PASS: Zane Smith Scores Third Win; McCaskill Second in Debut

Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model points leader Zane Smith assumed the lead with 35 laps to go following a crash between leaders Stephen Nasse and Brandon Setzer and led the rest for his third win of the season Saturday night at South Boston Speedway.

“We were just saving that whole time, all three of us, and we were just nose to tell that entire time and I had my chance and went to the bottom,” said Smith afterwards in victory lane.  “It sucks, I would have loved to race with them, but it is what it is and we were able to get the win.”

In qualifying, Nasse went out first during the session and laid down the fastest lap overall with a speed of 92.885 miles per hour around the 4/10 mile speedway.  Following the top 10 qualifiers redraw, Nasse drew pill number one to stay on the pole for the 150 lap main event.  He would be flanked by Smith on the outside, who qualified sixth and drew pill number two.

Nasse jumped into the lead on the initial start followed by Smith and Setzer in tight formation.  The lead pack raced hard in the early going with Jared Fryar and Brandon Ward making contact in turn four while racing for sixth. While both continued without any apparent damage, Ward’s machine slowed exiting turn four on lap 19.  As other drivers dodged Ward’s disabled car, Lucas Jones had nowhere to go slamming Ward’s machine as they entered turn one to bring out the first caution of the night.

On the restart, Nasse continued to lead over Smith and Setzer, while Trevor Noles, rookie Christian Eckes, and Spencer Davis settled into position behind the leaders.  At the halfway point on lap 75, Smith began to peak to the inside of Nasse’s Chevrolet, while Setzer began applying pressure to Smith on the outside.  Behind the leaders, Eckes made the move around Noles to take fourth with 46 laps to go.  Noles would fall from the race three laps later due to a mechanical issue.

On lap 110, the battle for the lead again intensified as both Smith and Setzer applied pressure to Nasse. Fans were greatly entertained as Nasse worked the middle groove while Smith utilized the lower groove and Setzer continued to run strong up on the outside.  With 35 laps to go, Smith looked to the inside of Nasse exiting turn two. As the leaders entered turn three, Setzer made contact with Nasse’s machine, sending both cars spinning hard into the outside wall.

Smith now assumed the lead for the restart and was flanked to his outside by Eckes.  Smith quickly moved out front, but the battle was now behind him for second.  Tate Fogleman made a power move entering turn three on lap 117 storming past both Spencer Davis and Eckes on the outside to move in to second.

On lap 123, a new player was coming into the mix as Late Model Stock veteran Deac McCaskill, making his first ever PASS South Super Late Model start, moved by Eckes to take third.  With 20 laps to go, McCaskill continued his surge, taking second from Fogleman.  McCaskill closed to within three car lengths of the leader Smith, but could not get any closer.  Smith eventually stretched his lead and went on to take the checkered flag for his third win of 2015 over McCaskill, Fogleman, Eckes, and Jared Irvan.  Rounding out the top 10 were Davis, Fryar, Matt Craig, Nick Robinson, and Brandon Lynn.

The NASCAR Late Model Stocks competed in Twin 75s with Matt Bowling holding off Lee Pulliam by less than a car length for the win in the first race.  In the second Twin 75, Bobby McCarty took advantage of contact between race leaders Matt Waltz and Pulliam and led the rest of the way for the win.

The PASS South Super Late Models will be in action once again for 150 laps, along with the PASS Pro Late Models on Saturday, September 26^th at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, NC.