Joey Doiron is getting hot at just the right time.
The young veteran from Berwick, Me. held off all challengers Sunday afternoon to win the Pro All Stars Series’ twice-delayed Stearns & Daughters 150, the first half of a PASS North Father’s Day doubleheader at Oxford Plains Speedway.
And with PASS’ $40,000-to-win Celebration of America 300 coming up quickly, Doiron has cemented his place on the short list of favorites to cash in on Independence Day eve.
Sunday’s first feature was a holdover from all the way back in April, when rain swept over the Maine speedway’s opening weekend to shorten a companion American-Canadian Tour feature and prevent the PASS half of the program from taking the green flag at all. A conflagration in one of the heats had left several racers reeling that afternoon, among them seven-time PASS champ Johnny Clark and local fan favorite Rusty Poland.
Starting the heat race had secured their positions on the grid, though, giving Clark and Poland a needed reprieve as the rain fell. The feature was postponed to June 9th, setting up a doubleheader with the day’s Mid-Coast Excavation 150.
A damp forecast for the makeup date then shifted that entire program a week later, giving the PASS faithful nearly a month since their last race in mid-May.
With the grid set and a full program still to be run, 28 of the original starters got right down to business to kick off the afternoon. D.J. Shaw got out to an early lead, in search of his first win of the season.
But Doiron had been waiting a month and a half to show the speed he had found around Oxford. Doiron ran Shaw down a third of the way into the feature, stalking the five-time PASS North champion for an opening. On lap 60, he found it, taking Shaw three wide with a lapped car to steal the point.
From there, Doiron never looked back, taking his 13th PASS North feature win, his fifth at Oxford, and his first in over two years.
Trevor Sanborn, who locked down a provisional for the Celebration of America 300 with a recent feature win at Oxford, drove to second in the final laps, his best finish of the season and his first PASS podium since last June.
Derek Griffith, fresh off a fifth-place finish in Wednesday’s Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway, returned home to post a third-place performance at Oxford. Griffith’s familiar number was replaced by a “444” in honor of “Big Lou” Mechalides, the father of Griffith’s crew chief Louie and spotter Dolly, who passed away two weeks ago.
Garrett Hall raced his way to fourth place, while early leader Shaw settled for fifth.
Corey Bubar, title hopeful Gabe Brown, reigning champion Max Cookson, Dennis Spencer, Jr. and rising star Austin Teras rounded out the top ten.
Doiron’s victory capped off a return to form for the perennial contender who struggled through his first season driving for car owner Peter Petit. A July win at Oxford had the potential to turn things around in a big way, but the win was negated after a stop by the tech shed. Similar tech issues thwarted Doiron in qualifying for the Oxford 250, but he raced from dead last on the grid to lead within the final 50 laps, finishing a heartbreaking second. Doiron ended the season sixth in points, last among full-time entrants and with top-ten finishes in nine of fifteen races.
A slow start to 2024, with mid-pack finishes at tracks not counted among Doiron’s favorites, betrayed the progress the team made late in 2023. At Lee USA Speedway, in May’s inaugural North American Pro Stock Nationals, Doiron picked his way through the field to lead the final twenty laps. Doiron missed the third race on the PASS calendar to race at Lee after a rain delay, but the $30,000 purse soothed any ruffled feathers in the Petit camp. A week later, Doiron went to victory lane again, dominating a GSPSS race at Claremont Motorsports Park.
Sunday’s win is Doiron’s third in quick succession for Petit Motorsports. And while it means little in the PASS points race, it means everything to Doiron’s trophy-hunting approach. PASS’ biggest races, July’s Celebration of America 300 and August’s Oxford 250, are priorities for Doiron.
And with Sunday’s win, it seems clear that Doiron and Petit are finally performing to expectations.
Unofficial Results
Pro All Stars Series North Stearns & Daughters 150
Oxford Plains Speedway
1. (73D) Joey Doiron
2. (44) Trevor Sanborn
3. (444) Derek Griffith
4. (94) Garrett Hall
5. (60) D.J. Shaw
6. (12X) Corey Bubar
7. (47) Gabe Brown
8. (39) Max Cookson
9. (12S) Dennis Spencer, Jr.
10. (29T) Austin Teras
11. (153) Travis Stearns
12. (5M) Dillon Moltz
13. (32B) Brandon Barker
14. (1V) Brandon Varney
15. (24) Mike Rowe
16. (60B) Tim Brackett
17. (14S) Josh St. Clair
18. (5R) Ben Rowe
19. (32J) Nick Jenkins
20. (54) Johnny Clark
21. (93) Ryan Green
22. (32CT) Tom Abele, Jr.
23. (14) Scott McDaniel
24. (19) Rusty Poland
25. (00) Jeremie Whorff
26. (18S) Michael Scorzelli
27. (5K) Bryan Kruczek
28. (07) Nick Calvert
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