OXFORD — Second-generation driver Cassius Clark of Farmington drove around the outside of Joey Doiron on lap 141 and survived a late-race restart to claim the Ripley & Fletcher 150 for the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North cars Sunday afternoon at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Doiron led on two occasions for a total of 106 laps but settled for second. Defending PASS North champion Travis Benjamin started 25th on the 34-car grid and drove all the way to third.

Multi-time PASS champion Ben Rowe came from the 20th starting position to claim fourth. Bobby Timmons completed the top five.

Ryan Hammer (NELCAR Legends), Bill Dixon (PASS Mods) and Joe Pastore (PASS Sportsman) were also feature winners on a sunny but cold afternoon at the historic 3/8-mile oval.

“This is one of my favorite tracks. I watched my dad (Billy) race here for years and it just feels great to win one,” Clark said. “Joey was tough. We had very similar cars today. We had a shootout there at the end. We kept each other honest and he ran me real clean. I have to thank him for that.”

Doiron was easily the class of the field for much of the day. He started second behind polesitter Brad Babb after winning the second of four qualifying heats. His car was fast in both the low and high grooves, something not many could say on a day when traction was at a premium.

“We had a really strong car. My whole crew did a great job here today,” Doiron said. “We built a big notebook of information to use when we come back here in July (for the TD Bank 250), which should help.

“I was hoping it would stay green the whole way. We were putting some good cars down a lap and setting a fast pace. I still felt like I had the best car late in the race, but the car just didn’t have enough power. Those late-race cautions put us in a world of hurt.”

Benjamin saved his car as he worked his way through traffic, keeping his sights set on a late-race charge to the front.

With 40 laps remaining, he moved into the top five and appeared to be the fastest car at that time. In a final seven-lap sprint to the finish, he secured a coveted spot on the podium.

“I knew we had a good car. We just tried to save the equipment for late in the race,” Benjamin said. “I had to use too much of it to get up into contention. I wish I could have battled with Cassius and Joey near the end, but the car was about gone. I’m still happy with our run. It’s a great way to begin a title defense.”

Finishing sixth through 10th were D.J. Shaw, Aaron Ricker, 2012 OPS champion Shawn Martin of Turner, Austin Theriault and Kirk Thibeau.

Five cautions slowed the pace, while 16 of the 34 starters finished on the lead lap.

Some well known names struggled in this year’s PASS opener. Finishing deep in the field after difficult days were NASCAR veteran Kelly Moore (16th); 2012 TD Bank 250 winner Joey Polewarczyk Jr. (21st); longtime Oxford veteran Mike Rowe (30th); and multi-time PASS champion Johnny Clark (31st), who suffered engine failure at lap 65.

Clark’s margin of victory was a tight half-second.

PASS now moves to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough on May 4. OPS, under the new ownership of PASS president Tom Mayberry, will open the 2013 championship series season Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m.

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