Cassius Clark came oh-so-close to winning the Pro All Stars Series North points championship last season before a tough showing in the regular-season finale ruined his shot.

Undeterred, the Farmington driver came back this season looking for redemption — and he got it Saturday afternoon at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Clark finished third in the Ripley and Fletcher Ford 150 to secure his first PASS North points title.

“It’s pretty neat,” said Clark, who drives the No. 77 car for Hight Motorsports. “When we put this team together, this is what we wanted to do. We came up short last year and we wanted to come back better.”

Clark entered the feature tied with Joey Doiron for the points title, which set the stage for a showdown.

“We both knew what we had to do,” Clark said. “Basically, we just had to beat him.”

Clark did just that, as Doiron, a Berwick native, finished fifth. Clark started 15th, four spots behind Doiron, and he never lost sight of his rival.

“I just wanted to keep an eye on him,” Clark said. “He took off fast but I was able to keep track of him. He got the lead but it looked to me like he was starting to slide. We swapped the lead a few times but it looked like he was starting to fade. We got him in the end. We had a real good car and everything worked out for us.”

Clark finished second to Travis Benjamin last season in a points duel that wasn’t decided until the final race, also at OPS. Despite earning three victories, it wasn’t enough for Clark to win the title. He finished a 16th in the final race last season.

“It was tough but we came back stronger,” he said. “We had high expectations this year, especially with the equipment we had. We had a bad week here and there but we ended up OK.”

Clark finished with 2,360 points while Doiron — who finished second at the annual TD Bank 250 last July — was a close second with 2,357. DJ Shaw was third with 2,353 points.

Clark had eight top-five finishes in 11 starts, including two victories.

“It turned into a good deal for us this year,” said Clark, who is in his second season with Hight Motorsports. “We just had a real good car. It’s pretty cool to win it, especially being with the Hight family.”

Clark added he has nothing planned for the remainder of the season.

“The season is just about done up here,” he said. “Maybe we’ll pick up a ride here and there. Who knows. It will be nice to relax for a little bit, though.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com

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