'Great Canadian Race' - Thomson Discusses Winning

Castrol Super Series

For immediate release / October 2, 2001

THOMSON DISCUSSES WINNING FIRST CASTROL CUP

LONDON, ON - The final 86 laps of Sunday's 'Great Canadian Race' must have 
seemed like an eternity for Castrol Super Series driver Don Thomson Jr. The 
Home Hardware Chevy driver was leading the 300-lap series finale at 
Delaware Speedway when he felt the same stomach-dropping feeling he 
experienced back on August 4, in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Prior to 
lap 214 on Sunday, Thomson was confident of his chances of capturing both 
the checkered flag and his first Castrol Cup; the trophy that goes to the 
champion of Canada's top racing series.
	But that dream was shattered when he pushed the throttle, on the exit from 
turn 2 on lap 214, and the car faltered. "The car ran good and then the 
clutch started slipping," said Thomson. "I came off the corner, nailed the 
gas, and the engine spun up. I had a pretty good idea of what it was. It 
had a touch of a vibration for maybe 30 laps before that. But I thought it 
[the trouble] was just in my head. They say that when you're trying to win 
championships, you'll hear every vibration there is in the car." But the 
veteran racer had a good idea what was happening in his car.
	At Trois-Rivières, Thomson's clutch failed totally and he coasted to a 
stop, just yards away from the checkered flag. It was a heartbreaking 
result after a dominant weekend. Fortunately though, at Delaware, Thomson's 
clutch failure wasn't catastrophic. "When the clutch slipped coming off 
turn 2, I knew I had two choices. I could either baby that thing and hope 
we could stay on the lead lap or within a few laps to win the championship 
or go hard and probably not finish." The decision was a simple one.
	Thomson went on to finish seventh, one lap behind race winner Peter 
Gibbons, and claimed his first Castrol Cup by 126 over his nearest points 
rival, Kerry Micks. Al Turner finished the 12-event Castrol Super Series 
season just eight points back of Micks. Both Micks and Turner experienced 
mechanical troubles on Sunday, which forced them behind the wall for 
repairs for an extended period, effectively dashing their already slim 
hopes for catching Thomson.
	Asked how it felt to finally win the Castrol Cup, Thomson replied, "It 
feels really, really good. It really does. I didn't want to end it that way 
[not winning]. It took a little bit of the wind out of my sails. I would 
have loved to have been on the podium, but hey, we'll take this 
championship and carry on."
	Prior to Sunday, the Hamilton, ON racer had two CASCAR East championships 
to his credit. But Thomson made it clear, following the 'Great Canadian 
Race', that winning the National championship was a different experience.
	"This is the big one. I've felt over the past couple of years that the 
Eastern championship was a step down from the National championship. The 
National crown was the big one and the Eastern championship was a secondary 
prize. In a way, it felt like that sometimes.
"The Eastern one was tougher to win, because there were more races 
involved. But when they talked about the champion the past two years, they 
talked about Peter Gibbons. The Eastern one seemed secondary. But now, we 
won the big one and we are the National champions. That's all that matters."
	By Tuesday morning, Thomson was back in the Ayr, ON shop of the 
championship winning, two-car Fitzpatrick Motorsports team, looking over 
the equipment and working on a gameplan to defend the Castrol Cup in 2002. 
"We're going to be busy doing our homework over the winter," vowed Thomson. 
"The guys in this series... man, they're competitive. There's a lot of good 
runners every week. We're going to have to be busy the next few months 
trying to stay ahead of these guys, or even just keep pace with them. 
That's what we're going to do. We're probably going to start right away."

CASTROL SUPER SERIES: FINAL POINTS
1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 2092)
2. #02 Kerry Micks  (Ford / 1976)
3. #76 Al Turner (Intrepid / 1968)
4. #17 DJ Kennington (Intrepid / 1935)
5. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 1874)
6. #64 Mark Dilley (Ford / 1865)
7. #35 Kevin Dowler (Ford / 1842)
8. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Intrepid / 1830)
9. #99 Pete Vanderwyst  (Pontiac / 1813)
10. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 1800)
11. #33 Neil Fair (Chevrolet / 1757)
12. #9 Robbie Thompson (Intrepid / 1752)
13. #14 John Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 1746)
14. #8 Teri MacDonald-Cadieux (Chevrolet / 1728)
15. #04 Andy Farr (Intrepid / 1726)
16. #98 David Whitlock (Ford / 1670)
17. #31 Kelly Williams (Pontiac / 1650)
18. #3 Chris Fowler (Chevrolet / 1570)
19. #22 Scott Steckly (Chevrolet / 1363)
20. #19 Brad Graham (Chevrolet / 1200)
21. #80 Donald Theetge (Chevrolet / 1116)
22. #57 Joe Goncalves (Chevrolet / 1106)
23. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 882)
24. #41 John Tsoumaris (Chevrolet / 776)
25. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 773)
26. #75 Kevin O'Hara (Chevrolet / 730)
27. #29 Kevin Trevellin (Ford / 714)
28. #32 Mike Alguire (Pontiac / 698)
29. #97 Rob Neely (Intrepid / 686)
30. #00 Bill Innes (Ford / 640)
31. #20 Scott Lindsay (Chevrolet / 572)
32. #44 Marv Wilder (Ford / 544)
33. #66 Robin Buck (Pontiac / 529)
34. #2 Carl Harr (Chevrolet / 512)
35. #71 Daryl Harr (Chevrolet / 502)
36. #94 Mark Graham (Chevrolet / 454)
37. #91 Doug Day (Chevrolet / 416)
38. #96 Jesse Kennedy (Pontiac / 402)
39. #81 Wheeler Boys (Ford / 398)
40. #36 Rod Sauder (Intrepid / 396)
41. #10 Doug Brown (Pontiac / 394)
42. #38 Don Sales (Pontiac / 376)
42. #08 Ted McIntyre (Intrepid / 376)
44. #28 Steve Robblee (Ford / 366)
45. #24 Cole Pearn (Chevrolet / 360)
46. #21 Wade Lee (Ford / 356)
47. #12 Ron Larson (Chevrolet / 342)
48. #86 Ken Forth Jr. (Ford / 330)
49. #43 Bob Merrifield (Intrepid / 308)
50. #56 Scott Fletcher (Chevrolet / 304)
51. #20 Kim Richard (Pontiac / 240)
52. #34 Darren Turner (Chevrolet / 234)
52. #61 Mike Ling (Intrepid / 234)
54. #15 Mike Browne (Pontiac / 230)
55. #93 Charlie Kirton (Chevrolet / 224)
56. #7 James MacFarlane (Ford / 220)
57. #56 Howie Scannell Jr. (Chevrolet / 194)
58. #82 Dave Connelly (Chevrolet / 144)
59. #09 Trevor Siebert (Ford / 128)
60. #81 Gil Gillett (Ford / 126)
61. #79 Dwayne Arnott (Chevrolet / 122)
62. #01 Damon Sharpe (Chevrolet / 118)
63. #50 Wheeler Boys (Intrepid / 116)
64. #18 James VanDomselaar (Pontiac / 112)
65. #6 Todd Nichol (Chevrolet / 104)
66. #95 Kevin Clark (Pontiac / 98)
67. #21 Wade Lee (Ford / 98)
68. #69 Scott Watkins (Pontiac / 20)