Benjamin Wins PASS North Season Finale; Shaw Defends Title

SEEKONK, MA – Travis Benjamin did all that he could do in his quest for a third Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model championship, winning the season-ending 150-lapper at Seekonk Speedway.  A seventh-place finish turned in by defending champion DJ Shaw proved to be enough to hold off Benjamin’s rally in the title bout.  It is the third PASS North Super Late Model championship for Shaw, his family team and chief supporters Julio & Rita Miglioli.

Benjamin was at his best on the tight Seekonk oval, winning his heat race to cut Shaw’s lead entering the main event.  Benjamin patiently worked his way from the back half of the starting grid, battling both regular PASS rivals and ultra-competitive weekly Pro Stock division competitors from the historic Bay State oval track.

Seekonk regular Ryan Vanasse led a huge chunk of the race, building a healthy advantage at times, but when Benjamin turned up the wick there was no one who could keep pace and he cruised into victory lane with the Petit Motorsports 7 for the second time this season.

Reid Lanpher of Manchester, Maine ended up in the second position following an eventful afternoon.  Lanpher won the biggest ‘open’ race of the season for the weekly Pro Stocks at Seekonk earlier this season.  Nick Sweet of Barre, Vermont raced hard with the leaders throughout the 150-lap race to earn third-place hardware exactly one month after posting his first PASS North Super Late Model win.

Four-time 2018 PASS North SLM winner Curtis Gerry of Waterboro, Maine made his usual, healthy dose  of late-race progress and crossed the finish line in fourth position.  Derek Griffith of Hudson, New Hampshire, another PASS regular who has been successful in Seekonk open races, rounded out the top five.

Vanasse, of Warwick, Rhode Island, ended up in sixth position after dominating the middle portion of the race.   Championship winner Shaw was seventh, ahead of Wayne Helliwell, Jr. of Dover, New Hampshire.  Rounding out the top ten were Garrett Hall of Scarborough, Maine and Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Craig Weinstein of Walpole, Massachusetts, who splits his time between Super Late Model tour racing and weekly Seekonk Speedway competition, led much of the event’s early stages before an incident with a lapped car spoiled his day, relegating him to an 18th-place finish.

Drivers from all six New England States and Pennsylvania raced in the PASS North 150 at Seekonk Speedway.

Though the Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model season has been completed, the final 2018 PASS National Championship Series Super Late Model event is scheduled for Saturday, November 9 at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway.  The Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200 will also determine the PASS South Super Late Model champion as well as the national titlist.  For more information please visit proallstarsseries.com or call (207) 539-8865.

Results from the October 28 Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model 150 at Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Masachusetts, showing finishing position, car number, driver’s name, driver’s hometown:

1 7 Travis Benjamin, Morrill, ME; 2 59 Reid Lanpher, Manchester, ME; 3 40 Nick Sweet, Barre, VT; 4 7 Curtis Gerry, Waterboro, ME; 5 12 Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH; 6 11 Ryan Vanasse, Warwick, RI; 7 60 DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH; 8 27 Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, NH; 9 94 Garrett Hall, Scarborough, ME; 10 35 Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 11 93 Ray Christian III, Uncasville, CT; 12 14 Rick Martin, Westport, MA; 13 47 Gabe Brown, Center Conway, NH; 14 52 David Darling, Seekonk, MA; 15 12 Bobby Pelland, Kingston, RI; 16 Nicholas Johnson, Rehoboth, MA; 17 76 Zane Zeiner, Bath, PA; 18 90 Craig Weinstein, Walpole, MA; 19 75 Gary Smith, Bangor, ME; 20 4 Ben Rowe, Turner, ME.

source – series communications