Joey Doiron’s starting off 2025 the same way he ended 2024.
Well, aside from the walking boot.
The Berwick, Me. veteran bookended his offseason with a dominant victory in Friday’s St. Patrick’s Day 150, the first half of a season-opening doubleheader for the Pro All Stars Series at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Doiron got to the front in a hurry and was unassailable at the point, lapping all but six other cars in a caution-free, 38-minute romp around the North Carolina bullring billed as the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.”
Friday’s race is a complement to Saturday’s Easter Bunny 150, the last vestige of the Maine-based PASS’ presence in the Southeast. Once a cornerstone of the PASS South Super Late Model Series, and a component of PASS’ National Super Late Model Championship that united key events on the PASS North and South circuits, the Easter Bunny 150 now serves as a preseason shakedown while many of New England’s ovals are still waiting for snow to melt.
And while a couple local stars showed up to do battle, the bulk of the 17-car starting grid towed from the Northeast to shake free the offseason rust.
Local and long-haul drivers split the afternoon’s heat races, with Spencer Davis claiming the first and Garrett Hall winning the second. Doiron, runner-up to Hall in the second heat, would start the feature from the second row.
It took Doiron a few laps to come to terms with the track, but on lap 32, he slipped past Davis for the race lead and never looked back, building a three-second advantage over the field as he carved through traffic.
Hall cleared Davis for the runner-up spot, but he could not close the gap on Doiron, who cruised to a 3.161-second win over his fellow Beech Ridge Motor Speedway alumnus.
Caden Kvapil, a CARS Pro Late Model Tour standout and the brother of current NASCAR Xfinity Series racer Carson, outdueled Davis for third. Davis brought his Ben Kennedy Racing entry home in fourth.
Brandon Barker rounded out the top five.
Sophomore PASS competitor Brandon Varney was sixth after blowing an engine in Thursday’s practice session, finishing ahead of American-Canadian Tour sophomore Jeremy Sorel. ACT Tour racer Alexendre “Fireball” Tardif made his PASS debut with an eighth-place run, with teen racer Sylas Ripley and veteran Travis Stearns rounding out the top ten.
Also making his PASS debut was former AMA Superbike stalwart and NASCAR Busch North Series winner Dale Quarterley, racing son Alex’s car as a teammate to top-ten finisher Sorel. Quarterley retired early, finishing 17th.
Interestingly, top-five finishers Doiron, Hall and Barker share a common thread, having spent years of their short track careers at the now-shuttered Beech Ridge. Barker raced one of Doiron’s cars in 2016 as he expanded his touring schedule. Doiron and Hall have crewed for each other on many occasions, with Doiron serving as crew chief for Hall’s last PASS win in 2022. Doiron and Hall also share sponsorship from Norm’s Used Cars, a prominent auto dealer in Wiscasset, Me.
Doiron enjoyed a career year in 2024, his second season racing with car owner Peter Petit. A $30,000 win in Lee USA Speedway’s inaugural Pro Stock Nationals paved the way for a Granite State Pro Stock Series win a week later, a PASS win at Oxford, and a $40,000 victory in PASS’ Celebration of America 300 in July. A broken foot from a household mishap sidelined Doiron at the end of the season, but he returned in a walking boot for the PASS season finale, capturing the PASS 400 for his third series win of the year.
But while Doiron is easily one of New England’s best current racers, betting on the young veteran at Hickory is the definition of a long shot. In nine prior races at the venerable oval dating back to 2013, Doiron had only a single top ten—sixth in 2023—and one finish on the lead lap. The driver renowned for his consistency and clean style has struggled just to finish at Hickory.
Friday’s run, though, was the sort of performance Doiron and Petit had in mind when they joined forces for the 2023 season.
What this season looks like for the owner-driver tandem has yet to be determined. Entries are already filed for PASS’ biggest events as well as May’s rechristened Granite State Gamble at Lee. In the past, Doiron has expressed his interest in trying a big-ticket race or two outside of New England. But there are plenty of big races close to home to chase, most importantly August’s Oxford 250. A PASS championship run could be in the cards, too, but Doiron’s preference in recent years has been to chase victories. And any title run pales in comparison to the coveted Oxford 250.
Whichever way Doiron goes, Friday’s win started the team off on the right foot.
And there’s still one more race this weekend to go.
Unofficial Results
PASS Super Late Models | St. Patrick’s Day 150
Hickory Motor Speedway, Hickory, N.C.
1. (73D) Joey Doiron
2. (94) Garrett Hall
3. (35) Caden Kvapil
4. (96) Spencer Davis
5. (88) Brandon Barker
6. (12V) Brandon Varney
7. (7) Jeremy Sorel
8. (21QC) Alexendre Tardif
9. (09) Sylas Ripley
10. (153) Travis Stearns
11. (7CT) Cory Casagrande
12. (2) Nick Cusack
13. (5P) Troy Patterson
14. (24) J.P. Josiasse
15. (5VT) Pat Corbett
16. (21H) Mark Henderson
17. (32Q) Dale Quarterley
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