KENLY, NC :: Preston Peltier looked to be on the way to his second straight Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model win, but slipped in oil from rookie Brandon Lynn’s car coming to the white flag handing Jay Fogleman the win in the Dogwood Blossom 150 Saturday night at Southern National Raceway Park.  Fogleman’s 8th career win moves him out of a tie with Ben Rowe into sole possession of second place on the PASS South All Time Wins list.

“My spotter told me that there might be oiI going into turn three and when we got there Preston (Peltier) was about a lane higher than I was and got in it and we were able to get by and make it back to the checkered flag first,” said Fogleman.  “I can’t thank Dicky Woodman and these guys enough for the car they gave me tonight.  I’m gonna try to run as many races as I can driving other people’s cars because all the focus in my shop is on Tate (Fogleman’s son).  He’s got a lot brighter future than I do.”

Beautiful weather greeted 32 PASS South Super Late Model teams to Southern National Raceway Park on Saturday afternoon for the series’ first trip to the speedway since 2009.  In qualifying, Preston Peltier obliterated the PASS South track record at Southern National with a lap of 97.422 miles per hour around the high banked 4/10 mile track.  Following the top ten qualifiers redraw to determine their starting positions in the main event, Peltier would draw pill #4 to start outside of the second row while his Johnson Motorsports teammate Tyler Church would pull pill #1 to start from the pole.

When the green flag fell to start the Dogwood Blossom 150, outside pole sitter and defending PASS South Champion Kyle Grissom jumped out to the early lead.  The first caution flag of the night waved on lap nine for a spin by Bobby Measmer, Jr. and Bill Catania in turn one.  When racing resumed, the driver on the move in the early going was Alex Fleming, who moved into the top five on lap 15 after starting back in twelfth.

The second caution of the race flew on lap 25 when Justin Allison and Karl Weber spun entering turn three.  Tanner Rumburg, making his PASS South debut, had nowhere to go and slammed into Weber’s door.  Luckily, all the drivers were okay following the hard crash.  After another brief caution period, the yellow fever continued on lap 30 when PASS North veteran Derek Ramstrom spun in turn four after contact from Jody Measamer.  Measamer would be penalized by PASS officials for rough driving and placed at the rear of the field for the restart.

While Grissom continued to pace the field, Fleming had made his way up to second and began to challenge for the top spot.  On lap 63, the Raleigh driver took the lead, much to the delight of the Eastern North Carolina race fans.  Pole sitter Tyler Church’s steady top five would come to an end just nine laps later due to a mechanical problem.  Meanwhile, 17th place starter Blake Jones was making an impressive run to the front and was in the top five by the halfway point of the 150 lap race.

On lap 77, the sixth caution of the night waved when Measamer would make contact with Trevor Noles sending him for a spin at the exit of turn four.  PASS officials once again felt that Measamer was a bit over aggressive and sent him to the back of the pack.  On the ensuing restart, Fleming appeared to have a problem coming up to speed falling back to third behind Grissom and Fogleman.

With less than 50 laps to go, Grissom led over Fogleman and Peltier, his two primary foes for the 2012 championship.  But Grissom’s car seemed to be fading as both Fogleman and Peltier moved around him with 36 laps to go.  On lap 119, Peltier challenged Fogleman for the lead, banging doors as they exited turn four.  Peltier would take the top spot, but Fogleman stayed glued to his rear bumper throughout the remainder of the Dogwood Blossom 150.

In the final laps, Lynn’s top 10 run went up in a cloud of smoke entering turn three with the leaders not far behind.  Peltier slipped up in the fluid as Fogleman passed by and hung on in the frantic race back to the yellow and checkered flags.  A dejected Peltier could only reflect on what might have been afterwards.

“I saw some smoke and there was a lapped car, I went to the outside of him and that was a bad move.  I got up in the oil and just about lost it,” said Peltier, who has finished no lower than second in his three PASS South starts this season.  “I’ve had that experience before and checked up when the caution lights came out and totally let everybody have it.”

Blake Jones capped off an outstanding return to PASS with a third place finish followed by Grissom and Measamer, who rebounded nicely from his earlier penalties.  Rounding out the top ten were Fleming, Ramstrom, Brandon Ward, Noles, and John Batten.

In the PASS Pro Late Model feature, Trevor Noles led flag-to-flag to take his fourth career victory over Jeff Batten, Harrison Burton, Austin Reed, and Kodie Conner.

Coming up next week, the PASS North Super Late Models will get their season underway on Sunday, April 21st at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, ME.  The PASS Modifieds and PASS Sportsman will also be in action.

The next event for the PASS South Super Late Models will be on May 11th as the series returns to South Boston Speedway for a 150 lapper along with Twin 75’s for the Late Model Stock division.  For more information, please go to ProAllStarsSeries.com and don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook.

Dogwood Blossom 150 Results

1. 4 – Jay Fogleman 150
2. 26 – Preston Peltier 150
3. 80 – Blake Jones 150
4. 31 – Kyle Grissom 150
5. 98 – Jody Measamer 150
6. 05 – Alex Fleming 150
7. 35 – Derek Ramstrom 150
8. 62 – Brandon Ward 150
9. 2 – Trevor Noles 150
10. 48 – John Batten 150
11. 09 – Randy Gentry 150
12. 57 – Cole Timm 150
13. 104 – Kevin Powell 149
14. 18 – Bill Catania 148
15. 22 – Tyler Audie 148
16. 97 – Brandon Lynn 147
17. 129 – Spencer Davis 145
18. 8F – Tate Fogleman 109
19. 89 – David Latour, Jr. 107
20. 13 – Joe Ryan Osborne 79
21. 28 – Jared Irvan 78
22. 8 – Joseph Mursuli 74
23. 7 – Tyler Church 71
24. 30 – Jerrick Johnson 59
25. 18k – Keith Oliver 55
26. 1 – Justin Allison 25
27. 50 – Karl Weber 24
28. 15 – Tanner Rumburg 24
29. M3 – Shelton McNair, Jr. 10
30. 51 – Bobby Measmer, Jr. 9

PASS Pro Late Model Results

1.     16 – Trevor Noles
2.     49 – Jeff Batten
3.     12 – Harrison Burton
4.     14 – Austin Reed
5.     45 – Kodie Conner
6.     36 – Tyler Dayton
7.     129 – Spencer Davis
8.     71 – Nick Robinson
9.     02 – Walker Yates
10.  55 – Collin Vernal