Rowe Ends Drought With North-South Shootout Win

Ben Rowe survived late race mayhem to snap a winless streak going back to September of 2012 Saturday with a victory in the PASS South series at Caraway Speedway. Photo by Laura / LWpictures.com

Ben Rowe weaved his way through a multi-car accident with four laps to go while running sixth and led the remaining laps to win Saturday afternoon’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model North-South Shootout at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, NC. Rowe’s 8th career PASS South Super Late Model victory ended a winless streak dating back to September, 2012 when he won the PASS 400 at Maine’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

“It was kind of our strategy to back off, but the leaders got out front and we couldn’t run with them,” said Rowe, the All-Time winningest driver in PASS Super Late Model competition. “I knew all hell was going to break loose with 10 or 15 laps to go and we just wanted to be in the right position. I’d rather be lucky than good any day and lo and behold we got through the wreck and were leading with just a few laps to go.”

In Friday night’s qualifying session, veteran Lee Tissot turned the quick time around the .455 mile speedway with a lap of 99.969 miles per hour. Following the customary PASS South redraw for the top 10 qualifiers, Tissot would line up fifth for the 150 lap feature while Justin Allison and Rowe would move up front to pace the field. But all eyes would be on the back of the field where Kyle Grissom and Daniel Hemric would start 21st and 22nd respectively. Grissom struggled with an engine issue in qualifying, while Hemric had to start at the rear after missing qualifying due to his racing in Phoenix Friday night in the NASCAR Truck Series event.

Under overcast skies Saturday afternoon, Allison led early on, while Grissom and Hemric quickly made their moves up toward the front. It only took Grissom five laps to make it into the top five. Hemric proved to be a bit more methodical moving into the top 10 by lap 24.

Several drivers took turns at the front of the field including Allison, Spencer Davis, and Ryan Moore. The fast qualifier Tissot was in the mix as well taking the lead for the first time on lap 57 from Davis. Two hard crashes on the frontstretch in the early going took out several top 10 contenders including John Batten, Gus Dean, Bill Catania, and rookie Ashley Rogero.

Spencer Davis (129) battles for position with Karl Weber (50) during Saturday’s race. Photo by Laura / LWpictures.com

Points leader Jay Fogleman had a scare when a flat right front tire caused him to stop on the track on lap 92 resulting in the Durham, NC veteran going a lap down. But when early leader Moore stopped with a problem of his own 12 laps later, Fogleman got the free pass putting him back on the lead lap and back into contention.

Tissot would lead the field down on the restart, but spun his tires coming up to speed allowing Grissom to move up front for the first time in the race. Hemric would soon make his move into second and it looked like the two drivers who started on row 11 would duke it out for the win. With 22 laps to go, they made contact entering turn one which sent Grissom up the track and Hemric into the lead. But a rash of late cautions kept the field together in the race’s waning laps.

With four laps to go, both Hemric and Grissom spun their tires coming to the green flag. As the field entered turn one, it appeared Hemric lost control and spun up the track as the entire field sped in behind him. In one instant the entire complexion of the race changed drastically as Grissom, Kyle Desouza, Tissot, Allison, Jody Measamer, Randy Gentry, Karl Weber and others were all swept up into the accident.

Rowe, who was running sixth at the time of the accident, emerged from the carnage with the lead and held on for the final four laps for his first PASS South Super Late Model win since 2011. Fogleman rebounded to finish second in front of Ted Mickelson, Gentry and Davis. Rounding out the top ten were Joseph Mursuli, Allison, Weber, Desouza, and Bobby Measmer, Jr.

Next up for the PASS Super Late Models will be the 8th annual Mason Dixon Meltdown 200 at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday, November 23. The Meltdown will be the final PASS event of 2013 and will see champions crowned in the PASS National Series, PASS South, and the PASS Pro Late Models.

PASS South Super Late Models
Caraway Speedway – Sophia, NC
North-South Shootout (Unofficial) – Nov. 9, 2013
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1. #4N – Ben Rowe
2. #4F – Jay Fogleman
3. #77 – Ted Mickelson
4. #09 – Randy Gentry
5. #29 – Spencer Davis
6. #8 – Joseph Murculi
7. #1 – Justin Allison
8. #50 – Karl Weber
9. #88 – Kyle Desouza
10.#51 – Bobby Measmer
11.#71 – Lee Tissot
12.#41 Daniel Hemric
13.#31 – Kyle Grissom
14.#74 – Ryan Moore
15.#98 – Jody Measamer
16.#8F – Tate Fogleman
17.#93 – David Russell
18.#17 – Ashley Rogero
19.#18 – Bill Catania
20.#30 – Rodney Brooks
21.#48 – John Batten
22.#2G – Gus Dean
DNS: #40 – Ryan Krachun