CASCAR - Mosport Results & Summary
CASCAR Super Series Round #3 // Exide Batteries 200 km June 15, 2003 Gibbons wins the Exide Batteries 200km at Mosport Int'l Raceway MOSPORT, ON Peter Gibbons returned to CASCAR's victory lane by winning the Exide Batteries 200 km at Mosport Int'l Raceway on Sunday afternoon. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver hadn't won since the final race of the 2001 Super Series season, in spite of several strong runs during the past year. Gibbons started fourth in the field of 27 at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course and led three times for a total of 22 of the race's 51 laps. Gibbons slipped up while leading, on lap 40, and his off-track excursion in turn 5 handed the lead to Ron Beauchamp Jr., who had been tailing Gibbons closely. But determined not to let the win slip away, Gibbons went on a tear after recovering from the 'off' and quickly erased the five-second gap that separated him from the MOPAR Intrepid driver. Once on his rear bumper, Gibbons stalked Beauchamp for a few laps. The Stouffville, ON racer took the top spot for the final time when he passed Beauchamp with just four laps to go. The Windsor, ON driver stayed close to Gibbons the rest of the way, but was unable to mount another lead challenge. Beauchamp went on to finish second, just 1.064 seconds behind Gibbons. The final podium finisher was Scott Steckly, of Milverton, ON. The Schick Xtreme3 Pontiac driver recovered from an early race flat tire to record his best finish of the season. Championship points leader Don Thomson continued his strong early-season run. The Home Hardware Chevy racer finished fourth in spite of a lengthy mid-race pit stop which dropped him to 16th on lap 27. In the first three races of the 2003 CASCAR Super Series season, Thomson has recorded two second-place finishes, as well as a fourth, and has put a 32-point gap between himself and his closest rival, Kerry Micks (486 points to 454). Micks finished 13th in the Exide Batteries 200 km. The race took just one hour and 25 minutes to complete, and was slowed by a single caution flag for a total of five laps (laps 17 to 21). Several drivers pitted for tires and gas near the halfway point of the event, and were hoping that another caution flag would emerge that would allow them to recover lost ground on the leaders. But that second caution never came out. The next CASCAR Super Series race is the 'Dodge Canada Day Shootout, presented by MOPAR' on June 29-29 at Cayuga Speedway. The event will feature CASCAR's best against several NASCAR stars. PHOTO: Peter Gibbons takes the checkered flag in the Exide Batteries 200km at Mosport Int'l Raceway on Sunday afternoon. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track Motorsport News POINT STANDINGS (TOP 10): UNOFFICIAL AFTER 3 EVENTS: 1. #4 Don Thomson (486 pts.); 2. #02 Kerry Micks (454); 3. #33 Neil Fair (428); 4. #64 Mark Dilley (426); 5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (412); 6. #22 Scott Steckly (408); 7. #19 Brad Graham (408); 8. #37 DJ Kennington (407); 9. #14 John Fitzpatrick (401); 10. #25 Jim Lapcevich (400) CASCAR NOTEBOOK: The second round of the CASCAR Super Series the 'Dodge Dealers of Ontario 200' at Peterborough Speedway will be broadcast on SPORTSNET on Monday night at 7 p.m. CASCAR Super Series RESULTS: Exide Batteries 200km Round #3 // June 15, 2003 // Mosport Int'l Raceway // Mosport, Ontario 51Laps // 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 4 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 2 8 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Performance Parts / Exide Intrepid 51 3 7 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) Schick Xtreme3 / Razor Mag. / ERB Pontiac Grand Prix 51 4 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 5 12 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Intrepid 51 6 3 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 7 9 3 Chris Fowler (Stouffville, ON) Snap On Tools / Castrol Canada Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 8 14 33 Neil Fair (Ancaster, ON) Skoal Inc. / Mac's Intrepid 51 9 2 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 10 10 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) FAG / Inroble Brakes Taurus 51 11 11 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 12 15 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Holmar Plumbing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51 13 5 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) UFCW Canada Ford Taurus 51 14 21 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Volvo Trucks Pontiac Grand Prix 51 15 6 37 D.J. Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Snap On Tools / Castrol Canada Intrepid 50 16 23 42 Sean Stafford (Springfield, ON) Mid-America Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 49 17 20 44 Marv Wilder (Toronto, ON) Longbow Freight Systems Ford Taurus 49 18 19 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough, ON) R National Fast Freight Intrepid 48 19 18 80 Donald Theetge (Boischatel, QC) Auto Frank & Michel Chevrolet Monte Carlo 46 20 22 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Labour Ready / 820 CHAM / Rockton Berry Farm Ford Taurus 45 21 16 24 Cole Pearn (Mt. Brydges, ON)* Kubota Canada Pontiac Grand Prix 43 22 25 00 Billy Innes (Simcoe, ON) Regional Auto Glass Chevrolet Monte Carlo 43 23 24 56 John Fletcher (Milton, ON) Trailers By Jim Bray Chevrolet Monte Carlo 36 24 13 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) NMT / Artcal Graphics Intrepid 17 25 17 8 Marc Miller (Holland, MI) R Carhartt Clothing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 14 26 27 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON)* Industrial Waterproof Systems / A-DOR Pontiac Grand Prix 10 27 26 98 Pete Shepherd Jr. (Brampton, ON) National Exhaust Systems Intrepid 3 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.064 seconds // AVERAGE SPEED: 141.739 km/h // TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 25 minutes and 25 seconds // CAUTIONS: 1 for a total of 5 laps // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don Thomson (1 - 16), #1 Peter Gibbons (17), #25 Jim Lapcevich (18 22), #1 Peter Gibbons (23 39), #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (40 47) and #1 Peter Gibbons (48 51).
