Garrett Hall Scores Wild Victory In PASS 150 At Beech Ridge

Story By: AMY HARROP / RPW – SCARBOROUGH, ME – The PASS North Series made its return to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. After a full weekend full of racing, the 150-lap feature was a sure to conclude Beech Ridge’s final event of the 2017 season in exciting fashion.

With full grandstands and excitement buzzing amongst members of the crowd, the first set of Super Late Models took to the track for the first 15-lap qualifying heat.

Nick Reno started on the pole for the first qualifying heat.Tim Brackett, Johnny Clark, Ben Rowe and Mike Griffith followed, rounding out the top five. Tim Brackett powered into the early lead as Ben Rowe made his way into the runner-up spot. Rowe made his way to Brackett’s outside on lap 4, eventually clearing him for the lead on lap 5 in turn 2. The #72 of Scott Robbins went around on lap 8 in turn 2, bringing out the first caution of the heat. Glen Luce was on the move after the restart, breaking the top five on lap 10. Ben Rowe went on to win the heat, followed by Tim Brackett, Johnny Clark, Derek Griffith and Glen Luce.

Trevor Sanborn started on the pole for the second qualifying heat, followed by Dan McKeage, 2017 Oxford Plains track champion Alan Tardiff, Corey Bubar and Scott McDaniel. Sanborn ran away with the early lead, pulling away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Travis Benjamin was making his way through the field early, clearing Brandon Barker for P5 on lap 8. Corey Bubar and Dan McKeage tangled on lap 10, resulting in McKeage being sent into the wall in turn 2. This led to the first caution of the heat. Alan Tardiff powered into the runner-up spot on the restart, setting his sights on the #44 of Sanborn in the top spot. Tardiff made his way to the outside of Sanborn on lap 10, eventually clearing him on the following lap in turn 2 for the lead. Tardiff went on to win the heat, followed by Trevor Sanborn, Travis Benjamin, DJ Shaw and Brandon Barker.

TJ Brackett started on the pole in the final preliminary qualifying heat. 2017 Oxford 250 champion Curt Gerry started in second, followed by Donnie Colpritt, driver of the #16 Texas Roadhouse car. Jeff White and 2017 Beech Ridge track champion Reid Lanpher followed, rounding out the top five. Curt Gerry made his way to the early lead over the #61 of Brackett. Reid Lanpher was on a mission early, clearing the #16 of Colpritt for P3 on lap 4. He then made his way to the outside of TJ Brackett in turn 4 on the same lap, eventually clearing him for the runner-up spot two laps later. Gerry managed to hold off Lanpher to win the qualifying heat. Jeff White, TJ Brackett and Donnie Colpritt followed, rounding out the top five.

After the PASS Modified and Street Stock features were completed, it was time for the 15-lap consolation race. The top 5 drivers would advance to the 150-lap feature, with the rest of the starting lineup being set by provisionals. Dan Winter started on the pole for the race, followed by Scott McDaniel, Dave Farrington, Jr., Nick Reno and Dan McKeage. Dan Winter held onto the lead for the first lap, but Dave Farrington was charging to the front. Farrington captured the lead from Winter on lap 2, pulling away from the rest of the field. After starting from the rear of the pack, Mike Rowe made his way up to P3 on lap 6. He eventually cleared Dan McKeage for the runner-up spot on lap 8. Josh McDaniel was hungry for the fifth and final qualifying spot, bumping Dan Winter out of the way for the spot on lap 13 in turn 2. Dave Farrington, Jr. went on to win the final heat, followed by Mike Rowe, Dan McKeage, Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Scott McDaniel.

Ben Rowe and Alan Tardiff started on the front row for the feature race, followed by Tim Brackett, Trevor Sanborn and Johnny Clark. Coming into the 150, Glen Luce was the points leader in the series. Rowe pulled away with the lead early, but Alan Tardiff was right there. Tardiff eventually captured the top spot on lap 6, running away with the lead. Some big hitters got into a large pileup on lap 8 in turns 3 and 4, including Curt Gerry, Dave Farrington, Jr., Bobby Timmons, Corey Bubar, Mike Rowe, DJ Shaw, Glen Luce and a handful of others. Ben Rowe stole the lead back on the restart, with Johnny Clark joining in on the battle on lap 11. After running up front all day, Johnny Clark’s momentum came to a halt as he came to a stop on lap 25, ending his journey to the top sooner than anticipated. After starting the race outside of the top five, Reid Lanpher tracked down the leaders, clearing Ben Rowe for the top spot on lap 28. Garrett Hall jumped into the battle for the top spot on lap 34, eventually settling into the runner-up spot on lap 40. After making it into the big show on a provisional, Dan Winter spun around on lap 62. This led to a caution, bringing the leaders back together.

TJ Brackett and Brandon Barker made hard contact on lap 63 in turn 4, leading to another caution. Garrett Hall cleared Reid Lanpher for the lead on lap 65 and ran away with it, leading by over 10 car lengths on lap 90. The #56 of Evan Beaulieu took a hard hit at the start/finish line on lap 102, leading to an extended caution. Thankfully, Evan was able to get out of his mangled car under his own power and rode away in the front seat of the ambulance. Garrett Hall continued his dominance after the extended caution, catching up to the tail end of the field on lap 125 and leading by nearly an entire straightaway by lap 140. With lap 144 came a late-race caution, as debris from Travis Benjamin’s car was discovered on the racing surface in turn 3. Lap traffic was a big issue on the following restart, with Reid Lanpher falling back to fifth place. The #60 of Tim Brackett took a spin on the Start/Finish line on lap 147, leading to another quick caution. The string of bad luck continued with Corey Bubar and Scott Robbins, who tangled on the restart. This resulted in another caution, leading to a GWC finish with just two laps to go.

Garrett Hall pulled away from the field on the restart, but trouble was brewing behind him. Derek Griffith and Reid Lanpher both went around on the final lap, but the field remained green. Ben Rowe put his foot to the floor, pulling up next to Garrett Hall coming into lap 4. This led to a crazy side-by-side fight to the finish, with Garrett Hall barely holding off Rowe by a .012 seconds margin of victory. As the two were coming to the finish battling neck & neck for the win, Rowe’s momentum ended up sending the nose of his #4 car onto Garrett Hall’s hood, leaving the two cars locked like that coming into turn one after the finish. DJ Shaw, Travis Benjamin and Alan Tardiff followed, rounding out the top five.
After the wild finish, Garrett Hall and Ben Rowe shared a laugh in turn one as they waited for their cars to be separated by the track crew. Garrett Hall’s #94 car had to be pulled back to Victory Lane on the back of a tow truck, resulting in him taking his “victory lap” from the passenger seat of the tow vehicle. In his post race speech, Ben Rowe had nothing but praise for Garrett Hall, saying, “I’ve got all the respect in the world for the kid…he deserves it.” Garrett Hall was all smiles in Victory Lane, saying, “It was fun racing with Ben…I wasn’t gonna lift.” He also dedicated his win to his late Grandmother, who he lost recently.

Unofficial PASS 150 Results:
1. Garrett Hall
2. Ben Rowe
3. DJ Shaw
4. Travis Benjamin
5. Alan Tardiff
6. Derek Griffith
7. Glen Luce
8. Donnie Colpritt, Jr.
9. Dan McKeage
10. Mike Rowe
11. John Peters
12. Trevor Sanborn
13. Wayne Helliwell, Jr.
14. Nick Reno
15. Tim Brackett
16. Reid Lanpher
17. Dave Farrington, Jr.
18. Corey Bubar
19. Jeff White
20. Dan Winter

The PASS 150 event concluded the 2017 racing season at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Catch the next PASS North event next Saturday at White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, New Hampshire. Racing action begins at 6:00 pm.