind of watching a lot of stuff going on
(around me with other cars). Man, this
thing was just unbelievable.
WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS TRIP
VERSUS YOUR OTHER VISITS TO THIS TRACK?
Man, I just can't believe it's taken
that long to figure this place out. I
just can't believe how awesome it is.
Bill Hill's always told me -- he used to
be Ben Rowe's tire guy -- he told me,
'Man, Johnny, you've got to paint that
white line, you've got to paint that
white line.' That's always been my
problem here is pushing up in the center
(of the corner), but this thing was just
awesome.
NEXT RACE:
Saturday, June 12, PASS 200, Speedway
660, Fredericton, N.B.
Race Preview Johnny looks to bounce back
in the PASS 150 at White Mountain Motorsports Park
in North Woodstock, N.H., on Saturday, May 22.
Clark, who is attempting to become the first driver
to win three straight PASS titles, finished 6th in
the season-opener at Beech Ridge. He's never won at
the high-banked quarter-mile White Mountain track
despite finishing second there on numerous occasions
-- making it just one of two tracks on the schedule
where he's never won a Super Late Model race. Last
season, Clark locked up the 2009 PASS North
championship with a 5th-place finish at White
Mountain.
BEST CAREER WMMP FINISH: 2nd
(several times; most recently: September 2008) LAST RACE AT WMMP: 5th (September 2009) PASS NORTH SERIES LAST RACE:
Saturday, May 1, PASS 150, Beech Ridge, Scarborough,
Maine (6th-place finish) NEXT RACE:
Saturday, June 12, Speedway 660, Fredericton, New
Brunswick POINTS POSITION: 5th
JOHNNY, YOU MAKE NO
SECRET ABOUT THE FACT THAT THIS IS NOT ONE OF YOUR
FAVORITE TRACKS. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THIS WEEKEND?
We're not giving up, that's for sure. We're
going with something a little different setup-wise,
something similar to what we've done before but
think we've been just a little off with.
There's no track we go to that's that small and that
fast for as small as it is. It's extremely
high-banked. A place like Thompson (Conn.) is
high-banked, too, but White Mountain's still just a
quarter-mile. But it's fast for a quarter-mile.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE LONG DAY
AT BEECH RIDGE EARLIER THIS MONTH TO OPEN THE
SEASON?
I was really hoping we were
going to find some things when we got back that we
could put a finger on for why we were so off at
Beech Ridge. But, when you think about it, it tells
you a lot about this team -- how many other teams
would be as disappointed as we were with a 6th-place
finish? It was just kind of a typical day there for
us.
I know that I'd take a win at White
Mountain any way possible. I don't care if at end of
the day I didn't have a car that was the fastest car
out there. I just want to win there, period.
WHAT'S THE KEY TO SUCCESS AT WHITE
MOUNTAIN?
I can tell you more about
what won't work at White Mountain than what will
work at White Mountain.
The car's got to turn
in the middle of the corner. If the car doesn't
turn, you're going to push up in the middle and
never get any traction going down the straightway.
If you miss that corner, it's going to mess up your
whole lap, and it will probably take you another lap
or two just to get back in your rhythm.
Beech Ridge Sat. 5/1 6th Place
Photos by
NormMarx.com
Multi-time PASS
North Series champion Johnny Clark finished 6th in
the season-opening PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor
Speedway on Saturday, May 1. Clark started 20th
after drawing the dead-last starting spot in his
heat race and then had to fight through heavy
traffic for most of the event.
STARTED: 20th -
FINISHED: 6th - LED: 0 times for 0 laps
JOHNNY, HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE YOUR DAY? It was kind
of typical Beech Ridge for us. We're either off or
on -- we were kind of really in the middle. We were
OK all weekend, and we just never could find
everything we needed. To come home sixth and the car
is somewhat in one piece, it's good. We'll go on to
the next one.
SEEMS LIKE YOU MADE A
BIG JUMP IN TRACK POSITION FOLLOWING RESTARTS. There was a
wreck going into one, and I was able to pick up six
or seven spots, and that was kind of the turning
point for us in the race. Started picking off some
positions after that and got by (Richie) Dearborn. I
thought we had a real good chance at running for a
third or fourth-place finish, and probably would
have but we got held up quite a bit by lapped
traffic and that hurt us.
NEXT RACE: Saturday,
May 22, PASS 150, White Mountain Motorsports Park,
North Woodstock, N.H.
Beech Ridge Sat. 5/1 Race Preview
4-time PASS North Series
champion Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, opens
the 2010 season with the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday,
May 1. The series schedule was originally slated to
start last month at
Speedway 95 before inclement weather intervened.
Clark is attempting to become the first driver in
series history to win both three consecutive
championships and five total titles. Clark won PASS
North titles in 2008 and 2009 and sits second on the
all-time win list with 19 career victories --
including the 2008 PASS 300 at Beech Ridge.
WHO: Johnny Clark,
Farmingdale, Maine TEAM:
Clark's Car Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet BEST CAREER
BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (September
2008) LAST RACE AT
BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 4th (September 2009)
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 150
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough,
Maine (.333-mile oval) WHEN: 3 p.m.,
Saturday, May 1
PASS NORTH SERIES LAST
RACE: N/A NEXT RACE: Saturday, May 22,
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock,
N.H. JOHNNY, AFTER HAVING
THE RACE AT SPEEDWAY 95 RAINED OUT IN APRIL, HOW DO
YOU FEEL ABOUT OPENING THE 2010 PASS NORTH SERIES
SEASON AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND?
Really, when you're
talking about the top race track in the state, you
couldn't ask for a better place to start the year. I
love it there.
What's actually very
interesting about the place is you think maybe
you've got the place conquered one time, and the
next time you go back you can't get out of your own
way. It's not my best race track, but it's also not
my worst one by any means. I really like it.
WHAT'S THE KEY TO
HAVING SUCCESS AT BEECH RIDGE?
I think it's going to
be an interesting race, because it's just such an up
and down place for everyone. You never know who
you're going to be racing for the win there. It's so
up and down for everybody there that you really
don't know what's going to happen until the race
gets underway.
I like that it's a
huge challenge trying to get the car right and get
it to go for 150 laps on one set of tires. You've
got to have the car on a rail for the whole race and
be good. You're not going to take a 10th-place car
and win at Beech Ridge. The driver just can't make
up that much there.
TALK ABOUT YOUR
THOUGHTS ON MAKING A RUN AT AN UNPRECEDENTED THIRD
STRAIGHT PASS NORTH SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON.
We go to every race
with the number one goal being to finish first. I
couldn't think of a better way to start off a year
than by winning this weekend. It's the first PASS
North race of the year and winning would be a great
way to start our campaign for a third consecutive
championship.
Speedway 95
Sun. 4/18
Race Preview POSTPONED
BY RAIN
4-time PASS North Series champion
Johnny Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, opens the 2010
north season with the
PASS 150 at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine, on Sunday,
April 18. Clark is attempting to become the first
driver in series history to win both three
consecutive championships and five total titles.
Clark won PASS North titles in 2008 and 2009 and
sits second on the all-time win list with 19 career
victories. He's won two of the last three series'
events held at Speedway 95.
WHO:
Johnny Clark, Farmingdale, Maine TEAM:
Clark's Car
Crushing/Port City No. 54 Chevrolet BEST
CAREER SPEEDWAY 95 FINISH:
1st (April 2009)
WHAT:
PASS North Series PASS 150 WHERE:
Speedway 95, Hermon, Maine. (.333-mile oval) WHEN:
1:30 p.m., Sunday, April 18
JOHNNY,
WHY ARE YOU ONE OF THE FEW DRIVERS WHO ACTUALLY
ENJOYS RACING AT SPEEDWAY 95?
I don't really know what it is about the place, but
I like it. It's rough and it's a lot like Unity
Raceway, because it's the kind of place where you
have to get up on the wheel and really hustle the
car around. It's in the driver's hands.
WHY IS THE FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON IMPORTANT?
It's important to get off to a good start this
weekend. All we can control is what we do in the
shop by preparing for every race, and that's what
we've been doing.
Obviously, you don't want to get too far behind
early in the year, so you want to come out of this
race with a good finish.
TALK
ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON MAKING A RUN AT AN
UNPRECEDENTED THIRD STRAIGHT PASS NORTH SERIES
CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON.
We go to every race with the number one goal being
to finish first. I couldn't think of a better way to
start off a year than by winning this weekend. It's
the first PASS North race of the year and winning
would be a great way to start our campaign for third
consecutive championship.
26th at the
Easter Bunny
150 after a a turn one
multi-car wreck
crushes the nose and leads to
overheating. 12th in time trials out
of an incredible field of 49 top
runners.
FARMINGDALE, Maine -- Johnny Clark will head back to
Hickory Motor Speedway next week hoping that the
third time is the charm.
After a pair of races at the North Carolina short
track in which Clark felt he had a much better car
than the final results showed, he's set to turn
things around in the second round of the PASS
National Series. Clark has entered the PASS Easter
Bunny 150 at Hickory on April 3, the second of five
PASS National Series events in 2010.
"Hopefully, we'll go down there and have a good run
and see if we can't get the (National) points lead,"
said Clark, who finished second in the Winterfest
150 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in January and
trails Brad Leighton on the PASS National standings.
Clark, a four-time PASS North Series champion who
ranks second all-time with 19 career victories,
qualified second in the Easter Bunny 150 in 2009 but
faded to an 11th-place finish with an ill-handling
car over long runs. In 2007, he was again fast early
but was hindered by a broken bleeder valve that left
him struggling to a 4th-place finish.
"I
don't know what it is about that place," Clark said
of Hickory. "I like it -- I really do. We always
seem to have a really fast car there, but for
whatever reason it's never fast at the end."
But Clark's struggles at Hickory have paid
dividends. He's never taken his primary car -- the
one he drove to his fourth title last season in the
North -- to Hickory, and he believes that things he
learned at Hickory last time around will help when
the No. 54 Port City/Clark's Car Crushing Chevrolet
rolls into the speedway this year.
"I think we're going to be a lot better this time
around," Clark said. "We're excited to go."
The race serves as the final tune up for Johnny
Clark Motorsports' PASS North Series efforts. That
season kicks off on April 18 at Speedway 95 in
Hermon, Maine. Clark is the defending champion of
that event.
Hickory Motor Speedway
Race Preview Reigning PASS North Series champion Johnny
Clark of Farmingdale, Maine, will compete in the
PASS Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway in
Hickory, N.C., on Saturday, April 3. Clark is second
in the 2010 PASS National Series standings after one
of five events.
WHO: Johnny Clark,
Farmingdale, Maine
TEAM: No. 54 Port City/Clark's Car Crushing
Chevrolet
WHAT:
PASS Easter Bunny 150 WHERE:
Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, N.C. (.363-mile
oval) WHEN:
8 p.m., Saturday, April 3 BEST CAREER FINISH AT
HICKORY MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 4th (2007)
PASS NATIONAL SERIES
LAST RACE (Jan. 31):
Finished 2nd (New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach,
Fla.) POINTS POSITION:
2nd (after one of five races)
JOHNNY,
TALK ABOUT FINISHING SECOND AT NEW SMYRNA IN JANUARY
AFTER LEADING MOST OF THE 150-LAP EVENT.
"I was pretty bad on restarts all day. I was just a
sitting duck.
"It would take me four or five laps to catch the guy
in front of me (on restarts), I just didn’t have
enough time at the end to get the lead back."
WHAT'S
BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE AT HICKORY MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN
THE PAST?
"I don't know what it is about that place. I like it
-- I really do. We always seem to have a really fast
car there, but for whatever reason it's never fast
at the end.
"We learned a lot of things the last time we were
there. I feel like we learned enough to have a car
capable of winning when we go back."
DO YOU
HAVE A GOAL IN MIND FOR THIS WEEKEND?
"Hopefully, we'll go down there and have a good run
and see if we can't get the (National) points lead."
Solid Effort Gets Clark’s Season Off On Right Foot
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Johnny Clark Motorsports
got its 2010 racing season off to a great start on
Sunday, with a dominating effort en route to a
2nd-place finish in the PASS Winterfest 150 at New
Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway.
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday
evening, but bad weather forced its postponement
until Sunday afternoon.
Clark enjoyed a full straightaway lead with just
five laps remaining and appeared to have a win in
hand. But a late caution flag bunched the field to
set up a race restart with just five laps remaining.
"I was pretty bad on restarts all day," said Clark,
of Farmingdale, Maine. "I was just a sitting duck."
Brad Leighton of Center Harbor, N.H., capitalized by
taking the lead and then the victory.
"It would take me four or five laps to catch the guy
in front of me (on restarts)," said Clark, noting
that the outside lane was the preferred groove on
the fast, half-mile track. "I just didn’t have
enough time at the end to get the lead back."
Clark led a total of nearly 90 laps in the first of
five PASS National Series races scheduled for 2010.
The 4-time PASS North Series champion was the
quickest of 24 cars in time trials earlier in the
afternoon and lined up fourth on the starting grid
following a re-draw of the fastest qualifiers.
He was disappointed not to have won after leading on
a number of different occasions Sunday, but he
conceded it was a great start to the new year.
"Absolutely," Clark said. "We were awesome all
weekend. Considering we didn’t even have a race car
together two weeks ago, I think this said a lot
about our team. We didn’t even know we were coming
to Florida until the last-minute, but we proved that
we’re ready to go."
Clark anticipates that his next start will come in
round No. 2 of the PASS National Series -- in the
Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway on
April 3.
PRACTICE FOR THE PASS WINTERFEST 150 - NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY -
1/29/10
Photos by
NormMarx.com
Multi-Time Champs Team Up For Florida 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.
JOHNNY CLARK
READY TO
DRIVE FOR 5
FARMINGDALE, Maine -- Johnny Clark is getting an
early start on the 2010 PASS North Series season.
Clark, a 4-time PASS North champion, was among the
first three drivers to register with the sanctioning
body for the upcoming season as he seeks to become
the first driver to win five championships in the
PASS North Super Late Model ranks.
"There's no reason to believe we can't contend for a
fifth championship," said Clark, who won
back-to-back series championships in 2008-2009. "The
same team is coming back, with (crew chief Robert
Green) heading it up. I think it's going to be a
great year for us."
That year kicks off this coming weekend, Jan. 8-10,
at the Northeast Motorsports Expo at the Augusta
Civic Center, just a few miles down the road from
Clark's Farmingdale home. Clark will be on hand to
sign autographs on Friday night and again on
Saturday afternoon.
MORE
in STORY BELOW
The racing season begins in earnest with the opener
at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine, on April 18.
Clark has 19 career PASS North victories to rank
second all-time in the series. He'd not only like to
break the 20-win plateau this season, but he'd also
like to snap a tie with Ben Rowe for the most career
PASS championships.
Green, of Benton, Maine, will be back as crew chief
on the familiar black, red and yellow No. 54 Port
City/Clark's Car Crushing Chevrolet which won three
times in 2009.
"The bottom line is that he wants to win races and
that's it," Clark said of Green. "That's really it.
He doesn't go to the racetrack to make friends.
That's a little hard sometimes, because it even goes
for our own team, but he simply wants to win races.
"You've got to respect that."
The 30-year-old Clark also won championships in the
2004 and 2006 PASS North seasons, giving him three
of the last four series titles. He's one of only two
PASS drivers with multiple championships and more
than 15 career wins.
He hopes that the momentum from last year will
continue to right through the first half of the 2010
season. Four of the first five series races will be
held at tracks where Clark has visited victory lane
-- Speedway 95, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Speedway
660 in Geary, New Brunswick, and Unity Raceway.
But winning isn't everything on the path to the
championship, Clark said.
"You've got to be consistent all year," he said.
"The competition is so tough on this tour that you
can't really afford to have any bad races,
especially early in the year.
STOP
BY THE PASS BOOTH at the
Northeast Motorsports Expo for
an Autographed Hero Card
. Friday -
January 8th - 6 to 8 PM Johnny Clark, Ben
Rowe, & Jay Fogleman Saturday -
January 9th -
3 - 5 PM
Johnny Clark &
Ben Rowe
.
Naples
ME (January 1, 2010) The New Year is upon us, and
race fans from all over northern New England will
converge on the Augusta (Maine) Civic Center next
weekend for the Northeast Motorsports Expo, the
traditional lid lifter to the new racing season. The
Pro All Stars Series (PASS) will once again
celebrate the New Year in Augusta with autograph
sessions from racers in every division.
One of the many highlights of the January 8-10 event
will be appearances by 2009 PASS North Super Late
Model Champion Johnny Clark and 2009 PASS South and
National Champion Ben Rowe. Clark is celebrating his
fourth PASS North title, while Rowe now has the
distinction of being the only driver to claim all
three PASS super late model Championships.
A special guest will join Clark and Rowe in Augusta
on Friday and Saturday. PASS South star Jay Fogleman
will make the trip from Durham North Carolina to
meet and greet northern super late model fans.
Fogleman has more than 100 career wins to his credit
and track championships at Orange County, South
Boston and Ace Speedways. He’s won four times at
Martinsville Speedway and has nine wins in the
former Hooters ProCup series. In 2009 Fogleman
finished fifth in the PASS South super late model
standings with three wins, six top five and nine top
ten finishes in his fourteen starts. Fogleman chased
Rowe for the PASS National Championship title as
well, finishing fifth.
PASS officials will be on hand throughout the
weekend to answer questions; rules and schedules for
all four PASS divisions will be available.
Expect a number of additional
drivers to join Clark, Rowe and Fogleman for the
autograph sessions. Keep an eye on
www.proallstarsseries.com
throughout the week for more driver appearances.
Northeast Motorsports Expo gets underway Friday
January 8th. Doors open at 5:00 PM and the show
wraps up at 10:00 PM. On Saturday January 9th show
hours are 10:00 AM – 9:00 Pm and Sunday January 10th
the Expo runs from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM.
