OXFORD, Maine — Garrett Hall drove to an impressive Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model victory Sunday afternoon at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway, taking the lead from reigning series champion D.J. Shaw, then hanging on to the top spot.
Hall, three times a winner in PASS action prior to last season, seemed almost surprised to be collecting the big trophy after struggling prior to the main event. After starting 20th in the 33-car field Hall patiently worked his way into contention, chasing down Shaw.
Shaw had his hands full just getting to the lead after starting 11th. Nick Sweet turned in the quickest laps of the day while setting the early pace before gremlins drove the car to pit road under green flag conditions. Maritime Canadian Pro Stock champion, and 2018 PASS North race winner Cole Butcher took command after Sweet was sidelined.
Butcher and Shaw soon waged a long battle for the lead as Hall steadily moved upward in the running order. Late caution periods in a race that was otherwise reasonably trouble-free offered Hall an opportunity and the Blackpoint Motorsports driver got his Norm’s Used Cars 94 past Shaw and into victory lane.
Hall’s last PASS Super Late Model victory was a memorable, wreck-after-the-checkered win over Ben Rowe at his hometown racetrack, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in September of 2017.
Shaw’s runner-up finish unofficially vaulted him to the top of the current PASS North Super Late Model standings. Cassius Clark, who won on opening night at Oxford Plains Speedway last year, earned third-place honors aboard the Nova Scotia-based King Racing 13.
Matty Sanborn scored a popular, first PASS Mods win, leading all 40 laps on his way to victory lane. It wasn’t as easy as that sounds, as fellow first-win seekers Mike Carignan and Spencer Morse both mounted stiff challenges that were turned back by Sanborn.
Morse, who spun out of the lead pack and fell to the rear of the field at one point, charged back into second position under the checkered flag, with first-time PASS Mods racer Justin Larsen, the 2013 Mini Stock division champion at Oxford Plains Speedway, earning third-place hardware. Carignan and Billy Dixon rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Garrett Hall, D.J. Shaw, Cassius Clark, Cole Butcher, Gabe Brown, Derek Griffith, Mike Rowe, Alan Tardiff, Travis Benjamin, Ashton Tucker, Dan Winter, Evan Hallstrom, Eddie MacDonald, John Peters, Ben Rowe, Shawn Martin, Rusty Poland, Ben Tinker, Glen Luce, Craig Weinstein, T.J. Brackett, Johnny Clark, Calvin Rose Jr., Brandon Barker, Ryan Green, Nick Sweet, Curtis Gerry, Tracy Gordon, Ryan Robbins, Timmy Brackett, Bryan Kruczek, Reid Lanpher, Scott McDaniel.