PASS playing 2nd fiddle

Check out the Thompson International Speedway web site if you want to see just how important that PASS North Series 75-lapper next weekend is to the folks in Connecticut. They're still going to pay the purse, right?

The track's Full-Fendered Frenzy program is a combination 100-lap Busch East Series event and 75-lap PASS race. But to see the track's opinion, it's all about the Busch cars and a bunch of minor-leaguers from northern New England. There are six driver mug shots on the site -- all Busch drivers, of course -- and a headline that infers the PASS cars are no different than the track's Late Model division.

Sure, there's name recognition with the likes of Joey Logano and Jeffrey Earnhardt in that BES race -- but let's be honest. That's nothing more than a Double-A baseball lineup of guys who someday might -- MIGHT -- get a sniff of the big time. When it comes to Super Late Model racing, PASS is already a national brand name in short-track racing.

Remember when PASS could headline an event, even in the open-wheel world of Connecticut short tracks?

I'm guessing the PASS guys put on a better show than the BES cars at Thompson, and I'm not exactly going out on a limb here. I saw that New England 125 at New Hampshire last weekend, and it was awful, wretched, putrid stuff. Looked like a bunch of kids behind the wheels of those cars, ones who were in over their heads on the big, flat, mile track.

Oh, wait a minute, those were kids behind the wheels who were in over their heads on the big, flat, mile track.