The so-called “Flea Market Ford” might need to be upgraded at least to an outlet mall.
Austin Teras set a blistering pace en route to a convincing win in Friday night’s Joe Pro 150, the penultimate race of the Pro All Stars Series North Super Late Model season and the kickoff to Oxford Plains Speedway’s PASS 400 Weekend.
Teras bested red-hot Gabe Brown to earn his third career PASS North win, all scored in 2023, all scored at the historic oval not far from Teras’ Gray, Me. home.
Friday’s feature was a makeup of a late addition to the Maine-based touring series’ fall schedule. A last-minute cancellation of an event at Lee USA Speedway in September prompted officials to organize a home bout at Oxford, with bonus payouts for drivers who failed to qualify for August’s Oxford 250. But rain, an omnipresent factor at races this season, shut the event down after practice.
The race was then shifted to the year-ending PASS 400 weekend, opening the event with a Friday-night program to set the stage for Saturday’s qualifying rounds and Sunday’s season finale.
Even on short notice, 35 cars took the green flag, with a handful of new faces making their Super Late Model debuts.
Out front, though, it was Brown and Teras, two familiar faces, showing the way by halfway.
Brown, who picked up his second PASS North win at White Mountain Motorsports Park in September and earned his first American-Canadian Tour win on Oxford 250 weekend, had worked his way forward from the standard winner’s handicap. But as he negotiated traffic, Teras reeled him in.
Once he found a way around the New Hampshire racer, Teras set sail, lapping all the way to sixth before taking the checkered flag.
The son of longtime racer and Ford loyalist Jay Cushman, Teras delivered his father a third win at their home track.
Brown, who has not finished outside the top five in a PASS race since early August, kept his streak alive with a second-place performance. Back-to-back winner D.J. Shaw was unable to go three-for-three, but finished third to keep his title hopes alive.
Points leader Max Cookson, though, finished fourth, minimizing the losses with one race remaining. Former Oxford track champion T.J. Brackett rounded out the top five, the last car on the lead lap.
Travis Stearns, in a team car to veteran racer Mike Hopkins, was sixth at the finish, the highest-finishing driver who missed the Oxford 250 field. Father and son Mike and Ben Rowe were seventh and eighth. Joey Doiron brought the Petit Motorsports car home in ninth, while Steve Chicoine rounded out the top ten.
PASS regulars Johnny Clark finished 11th and Trevor Sanborn 18th, both a lap down, while Andy Shaw returned to competition with a 31st-place finish. Dennis Spencer, Jr. was the only full-timer not to take the green.
Teras has raced a typical part-time schedule with PASS this year, but 2023 has been a breakout season for the driver who only turned 21 in September. After an early retirement at Thompson Speedway in April, Teras won back-to-back Oxford races in June and July, inheriting the July win after another team was disqualified. A 12th-place finish at Oxford was followed by a tenth-place finish in the Oxford 250. Seventh place at WMMP in September gave Teras top-ten results in four of his six starts entering Friday’s feature.
Teras’ wins have been the first major touring wins for car owner Cushman in several seasons. An open critic of crate engines, Cushman prepares a proper Ford powerplant for Teras’ entry, something that has hampered the young racer’s results in past seasons. This year, Teras’ equipment has held up to match his potential.
Cookson, who has not finished outside the top ten in 14 starts this year, carries a healthy advantage in the standings to Sunday’s PASS 400 main event. Clark and Brown are within reach of Shaw, but overcoming Cookson may be too much for the third- and fourth-place points racers.
Rather than the 300-lap endurance format employed in the PASS 400s held at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, this weekend’s race introduces a new challenge for the PASS faithful. Modeled after the American-Canadian Tour’s Vermont Milk Bowl, the race will consist of three 100-lap segments, with the top 25 cars inverted after each segment. The lowest aggregate score after three segments will determine the winner. With passing at a premium, Shaw faces an uphill battle to erase Cookson’s lead.
But with qualifying heats run as part of Saturday’s racing program, teams will have an all-important break to regroup and adjust before Sunday’s triathlon.
Cookson has faced plenty of new challenges in 2023. If he can conquer Sunday’s challenge, or at least adequately withstand it, he could become the first driver to sweep Oxford’s weekly championship as well as the PASS North and National Championship titles.
The race is on.
Unofficial Results
Pro All Stars Series North Joe Pro 150
Oxford Plains Speedway
1. (29T) Austin Teras
2. (47) Gabe Brown
3. (60) D.J. Shaw
4. (39) Max Cookson
5. (61) T.J. Brackett
6. (153) Travis Stearns
7. (24) Mike Rowe
8. (5) Ben Rowe
9. (73D) Joey Doiron
10. (01) Steve Chicoine
11. (54) Johnny Clark
12. (72X) Ryan Kuhn
13. (14) Scott McDaniel
14. (9T) Alan Tardiff
15. (18VT) Kaiden Fisher
16. (83) Cory Hall
17. (8) Calvin Rose, Jr.
18. (44) Trevor Sanborn
19. (25) Shawn Knight
20. (0) Danny Wear
21. (38) Garrett Lamb
22. (09D) Jeremy Davis
23. (81) Dan Winter
24. (40VT) Nick Sweet
25. (60B) Tim Brackett
26. (32) Brandon Barker
27. (15) Mike Hopkins
28. (41) Curtis Gerry
29. (19) Rusty Poland
30. (63) Kyle Salemi
31. (50) Andy Shaw
32. (23X) Lonnie Sommerville
33. (09X) Sylas Ripley
34. (BV52) Colby Benjamin
35. (23) Dave Farrington, Jr.
Editor’s Note: Results have been updated to indicate Brandon Barker in the #32, correcting an error from official timing and scoring.
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