(Stafford Springs, CT)---When the Pro-All Star Series makes its first ever visit to Stafford Motor Speedway on Sunday, August 26th, West Boylston, MA native Derek Ramstrom will be eager to enter his name into the record books as the very first Super Late Model winner at SMS.  Ramstrom began racing in PASS at the age of 14 and he is the 2006 PASS Outlaw Late Model champion.  Ramstrom has won three PASS Super Late Model races in his career, including the Thompson race this season, and he is eager to make his Stafford debut and hopefully add to his PASS win total.

“I’m definitely looking forward to racing at Stafford,” said Ramstrom.  “I’ve heard it’s a challenge compared to some other tracks and it’s an excellent facility.  With travelling in the PASS Series and I’ve made about 12 starts in the K&N East Series, I’m used to going to new tracks and trying to figure out the setup and the track.  I think it will be tough, but I know a lot of drivers who I can talk to and I think I have a good idea about what kind of line to run.  As for the setup, we’re all kind of in the dark.  Most of the PASS guys haven’t run a ProStock at Stafford before and neither have we, so at least we’re all in the dark, it’s not just us.”

Although Ramstrom is making his Stafford debut, he already has an idea of who he will have to beat in order to take home the checkered flag.

“I think Teddy [Christopher] is going to be the man to beat just because he has so many laps at Stafford,” said Ramstrom.

In order for Ramstrom and the PASS field to beat Christopher, they will have to take full advantage of the practice session leading up to qualifying in order to get their cars handling properly at a track that is unique to the PASS Series.

“Stafford is definitely not a track that we’re used to,” said Ramstrom.  “Stafford is a mostly flat track with long straightaways.  Most of the tracks we run at are either flat, or they have a good amount of banking and I think Stafford is kind of in the middle, so it’s going to be a challenge.  I don’t think Stafford is comparable to any of the tracks that we race at with the PASS Series.”

With 7 winners thusfar in the first 10 races of the 2012 PASS Season, Ramstrom expects a hardfought duel for the checkered flag.

“This year has definitely been different from any other year I’ve run PASS,” said Ramstrom.  “Usually it’s Ben Rowe and Johnny Clark who have been spanking everyone, but this year we’ve run up front, Joey Doiron came over from ACT and won, D.J. Shaw has won, Cassis Clark has won, Travis Benjamin has been up there, so it’s good for the series that we don’t have just one or two guys winning all the races.”

The Inaugural PASS event at Stafford will consist of the PASS Super Late Models in a 125 lap race, the PASS Sportsmans in a 75 lap race, the PASS Modifieds in a 40 lap race, and the N.E. Truck Series in a 30-lap race.  For the PASS Sportsman feature, Stafford Limited Late Model cars will be eligible to race against the PASS Sportsman cars.

Tickets for the Inaugural PASS event are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.  Tickets are priced at $27.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will be priced at $30.00 for all ages.  All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.  As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.  Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking, with overnight parking available.

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

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