Laperle picks up 1st PASS victory

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UNITY – Twenty-nine-year-old Patrick Laperle said he had tears in his eyes on the final lap when he realized he was about to win the Hight Chevrolet 250 at Unity Raceway Sunday.

It was the St. Denis, Quebec, native’s first pro stock win.

“It was my first top five,” pointed out Laperle, who was running third with two laps remaining when leader Johnny Clark of Hallowell and closest pursuer Mike Rowe of Turner tangled and spun on the backstretch while battling for the lead.

“I knew I could finish third and I would have been happy with that,” said Laperle. “When I saw them crashing together, I said, ‘Now I have to miss them.’ When Johnny came down, I said, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to hit you.'”

On the restart, it was going to come down to Laperle on the inside groove and two-time Pro All Stars Series champion and current points leader Ben Rowe of Turner, who was on the outside.

“I told myself, ‘Don’t miss your shift, don’t miss your shift.’ That’s all,” said Laperle. “I had good grip coming out of the corners. That’s what I needed.

“I started 17th and went up to win, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

He said his 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo was perfect at the beginning and good throughout the race.

“I knew we had a top-five car,” said Laperle.

Ben Rowe said he didn’t think he could pass Laperle on the restart and praised the Quebec driver for racing him clean.

“He’s a pleasure to race with. On the last restart, he gave me all the room in the world and we ran side-by-side and put a good show on for the fans,” said Rowe. “My car wasn’t good all day. We were sixth or seventh, at best.”

Rowe finished two car-lengths behind Laperle.

Rounding out the top 10 were Wells’ Donnie Whitten, Clark, pole-sitter Richie Dearborn of Hollis, J.R. Baril of Haverhill, Mass., Freedom’s Randy Turner, Hebron’s Alan Wilson, Mike Rowe, and Brunswick’s Scott Chubbuck.

Fifteen of the 29 cars finished the race and eight were on the lead lap.

Ben Rowe said he wasn’t the least bit surprised that Mike, his dad; and Johnny Clark swapped paint and took each other out of contention.

“If either one of them gets a nose under you, they aren’t going to lift [off the accelerator]. Not with two or three laps to go,” said Ben Rowe. “That’s just racing. They were racing side-by-side, the smoke started flying, and I was just trying to avoid Johnny on the backstretch.”

Whitten said he was “thrilled to death” with the third- place finish, his best on the PASS tour.

“I couldn’t be happier,” said Whitten.

Clark was on his way to a comfortable win when Chubbuck spun between turns three and four, causing the 12th of 13 cautions.

“I couldn’t even see the second-place car,” said Clark. “It was over. I could see it was over as soon as I was pulling away from Patrick as long as we didn’t have any problems. When the yellow came out, I knew we were in trouble.”

Clark said Rowe bumped him before they took the green flag on the restart with five laps to go.

“I knew he was going to try to move me up the track to win the thing. I’m not saying he isn’t supposed to. I just think he tried a little too hard. I’m sure he would have been happier with a second-place finish because I wasn’t letting him by. He couldn’t pass me on the outside; he was going to have to move me up the track. That’s what he tried to do and it cost him a lot more than it cost me.”

Clark added that he thought “we got caught up on each other” which resulted in the spin and Rowe sliding down the embankment.

Clark said his car was “just a little too tight at the end. We would have been all right if it wasn’t tight.”

Mike Rowe said, “Johnny was doing what he had to do to win. I probably would have done the same thing [as Clark did] with two laps to go. That’s the way it goes. That’s racin’. I never touched him when I got underneath him. He was banging into the side of me then, so I figured I’d better lift. I would have rather finished second than wreck, but that’s the way it goes.”

With 35 laps to go, it appeared as though it was going to be Clark vs. Clark with Farmington’s Cassius Clark and Johnny Clark dueling each other for the lead.

But Cassius Clark wrecked on lap 215 “when a bolt broke on the trailing arm. Not much we can do about that I guess. The car was definitely the one to beat, I think.”

HIGHT CHEVROLET 250

(starting position in parentheses)

1. (17) Patrick Laperle, St. Denis, Quebec, 251 laps; 2. (8) Ben Rowe, Turner, 251; 3. (13) Donnie Whitten, Wells, 251; 4. (9) Johnny Clark, Hallowell, 251; 5. (1) Richie Dearborn, Hollis, 251; 6. (10) J.R. Baril, Haverhill, Mass.; 7. (7) Randy Turner, Freedom, 251; 8. (22) Alan Wilson, Hebron, 251; 9. (2) Mike Rowe, Turner, 250; 10. (20) Scott Chubbuck, Brunswick, 248; 11. (25) Matt Eaton, Little Deer Isle, 248; 12. (26) Donnie Lashua, Canaan, N.H., 247; 13. (16) Corey Williams, Boothbay, 245; 14. (18), Peter Oakes, Boothbay, 245; 15. (12) Travis Benjamin, Morrill, 242; 16. (5) Cassius Clark, Farmington, 217; 17. (14) Scott King, Livermore, 183; 18. (6) Gary Smith, Bangor, 182; 19. (4) Scott Mulkern, Falmouth, 174; 20. (3) Dave Gorveatt, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 155; 21. (23) Steve Nelson, Albion, 147; 22. (15) Mike Maietta Sr., South Portland, 129; 23. (19) Matt Lee, Albion, 116; 24. (24), Tim Turner, Freedom, 97; 25. (11) Ralph Nason, Unity, 90; 26. (27) Dave St. Clair, Liberty, 71; 27. (29) Craig Anderson, China, 13; 28. (21) John Phippen Jr., Town Hill, 12; 29. (28) Eric Hudson, Manchester, N.H., 0