Johnny Clark looking to be better than IV tonight
Published Saturday June 13th, 2009
Speedway 660 | PASS Tour making first stop in Geary since 2003 tonight
Off the racetrack, he is known as John Clark IV.
But Johnny Clark isn't interested in being fourth tonight.
In fact, if the early season pattern holds true, it's Clark's week to finish first on the PASS North tour when it stops at Speedway 660 at 7 p.m.
"The way things have been going, we're due for a win this weekend," said the driver of the flashy black number 54, noting that his pair of first place finishes have been sandwiched around a sixth and a seventh in the four tour stops to date. That's enough to give him the points lead in the Pro All Stars Series which brings together top pro stock drivers from the Eastern seaboard and the Maritimes. Sixteen PASS tour regulars, along with local favourites Shawn Tucker, reigning 660 pro stock champion Greg Fahey of St. Stephen and Matt Harris of Fredericton Junction, popular Dave O'blenis of Boundary Creek, and Maritime Pro Stock regular Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John are expected to be on the grid too, shooting for the winner's share of the $25,200 purse. There's also regular points racing in the Martin's Home Heating Sportsman and the Coast Tire Street Stock divisions.
Count Clark -- whom you may remember as the winner of the Peterbilt 250, the marquee event of Speedweekend in 2007 -- as a prime contender in the 200 lap event. Clark and his crew are "really, really pumped." for the only Canadian race on the PASS calendar
"Fredericton has always been an extremely good track to us," said Clark.
He was here the last time the PASS tour came through in 2003 as well, a 150 lap, 37 minute whistle stop in which he finished third. The late Scott Fraser won the race. Ben Rowe, who will be here tonight, finished second, with Clark right in his rear view mirror.
"You could have thrown a blanket over us," said Clark. "It was an extremely close race. It was pretty neat."
Clark calls the third-of-a-mile oval "an extremely fast track for what you're on. It's a tight track...very, very tight. Hairpin turns. But still, the speed is there. Even though it's a sharp corner, it's got a little more banking. You can keep your RPMs up. It's got a lot of character too. It's a fun place to race."
Clark -- Johnny 4 -- as he is called -- is a second generation driver. He took over the number 54 from his dad, John III. That's the year his dad was born and Johnny 4 took it over when his dad got out of the car for good.
"My dad and I were talking just a few nights ago," he said. "My nephew was crying that he couldn't go to a race of mine in New Hampshire because he wasn't old enough to get into the pit area. And my dad said he was crying a lot like I used to when I was a little kid. My dad was racing before I was born and I wanted to go from the time I could even walk."
He walked for a little while, of course. But it wasn't long before he was driving. He was behind the wheel of a street stock car at 14.
"My very first race was an Enduro...it wasn't pretty at all," he said. "I took the green flag and the lead and never even made it to the start/finish line before I was spinning. I spun out like 20 times in that race until I finally lost a wheel."
Suffice it to say, he got better.
"I ran probably four or five races that season and drove a full season of street stock at 15," said Clark, now 29. "I don't know if they would let you start at 14 now. There might have been some fudging of the paperwork at the time, but I wanted to get on the racetrack."
He took over his dad's pro stock drive when he was 16.
The vehicle he and his crew will bring to the woods is a Port City chassis, built in Michigan, with a Butler-McMaster engine built in Holliwell, Me. The body is a Chevy.
"We've never had this car to Fredericton," he said. "The first race we put on this car was a $30,000 to win race here in Maine last August. We've run it in 10 races and it's won more races than its lost."
Clark will bring a crew of "seven or eight." His dad will be in the crowd with a radio.
"If he can see anything that will help us out, he'll definitely speak up," said Clark. "But he pretty much just hangs back and watches and lets us do our thing. He's a very good spectator."
It's the first PASS through Geary, if you will, since 2003. They were scheduled in 2007, but the event was washed out by rain. Track owner Chris Johnston said it's simply been a matter of finding a date that works.
"We have a good relationship with them," he said. "We always have. It's just been kind of a weird thing to try to nail down. We have to find a weekend that the Maritime tour isn't running so we can get a few of those guys to come in. I think the fans are excited. It's nice to get the local guys get a shot at the travelling guys too."
The rain date is Sunday at 2 p.m.
Call the Raceline (454-RACE) for updates if the weather is questionable for tonight.
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