Five National Championship dates highlight PASS’ 2016 schedule.
Pro All Stars Series (PASS) officials have released the six dates and locations that will make up the 2016 PASS National Championship Series. The schedule is comprised of six premier Super Late Model events in both PASS North and PASS South that will determine an overall PASS National Champion. The PASS National Series will be highlighted once again by the prestigious 43rdAnnual Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in August. And, the PASS National Championship Series will return to Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2010.
While awards are currently still being finalized, the champion will once again receive a unique championship ring, while team members will receive championship belt buckles, from longtime PASS supporter, Northern Race Tire.
“Thanks to a lot of time and effort by a group of really dedicated people, we are very pleased to announce our 2016 PASS National Series,’” said PASS President Tom Mayberry. “These events exemplify what’s great about short track racing and we feel each of them will attract the best Super Late Model drivers from across the continent. All of these events are unique and will prove to be a challenge for our competitors. With events from Maine to South Carolina, a broad base of fans will get to see racers from all over North America come together to crown Super Late Model racing’s only true National Champion.”
The PASS National Championship Series gets underway in just over a month with the Winter Meltdown at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on February 6. In addition to a talented group of PASS regulars, former PASS National Champions Ben Rowe, Joey Doiron and Jay Fogleman, who returns in 2016 to race for the national title, hope to contain a strong contingent of drivers from the United States and Canada as they tackle the tough, flat half-mile speedway for 150 green flag laps. Fittingly on Super Bowl weekend, fans will get to see drivers from across the spectrum of short track racing as big events for the South East Limited Late Models, Southeast Supertrucks, and Mini Stocks will also be taking place as part of the Winter Meltdown.
From Greenville-Pickens Speedway in February, it is back to the most traditional stop on the PASS National Championship Series, Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina on March 26. The 11th Annual Easter Bunny 150 will continue in 2016 as one of short track racing’s biggest events of the Spring. Since veteran Mike Rowe won the first Easter Bunny 150 back in 2006, Hickory Motor Speedway’s hallowed victory lane has been cherished by every Super Late Model driver that has followed in his tire tracks. This year’s Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory will also be the inaugural event of the most anticipated new series in the country, the Southern Modified Racing Series Presented By PASS.
Race three of the 2016 PASS National Championship Series will be the first of the year in New England and will be contested at one of the fastest tracks in the country. The PASS Super Late Models will compete for 75 laps at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut as part of the Icebreaker weekend April 9-10, along with the NASCAR Whelen Modfieds. PASS returns to Thompson Speedway for the first time since 2012 in an event that will also double as the PASS North Super Late Model season opener.
The next race on the 2016 PASS National Championship Series will be at perhaps the most legendary of all short track races. The 43rd Annual Oxford 250 at Maine’s Oxford Plains Speedway on August 28 will continue a tradition that started in 1974 and has seen such winners as Butch Lindley, Geoff Bodine, Junior Hanley, Ricky Craven, Mike and Ben Rowe, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch. And, with one of the richest purses in all of Super Late Model racing, the Oxford 250 should once again attract North America’s best drivers, all competing for the $25,000 winner’s share. This year, Turner, ME’s Glen Luce bested over 70 other drivers to claim over $30,000 for his first win in the prestigious race.
Next up, the PASS National Championship Series will hold its final race of the year in New England at another traditional stop, the Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME. The PASS 400 Weekend at Beech Ridge on September 16-18 is always a favorite for both fans and competitors and this year’s contest will be no different.
The PASS National Championship Series will conclude on November 5 at Concord Speedway with the 14th Annual North-South Shootout. PASS made a successful return to Concord in 2015 with events in May and November. The 2016 North-South Shootout will again be a test of man and machine around the treacherous half-mile triangular speedway. It will be a big weekend of racing that will see the inaugural Southern Modified Racing Series Presented By PASS champion crowned the night before and the PASS South Super Late Model champion also crowned on Saturday, November 5.
Source: PASS Tours PR