OXFORD — Cassius Clark knew he had a fast car heading into the Pro All Stars Series North feature Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

He showed it off on the eve of the TD Bank 250 by winning the PASS North Dunkin Donuts 150.

“There’s no reason we shouldn’t be winning races,” said Clark of Farmington.

Clark started 16th but used the inside groove to chase down one car after another to win his third feature of the season.

Clark, who entered the night second in points but left it as the new PASS North leader, caught Kyle DeSouza with 20 laps to go then held off Trevor Sanborn at the finish to take the checkered flag.

Sanborn finished second while Derek Ramstrom came in third.

DeSouza, who was seeking his first career PASS North win, finished fourth while American-Canadian Tour champ Brian Hoar was fifth.

Farmingdale driver Johnny Clark struggled all night. He went to the pits on the 39th lap and never recovered, finishing 13th.

Cassius Clark was fifth midway through the feature and then climbed into second when he passed points leader Travis Benjamin on the 83rd lap.

Clark tried to keep DeSouza in his sights, but he got caught in lap traffic with 40 laps remaining. He caught the break he needed when the caution flag again flied with 22 laps left. Clark caught DeSouza two laps later off the restart and never looked back.

“(DeSouza) got out to quite a lead, but he started to fade a little bit,” Clark said. “I was able to catch him and then the caution came out and I was able to get by him. I thought we were going to sail away there but a bunch of lap cars got jumbled up.

“We started back there a little bit, lost track position right off the bat. We had to bite our tongue and be patient. It took the third or fourth caution to finally get the right groove. We held the line pretty good.”

Added Sanborn, who pitted earlier in the race but used a few restarts to surge back into the lead pack: “I was happy to finish second after having to pit,” he said. “It didn’t get off too good. I was hoping for a restart to run with those guys.”

Johnny Clark has dominated PASS North, winning the last four points titles. His quest for a fifth straight and seventh overall hasn’t been easy. Mechanical problems have dogged him a bit this season, and Saturday was no different.

He started 15th, moved to as high as eighth, but car trouble forced him to pit on the 39th lap. He moved to the back of the field and never threatened the rest of the night.

Benjamin, who entered the race as the points leader but finished 14th, said the door is open for another driver to end Johnny Clark’s reign.

“I don’t think Johnny is having as good a season as he has had in the past,” he said. “He’s had a few mechanical failures. Every time he has a bad race you have to be able to capitalize.”

The top six drivers came to OPS separated by just 37 points. Two of those six, DJ Shaw and Cassius Clark, didn’t compete full time on the tour last season.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com