Sweet Wins PASS Opener at White Mountain

NORTH CONWAY, NH – Nick Sweet used lapped traffic to power his way past Travis Benjamin on lap 112 of the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) 150 at White Mountain Motorsports Park (WMMP) Sunday afternoon. The win is the fourth career triumph for the Barre, Vermont driver who has been a regular on the PASS tour mid-way through the 2018 season. Center Conway NH driver DJ Shaw came home in the second spot in the throwback numbered 122 while Benjamin held on for the third place trophy.

For the first time in series history, Sunday’s race was held without fans. However, the action was streamed by NSNsports out of Vermont.

Sweet started the 150 lap contest on the outside pole, and even led briefly on laps 20-22 before settling into the second spot waiting for the right time to make a move. That time came as the field approached the 100 lap mark and the 40VT began his charge to the front. Once in the lead, Sweet stretched his advantage to nearly a straight at times as he remained in full command of the race. Shaw staged a late race charge and moved to with 6 car lengths but ran out of time and settled for the runner-up spot. Derek Ranstrom and Alan Tardif rounded out the top 5 while Trevor Sanborn, early leader Johnny Clark, Mike Hopkins, Wayne Helliwell, and Garrett Hall finalized the Top 10.

Tyler King served notice to fellow PASS MODS competitors that the neon yellow number 11 will be a force to be reckoned with in 2020. After joining the series in 2019 after race six, the Gray, Maine driver led the series with three wins in his 12 starts, making him one of the off-season favorites for the title. King took over the lead on lap five of and survived a half dozen plus cautions to nail down his fourth career PASS MODS win. Justin Larson, who wasn’t even sure he would be ready to race as late as Tuesday, came home second in a heated battle with third place finisher Brian Treadwell. Treadwell, who has only competed with PASS a handful of times, was the pole sitter and jumped out to the early lead before slipping back in the pack. Rounding out the top 5 was Bobby Nadeau and Gary Dwinal making his debut with the series. Sixth through tenth went to Kevin Durgin, Joe Day, Ashley Beyea, Ben Tinker, and Spencer Vaughn. A healthy field of 18 MODS ran the feature.

The eagerly awaited 2020 debut of the Honey Badger Street Stock Series became a test of not just speed but of survival. Making their first start on the new 10 inch tire meant that every competitor had to start with a clean notebook and make their best guess at setup. In the end, Zach Bowie proved to be both fastest and toughest of the stout 20 car field. Starting in row 3, Bowie powered his way to the front on lap 22 and held the spot until lap 35 when he tangled with another competitor. By lap 46, Bowie was back out front to stay in the 50 lap tilt, and he triumphed for his first career PASS win. Finishing out victory lane was Ryan Robinson and multi-time Oxford Plains Speedway Champion Matt Dufault. Jordan Russell was forth and Mike Haynes, without a single scratch on his car, was the fifth place finisher.

UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
1) 40Vvt – Nick Sweet – 150 Laps
2) 122 – DJ Shaw – 150
3) 7 – Travis Banjamin – 150
4) 35 – Derek Ramstrom – 150
5) 9 – Alan Tardiff – 150
6) 29s – Trevor Sanborn – 150
7) 54 – Johnny Clark – 150
8) 15 – Mike Hopkins – 150
9) 27 – Wayne Helliwell – 150
10) 94 – Gattett Hall – 150
11) 47b – Gabe Brown – 150
12) 72 – Ryan Kuhn – 150
13) 29t – Austin Teras – 150
14) 85 – Travis Stearns – 150
15) 81 – Dan Winters – 150

16) 4 – Ben Rowe – 149
17) 99 – Ben Ashline – 149
18) 88 – Brandon Barker – 148
19) 17ma – Eddie MacDonald – 148
20) 47m – Kelly Moore – 148
21) 10 – Kate Re – 148
22) 39L – Nick Lascoula – 146
23) 1vt – Evan Hallstrom – 146
24) 39 – Cassius Clark – 91
25) 12g – Derek Griffith – 76
26) 50 – Jeff White – 61
27) 14 – Scot McDaniel – 60
28) 7g – Curtis Gerry – 37
29) 5x – Bobby Therrien – 2

30) 61 – TJ Brackett