Sanborn and Rowe’s cars are prepared by the same crew, including Rowe’s crew chief Brian Burgess – giving equal opportunity to both drivers. And right now, the superteam of the PASS North Series provides a two-car tandem taking advantage of that opportunity.

In one car, you’ve got a multi-time champion in Ben Rowe, who has 32 career North wins – more than twice the total of any other driver. In the other car, one of the hottest young drivers in the series in Sanborn. Together, they provide one serious threat to win Sunday’s inaugural New England Toyota Tundra 250 at Wiscasset Raceway.

"The cars are equal," said Sanborn, who’s won twice in PASS South competition but is still looking for career win No. 1 in the northern ranks. "We have Brian (Burgess) helping us both. Maybe we’ve had better finishes at the end of the race lately, but (Rowe) has been there, too."

Perhaps the most interesting aspect to the team’s success is that neither driver has much prior experience with teammates. And though both are quite, easy-going personalities off the track – on it, they couldn’t be more different.

Sanborn, of Parsonsfield, Maine, describes his driving style as smoother than Rowe’s; the Turner, Maine, native Rowe says that Sanborn works too hard at trying to win races in the early laps.

"Ben’s a good wheel man, as everyone knows. He can help out a lot with the race cars," Sanborn said. "But Ben can hustle a car, and I’m more smooth – I learned it from the go-karts, I guess."

Rowe, who is leading the PASS North standings through eight races, said he’s not tried to force-feed Sanborn information, instead helping out when asked. Mostly, he’s talked to Sanborn about how to approach individual races and not how to turn quick laps around area race tracks.

Sometimes, it seems, however, that Sanborn would welcome more unsolicited advice.

"He’s great. I mean, he can drive the cars like crazy," Rowe said of his teammate. "There’s a couple of times that I get on his case about reading the rules and stupid things like that, like he tries to win the race on the first lap. He’s always like, ‘Why don’t you switch over to my radio and tell me this stuff?’

"It’s the whole mental part of it. You can’t win these races in the first lap, and it took me a while to learn all that. You can’t put yourself in these positions to get wrecked or anything until there’s 20 to go. Once he figures that out, he’s going to win some races."

Sanborn’s breakthrough victory came at Orange County Speedway in early June, and he was close to winning his first North race at Thompson, Conn., one month later. But Sanborn said that despite having now visited Wiscasset on a number of occasions, he doesn’t feel like he has a handle on it.

"I haven’t run good here yet. It’s a tough race track. It’s just different. Flat tracks are hard to get grip on, anyways, and you can hustle a car a lot better on a banked track. That’s where I’d rather be racing – on a flat track – but you race what you’re dealt with."

And what Sanborn’s been dealt, in terms of equipment, is some pretty good stuff. But he scoffs at the idea that one car is better than the other.

"That’s for all the grandstand drivers," Sanborn said with a smile. "A lot of people have nothing better to do out there."

Posted at 12:05 a.m. by TBarrett