EASLEY, SC (October 24) – Fireworks erupted Saturday night when Joey Doiron and Zane Smith made contact just past the finish line at Greenville Pickens Speedway as Doiron crashed taking the win in The Howler for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Models. Despite a car that was destroyed in the incident, Doiron walked to victory lane with the win and his first PASS Super Late Model National Championship.
“I try to race everybody like they race me and now my car is destroyed,” said Doiron afterwards. “We held back and saved our tires and just had enough to get there to the leader [Smith] and race for the win. We’re really proud to win the PASS National Championship too. It’s a lot of hard work during the season to get to all these races in the North and South and I’m glad it paid off for us to get the title.”
In qualifying, Zane Smith blistered the legendary half-mile speedway with a lap of 90.050 miles per hour. Following the top 10 qualifiers redraw, Smith would slot in to the fifth starting spot, while Steve Legendre and Jeff Batten would move up to the front row.
At the drop of the green flag, Legendre took the lead over the 22 car field entering turn one. The only caution of the night would wave on lap 9 when Ryan Hall slowed to a stop on the backstretch.
Legendre continued lead on the restart, but the car on the move was 2014 NASCAR All American Series National Champion Anthony Anders, who started 11th. Anders took the lead from Legendre with an outside move entering turn one on lap 16.
But, it was quickly evident that some drivers were employing a tire conservation strategy. PASS National Championship contender Tate Fogleman dropped back to 20th, while Doiron fell all the way to the tail of the field by lap 40. Meanwhile, Georgia rookie RS Senter moved around Anders to take the lead.
With about 50 laps to go in the 125 lap event, several drivers began making their move towards the front. Smith moved around Batten on lap 76 for fifth and three-time PASS National Champion Ben Rowe followed him into the top five a few laps later. With 24 laps to go, Doiron was charging as he made his way into the top 10.
With 19 laps to go, Smith made his way around Senter for the lead, while Doiron moved past Colt James and into the top five just two laps later. Doiron continued his charge, moving up to second as the leaders began to encounter lapped traffic. As the field took the white flag on the final lap, Doiron was on Smith’s back bumper as they entered turn one. The two made slight contact allowing Doiron to pull alongside down the backstretch. With a half car length advantage at the finish, Doiron took the win, but the two cars made contact just past the finish line sending Doiron hard into the outside wall.
Following the incident, several penalties were handed down to Zane Smith. Smith was fined $2000 and 100 championship points for extreme aggressive driving on the final lap. He was also docked an additional 50 points and $1000 for not pulling onto the front straightaway following the race and for not reporting to the tech area immediately after the race. Additionally, he will have to start last in the final 2 PASS South races at Concord Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway, regardless of where he qualifies, and will be on strict probation for the remainder of the season.
Following Doiron and Smith at the finish were Rowe, Senter, and Matt Craig. Rounding out the top 10 were James, Raphael Lessard, Christian Eckes, Anders, and Trey Jarrell.
Austin Thompson led every lap for his third straight PASS Pro Late Model win, while runner-up finisher Kodie Conner wrapped up the series championship. Rounding out the top five were Zachary Dabbs, JP Josiasse, and Terry Horak.
