SCARBOROUGH – Mike Rowe continued his mastery of the one-third mile at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Saturday night.

Rowe, the track’s defending Pro Series champion, moved into the lead with 30 laps left to win in the track’s season-opening 150-lap feature for Super Late Models.

“The key is the Fowler boys and the crew,” Rowe said. “We struggled all day (Friday in practice). They went to the shop (Friday) night, and they did an awesome job.”

Dick Fowler of Scarborough and his sons, Mike and Jason, serve as the pit crew for Rowe’s car.

Rowe, 59, tracked Trevor Sanborn, who led the race for 104 laps, for nearly 50 laps before moving into the lead on the 120th lap. Sanborn, a former PASS North Rookie of the Year from Parsonsfield, ended up finishing fifth.

“I just had to pressure him and run his tires off,” Rowe said. “The car was just awesome.”

Rowe dedicated the race to Gary Bellefleur, a Late Model Sportsman driver from Stetson who died in an accident while working on his car last Monday night.

“It was a sad week,” Rowe said.

Adam Bates, who worked his way up from the 18th spot on the 31-car starting grid, finished second. “If I had another 10 laps or so, I would have caught (Rowe), but passing him would have been another thing,” said Bates, who is from Tamworth, N.H.

Ben Rowe, Mike Rowe’s 35-year-old son, finished third.

“I know he’s my father, but what he does in a race car is beyond what we can do,” said Ben Rowe, who held the lead briefly. “I thought I was better than him when I let him by, and I could roll up on him. But I got pinched behind a lapped car.”

While making his PASS North debut, Joey Doiron, a senior at Noble High School, finished fourth. Last season, he was named the American Canadian Tour’s Rookie of the Year.

The first PASS North event of the season included racing in five divisions. The regional racing tour was scheduled to open the season April 18 at Speedway 95 in Hermon, but that event was rained out.

Carey Martin of Denmark held off Oakland’s Mike Landry in the final lap to capture the 75-lap Sportsman final. PASS North’s reigning champion in the division, Martin led the first 28 laps after starting in the pole position. He moved into the lead for good seven laps from the finish following a restart. Clyde Hennessey of Windham was third. Only 15 of the 25 cars that started the race finished it.

In the open-wheeled Modifieds, Chris Staples of Brunswick held off a late charge by Wayne Whitten of Arundel to win the 40-lap final. Staples, the PASS North Modified champion in 2006 and 2007, returned to the division after competing in the Late Model Sportsmen the past two seasons. John Brill of Bridgton finished third.

Windham’s Bobby Timmons, the third generation of his family to race at Beech Ridge, won the 35-lap Legends race.

After moving into the lead five laps from the finish, Adam Norton of Massachusetts went on to win the 35-lap Pro 4 Modifieds final.

Weekly racing at Beech Ridge will start May 29.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com