Doiron Comes From Behind For PASS Opener Win At GPS

You can sum up Joey Doiron’s race Saturday at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in three words – never give up.

The Berwick, Maine native drove back from being three laps down at the start of the PASS South Super Late Model Series season opener to take the lead with 25 laps to go, and then held off a furious charge over the closing laps from Mike Hopkins to take the Winter Meltdown victory at the historic Easley, SC half-mile.

“That was just unbelievable,” Doiron said in victory lane. “You get three laps down most times and you’re out of it. With the lucky dog there, I figured if we could get back on the lead lap by lap 50 or 60, we would be all right.

“It’s just a matter of, when you’re that many laps down, you have to race hard the whole time and you’re not able to save anything, and that’s what I figured would hurt us at the end. We were fortunate enough that we had a really good car.”

Doiron’s day got off to a rough start when his No. 73 experienced clutch issues at the beginning of the race.

“We came out and did our pace laps here at the start, and I had no clutch. It didn’t bother me at first, and then all of sudden the clutch was engaging when the pedal was rock hard. So I came in and we looked at it and it seemed to get better.

“We took the green and it was way worse than it had been before, so we pitted and they undid the clutch. Basically, we had no clutch the rest of the race. With these types of transmissions, you can get away with that.”

By the time the problem was rectified, however, he found himself three laps down to the leaders.

While Preston Peltier was fastest in qualifying, an invert put Roger Lee Newton at the front of the field for the start of the 150 lap feature. Newton would take the early lead, with Tyler Church and Matt Craig giving chase.

The action was halted on lap three, when a multi-car incident in turn two brought out the first caution of the day.

On the restart, Newton again held the top spot. But over the next few laps, Hopkins would show some of his strength, as he rocketed to the outside and took the lead on lap seven. Behind him, Brennan Poole moved to second. The caution flew again on lap eight when J.P. Josiasse spun off of turn four.

On the restart, Poole moved to the point, while behind the leaders, Peltier began a charge into the top five. As Poole continued to lead, Jeremy Davis began to move into contention, along with Derek Scott, Jr. As the race approached the 30 lap mark, the Davis had moved to second, with Scott, Jr. in third.

The action was interrupted again by caution, this time for a two car tangle in turn two on lap 30.

Davis flexed his muscles on the restart, driving around Poole for the lead with Scott, Jr. giving chase. For the next few laps, Scott, Jr. would apply pressure to the leader, looking for an opportunity to pass.

Caution flew for the fourth time on the day for a multi-car incident that started on the backstretch involving Jimmy Dolye, Trey Jarrell, Jeff Batten, Joey Padget and Matt Mattheson. Two more cars, Kodie Conner and Vinnie Miller, came to rest in turn four, while Jody Lavender’s ride stopped in turn two.

Of those involved, Miller, Batten Jarrell and Lavender were done for the day.

After an extensive clean up period, Scott, Jr. used a move on the outside line to take the lead. Behind him, Peltier was again on the move, and as the race hit the 40 lap mark, he would drive his way into second place, with Derek Ranstrom following in third.

Another multi-car accident, this time involving John-Michael Shenette, Josiasse and Mattheson in turn three, brought out the caution as the race reached lap 51.

On the restart, Scott, Jr. held the lead, with Peltier in second and Hopkins in third. Following a caution for debris on lap 58, Peltier would take the lead for the first time on the day. That lead was short lived, however, as Hopkins made the move to take the top spot one lap later.

Scott, Jr. would work his way back up to the leaders, and on lap 69, would retake the lead off of turn two. He would hold that spot until the next caution flew, this time due to a spin by Zachary Dabbs on lap 78.

Meanwhile, Doiron was able to make up ground by getting the “luck dog” pass on the previous cautions to get back onto the lead lap. When the green flag came back out, Ranstrom moved to the lead, Doiron in pursuit.

Doiron shadowed Ranstrom for several laps, looking for an opportunity to pounce. On lap 92, he got his chance, catching Ranstrom behind a slower lap car. Doiron powered to the outside and took the lead on the backstretch. He held that spot until lap 103, when PASS officials threw a planned competition caution, allowing teams 10 minutes to work on their cars.

Doiron’s clutch issues showed itself on the restart, as Ranstrom was able to get out front, with Doiron in second and Hopkins in third.

Over the next 23 laps, Doiron stalked the leader, looking time and again for an opportunity to pass. On lap 124, he got his opportunity, as he pulled alongside Ranstrom on the backstretch, and finally took the lead half a lap later.

From there, it looked like the race was going to be a runaway for Doiron, while behind him, Ranstrom and Hopkins tried to give chase. As the field came to lap 143, Hopkins was able to take second.

But Doiron’s sure thing took a hit with just seven laps to go, when Shenette spun in turn one, bringing out the final caution of the afternoon.

On the restart Doiron was able to edge out Hopkins, but he wasn’t able to get away from the field. Over the closing laps, Hopkins was all over the back of Doiron’s racer, looking for a way to get around. Hopkins was able to get alongside on the high side, but was unable to complete the pass.

Coming to the white flag, Hopkins nudged Doiron coming through the fourth turn, but backed off enough to allow Doiron to gather the car up.

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“Mike gave me everything I could handle there at the end, and fortunately I was able to protect the bottom,” Doiron said.

Hopkins held on to finish in second, with Peltier in third.

“I got down in there and gave him a shove and got to his door, but I put the nose into the wall so I had to lift,” said Hopkins. “I’ve got to race him all year, and Joey’s been good to me. I don’t race that way, I have a hard time racing that way. Hopefully some day the favor will be returned.”

“We just got a little tight there at the end,” Peltier said. “I think maybe we had a little too much right front camber. We’ve got something to build on. We’ll work on it and maybe we’ll come back.

“It was good. I’d like to win, though.”

Ranstrom finished in fourth, with Davis in fifth

Craig, Ben Rowe, Randy Gentry, Conner and Jay Fogleman rounded out the top ten.

The PASS South Super Late Model Series returns to action on Saturday, March 5 for the 11th annual South Carolina Clash at Dillon Motor Speedway in Dillon, SC.  For more information, visit ProAllStarsSeries.com.

Meanwhile, Greenville-Pickens Speedway will hold its regular season opener on Saturday, March 5, headlined by the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Models in Twin 75 lap features. For more information, visit GreenvillePickens.com.

PASS South Super Late Model Series
Greenville-Pickens Speedway – Easley, SC
Winter Meltdown 150 – Feb. 6, 2016

1. 73 – Joey Doiron
2. 15 – Mike Hopkins
3. 74 – Preston Peltier
4. 35 – Derek Ramstrom
5. 09 – Jeremy Davis
6. 54 – Matt Craig
7. 4 – Ben Rowe
8. 09 – Randy Gentry
9. 45 – Kodie Conner
10. 4 – Jay Fogleman
11. 33 – Roger Lee Newton
12. 3 – Kaz Grala
13. 10 – R.S. Senter
14. 16 – Travis Stearns
15. 8 – Tate Fogleman
16. 7 – Tyler Church
17. 82 – John Michael Shenette
18. 23 – Zachary Dabbs
19. 88 – Kyle Desouza
20. 71 – Jimmy Doyle
21. 24 – JP Josiasse
22. 01 – Derek Scott, Jr.
23. 5 – Brennan Poole
24. 83 – Joey Padget
25. 59 – Dustin Dunn
26. 5F – Mike Faulk
27. 2 – Matt Matheson
28. 7K – Jody Lavender
29. 12 – Trey Jarrell
30. 49 – Jeff Batten
31. 16 – Vinnie Miller
32. 64 – Garrett Evans