Ben Rowe Wins PASS North Finale at Unity,
Johnny Clark Earns 2nd Championship

UNITY, Maine (Oct. 22, 2006) - Despite cold temperatures and an aggressive late-race challenge from Cassius Clark, Ben Rowe continued his autumn hot streak Sunday afternoon by capturing the 2006 Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North Super Late Model division season finale at historic Unity Raceway.

The Turner, Maine, native took the lead for the third and final time on lap 115 and hung on to record his third straight victory on the PASS North Super Late Model/Pro Stock tour. This has been an impressive turnaround for the three-time series champion, after getting off to a slow start in his first season driving for the Richard Moody Racing (RMR) team. Clark fought side-by-side with Rowe in his Team EJP/Chapman Racing Ford Fusion, battling back from an early-race spin to contend for the victory.
Johnny Clark, of Farmingdale, Maine, locked up his second career championship Sunday with a solid run, leading on three occasions and coming home third at the finish. Local favorite Jeff Burgess of nearby Oakland finished fourth, while Trevor Sanborn came from 22nd on the 26-car grid to round out the top five.

"That was some good, hard racing out there today," said Rowe. "Cassius and Johnny are fast here, they raced me clean and that’s all I can ask. My hat is off to this team, once they got us headed in the right direction at Beech Ridge, the car has been awesome to drive. This place can be a handful, but we had the right setup today and held them off again. It’s a terrific way to end the season."

Clark, competing with a broken finger suffered in a hard crash last month at Beech Ridge, capped a terrific season that featured five victories and four runner-up finishes. While he was disappointed to finish second, he was pleased with the team’s performance on Sunday.

"That’s racing at Unity for you," he said. "We had a good race today, the car handled well even after we spun early on. My Dad, Ed (team owner Chapman) and everybody worked hard all season and we led the series in wins. I couldn’t get by Ben today, but we’re still happy. It’s been a successful year for this whole Team EJP organization."

Johnny Clark reflected on his emotional roller-coaster after the caution-plagued event, sounding both relieved and proud after earning his second crown in three years.

"I really wanted to win this one today," said the 2004 series champion who paced the field for 21 laps Sunday. "I think this is a great place to race, and this second championship means a lot to me. Fortunately, we had the consistency needed to pull it off. I was worried coming into today, having somebody like Mike Rowe just eight points behind us was stressful. He is a great driver, but we did what we needed to do today and it feels fantastic."

Finishing sixth through 10th Sunday was Louis Mechalides, Curtis Gerry, Gary Smith, Travis Benjamin and Scott Chubbuck. Thirteen of the 26 starters finished on the lead lap, exactly half the field. Nineteen cautions slowed the proceedings, most of which were caused simply by the lack of grip available on the frigid racing surface.

In earlier feature action, Jason Taylor drove to victory in the 40-lap PASS Modified season finale. The Searsmont, Maine driver held off a hard-charging Gary Norris Jr. for top honors. Chris Staples put in a strong run and locked up the 2006 divisional crown. Troy Morse of Brunswick, Maine rounded out the top five in a thrilling closer for the open-wheel warriors.

Terry Merrill of Saco, Maine capped his 2006 season with a victory in the 75-lap PASS Super Sportsman/Limited Challenge Series feature. Mike Landry worked his way through traffic like a seasoned veteran and came home second, while Allen Moeller finished third. Gary Modugno and Steve Fogg rounded out the top five in Round 3 of the three-race series. Dan McKeage drove to a solid 15th place finish, which gave him the overall championship.