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THE
MASON-DIXON MELTDOWN
NEWPORT SPEEDWAY -
10/16 |
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Preston Peltier and
Johnson Motorsports celebrate both the 2010 PASS South
and 2010 PASS National championship titles after
finishing fourth in the
PASS South/National finale
at the Newport Speedway. |
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| L to R: #48 Ben Rowe
(3rd), #98 Justin Wakefield (1st), #29 Andy Loden (2nd) |
Justin
Wakefield Wins PASS
Mason-Dixon Meltdown;
Preston Peltier Captures PASS
South and National
Titles |
ANewport TN
(10/16) The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) headed to
Newport Speedway (TN) on Saturday, October 16th, for the
“Mason-Dixon Meltdown” to close out the 2010 Super Late
Model South and National championship series with both
titles up for grabs. Heading into the night’s action,
Ryan Blaney led Preston Peltier by a mere four points,
while Peltier led Johnny Clark by 11 in the National
Championship standings. Andy Loden set fast time, but it
was Justin Wakefield taking the checkered flag first
while Peltier took advantage of Blaney’s misfortune to
win the South title as well as the National title.
“I don’t have any words for it,” said Peltier, the
only South regular in series history to win the National
title. “It is cool.”
31 drivers took to the track
for qualifying. While many drivers wanted to claim the
final fast time of the season, it was once again Loden
on top of the charts with yet another track record, a
12.362 second lap around the Newport Speedway.
“The car is just really fast,” said Loden. “I have never
really been good at qualifying until this year. I don’t
know really what happened. We haven’t done anything
different. We just have a fast car for qualifying now.”
Wakefield, Clark, Blaney, Trey Mitchell, Jay
Fogleman, Ben Rowe, Heath Hindman, Kyle Bonsignore and
Dylan Presnell rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.
11 cars lined up for the six transfer spots in the
15-lap last-chance race. Bradley McCaskill and PASS
newcomer Blake Jones started side by side with Jones
getting the jump on the start. On lap 10, a car spun in
front of the leaders, collecting McCaskill and Scott
Patton, taking them out of transfer positions. On the
restart, Jimmy Weller and Trevor Sanborn, who were
disqualified in post-qualifying inspection, rocketed to
the top-two positions and held on up front to transfer
into the feature, along with Jones, Kenzie Ruston, Ed
Surette and Tim Pinion.
The top-10 redraw placed
Mitchell and Loden on the front row, leading Wakefield,
Clark, Fogleman, Blaney, Bonsignore, Hindman, Rowe,
Presnell and the rest of the field to the green flag for
200 laps of racing. When the green flag dropped, Loden
jumped out to the lead with Clark making his way to the
second position.
As Wakefield passed Clark for
the second position, the first yellow flew with an
incident involving Jake Crum, Jody Lavender and Surette
in turns one and two. All were able to continue.
On the restart, Wakefield jumped to the lead in front of
Loden and Mitchell. As they looked to settle in, the
second yellow came out on lap 25 as Jimmy Doyle and
Ruston got together, which also involved Jones. Ruston
and Jones were able to continue, but Doyle’s car
suffered front end damage, ending his night.
After a lap on the track, Loden went back into the lead,
but the third yellow came out on lap 28 for debris after
Surette’s car appeared to lose power in front of
Lavender, who made contact with Surette’s machine,
dispersing debris on the track.
On the outside,
Wakefield powered back to the lead when the field went
back to green, bringing Blaney with him around Loden. At
lap 58, Wakefield appeared to slip up in turn four,
which put Blaney and Loden up in the top-two spots. A
few laps later, at lap 65, Loden passed Blaney to
reassume the top spot, and Mitchell went to third as
Wakefield’s car started to drop off the pace a bit.
Eventually Wakefield had to pit and lost a lap, but
later would get the “lucky dog” and get back on the lead
lap.
Shortly after, South points leader Blaney
started showing sparks under the right side of his race
car. He stayed on the track, but dropped back through
the field, finally pitting on lap 84. He came back on
the track a few laps later, but was a few laps off the
lead lap, ending his bid for the South title.
“The right front went flat,” said Blaney. “We tried to
ride it out as long as we could, but we couldn’t get a
break.
“We had a good year. Hopefully we can come
back next year and beat them.”
The fourth yellow
flag flew on lap 93 for debris.
Loden held the
lead on the restart until the competition caution, which
came out on lap 115 so drivers could opt to change the
two right side tires and make adjustments. Mitchell,
Clark, Rowe and Peltier rounded out the top five at the
break.
When the field went back green Loden held
the lead with a hard-charging Clark on his back bumper
until the yellow flew on lap 119 for a spin in turn
three involving David Flynn and Weller. Both were able
to continue.
Clark decided it was his time to
lead, taking the top spot from Loden on the restart.
Loden didn’t appear satisfied with running second though
as he kept the pressure on Clark, retaking the lead at
lap 126. Rowe was running third, but a few laps later,
Peltier worked his way around Rowe for the third
position.
The caution came out on lap 144 as
Presnell appeared to have spun on his own down the
backstretch, also collecting Tim Pinion. Both drivers
were ok, but their machines were not as they both had to
head to the pits.
The following restart once
again had Clark leading the field as Loden and Peltier
battled hard for the second spot, trading the position a
few times until the yellow flew for debris at lap 158.
During this yellow, Mitchell, who was running in the top
five, pitted for adjustments, moving Wakefield back into
the top five behind Clark, Loden, Peltier and Rowe.
Clark and Loden held the top-two spots when they
restarted, but Wakefield made a bold move, moving up to
the third spot before the yellow flew at lap 166 when
Steve Legendre and Derek Kneeland got together in turn
two.
Loden was able to snag the top spot once
again when they went green, but the yellow flew on lap
178 for a single-car spin back in the pack.
Wakefield, who moved to second before that last yellow,
worked his way to the lead shortly after the restart by
Loden and held on to win the event.
“It was a
hard-fought battle tonight,” said Wakefield. “We had a
car to win this race, and I didn’t care what anyone else
thought. We were going to win this and I wouldn’t let
anyone get in my way.
“The bleeder came out of
the left front caliper and I had no front brakes,” said
Wakefield about his early-race issues. “We tried to stay
on the lead lap as best we could. We got that break at
the right time and were able to get it taken care of. We
got back on the lead lap and started picking them off
one at a time.
“I am glad to get a Georgia boy on
that thing,” said Wakefield about the trophy. “We are in
the South and that is the way it is supposed to be.”
Loden, Rowe, Peltier and Trevor Sanborn rounded out the top
five. Peltier’s fourth-place finish earned him the PASS
South Super Late Model and National Super Late Model
titles.
“I can’t thank these guys on the crew
enough,” said Peltier. “This Johnson Motorsports team
was a big underdog coming into this year. That was our
goal to win this championship, and we did it.
“Earlier in the season one of my car owners told me I
was racing like a girl out there and that I needed to go
back to the way I was driving, so I went out and got it
done tonight.
“It means a lot. We are a low-buck
team and struggle week in and week out. To get this is
really special.” |
Official
Results – Mason-Dixon Meltdown 200
Newport (TN)
Speedway – October 16, 2010 |
1 Justin Wakefield
2 Andy
Loden
3 Ben Rowe
4 Preston
Peltier
5 Trevor Sanborn
6 Johnny
Clark
7 Trey Mitchell
8 Heath
Hindman
9 Jay Fogleman
10 John
Batten
11 Jimmy Weller
12 Kenzie
Ruston
13 Mart Nesbitt
14 Jake
Crum
15 Jeff Myers
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16 Ryan Blaney
17 Derek
Kneeland
18 Steve Legendre
19 Kyle
Bonsignore
20 Dylan Presnell
21 David
Flynn
22 Tim Pinion
23 Jody Lavender
24 Lee
Tissot
25 Blake Jones
26 Jimmy
Doyle
27 Mike Slone
28 Ed
Surrette
29 Terry Smith |
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