Cassius Clark emerging on Pro All-Stars Tour

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There is another Clark emerging on the Pro All-Stars Series tour.

Johnny Clark of Farmingdale is the defending champ. Now he finds himself tied for second in the points chase with Farmington’s Cassius Clark. They trail leader Ben Rowe of Turner by eight points.

They are used to getting asked if they are related, which they aren’t.

“We joke about it all the time. We call ourselves the Clark brothers,” said Johnny Clark.

“It’s pretty funny,” said Cassius. “He’s from Farmingdale and I’m from Farmington.”

Johnny Clark lives half a mile from the Town Farm Road in Farmingdale while Cassius lives on the Town Farm Road in Farmington.

Cassius Clark, 23, is in his fourth year on the tour and has been a model of consistency so far this season. He notched his first PASS tour win at the Pro Stock Shootout at Thompson International Speedway (Conn.). He also has a second, third and sixth.

Prior to this season, he had one top-three finish and that came at the tail end of last season when he had three top-fours in the last four races. He did win a nonpoints race at Autodrome Montmagny in Quebec.

“He’s going to be tough all season long,” predicted 25-year-old Johnny Clark. “They’ve started to put it all together so they can finish out front, not just run out front. It was just a matter of time.”

Clark considers Cassius and two-time PASS tour champ Ben Rowe the primary threats to challenge for his title.

“Cassius has tons of talent and he’s much more patient now,” said Tom Mayberry, president and founder of the PASS tour. “He has really matured. He’s extremely fast all the time. They’re definitely a team to be reckoned with for the championship.”

“We’ve been fast all along,” said Cassius. “We’re just finally starting to come through [with top five finishes]. The first three years, we had crappy luck. The rear end would blow up or we’d get a flat tire.”

Clark’s love of racing was inherited from his father and crew chief Billy, a former Busch North and pro stock racer.

His father’s racing career was cut short by a trucking accident but he was the crew chief for a Legends car driven by Ed Chapman, and son Cassius used to tag along.

Cassius eventually made his debut in a Legends car when he was a junior at Mt. Blue High School. He and his father were looking to sell the Legends car to buy an American Canadian Tour (ACT) car and Chapman came to their aide, swapping two of his trucks from the defunct [New England] Pro Truck series for a Junior Hanley pro stock car.

Cassius made his debut in the PASS tour in that car in 2002. It was eventually wrecked but they salvaged the motor and put it in a Distance Racing Products Ford Taurus they obtained from Jeff Taylor.

The jump from 25-lap Legends car features to PASS races that range from 100 to 250 laps was a substantial one.

“When you run a 25-lap feature and start in the back, you have to go all-out. This is different. You have to take your time to make sure you’re there [up front] at the end,” said Clark. “You have to keep your car underneath you the whole time. You’re racing new guys every week or two. And you’re racing the best guys around. You have to get used to different situations. You’ve got to be smart and stay out of trouble.”

He said he has been thrilled with his start and hopes to keep it going. He is confident he can compete for the points championship and credits his father for playing an important role in his success.

“He’s a pretty smart cookie,” said Cassius.

Cassius Clark has a real passion for racing.

“I’ve got it bad. I think about it every day. I want to go as far as I can go. I wouldn’t mind racing for a living. We’ll see where it takes me,” said Cassius.

PASS Triple 50s Saturday at OPS

The PASS tour will visit Oxford Plains Speedway Saturday night for a different type of 150-lap race: the Roy’s All Steak Hamburgers Triple 50s.

After time trials and heat races, there will be three 50-lap races.

After the first race, the cars will run the second 50-lap race in inverted order. The cars will again be inverted for the third 50-lapper.

Drivers will be awarded one point for a first place finish, two for a second and so on. The driver with the lowest score after the three races will be the winner.

Time trials will begin at 5:30.

“It’s something different. There’s more strategy to it than a regular 150-lap race,” said Johnny Clark. “You’ve got to be on your game the whole race.”

“It’s pretty neat,” said Cassius Clark. “It comes down to whoever passes the most cars.”