CASCAR - St-Eustache Wrap and Points
CASCAR Super Series For immediate release / June 3, 2002 Kennington holds lead after soggy St-Eustache race LONDON, ON - DJ Kennington's consistent string of finishes continued Saturday night at Autodrome St-Eustache, near Montreal. Crediting good fortune for helping him onto the podium just prior to the end of the AUTOPRO / NAPA 150, Kennington's third-place finish allowed him to slightly extend his narrow points lead over Mark Dilley, who was scored fourth in the post-race results. Kennington and Dilley were running fourth and fifth, respectively, when Peter Gibbons (third at the time) got into the back of the second-running Pete Vanderwyst, in turn 2. The incident brought on a yellow flag. Moments later, the rain started to fall heavily and the race was red-flagged, just three laps later. It was not re-started. Dave Whitlock was credited with his third Super Series checkered flag in the past two seasons. Whitlock's Fast Lane Taurus was the class of the field at St-Eustache. His win from the pole position was his first since the final race of the '97 season, where he managed the feat at New Brunswick Int'l Speedway, near Fredericton. The incident involving Vanderwyst and Gibbons saw the Exide Pontiac driver spin to the infield, near turn 2. Vanderwyst struggled to recover as the field circled, and managed to emerge in still within the top 10. Gibbons cut down a tire during the contact, and although he was able to circle in second-place until the red flag was displayed, the Canadian Tire Chevy racer was moved to the end of the lead lap cars - to 16th - as a penalty for sending Vanderwyst spinning. Whitlock's win ended Gibbons' two-race CASCAR Super Series winning streak at St-Eustache. Soon after the race, it was determined that Don Thomson would be scored in second, ahead of Kennington, Dilley and Al Turner. The top-five finishes for Thomson and Turner were their first of the season. After the race, Kennington said that even though he was aware that rain was on the way - as he ran fifth - there wasn't much he could do to improve his position. "I saw a little bit of rain on the windshield, but it's so tight here, that you can't really say, 'it's coming, I'd better start moving now'. You have to wait for stuff to happen. We'll take these top finishes anyway you can get 'em. Luck plays a big role in this game and we're going to keep rolling, I hope." RACE NOTES: Rookie competitor Joe Plazek gave a strong indication, at St-Eustache, that he's learning what it takes to make his Playstation2 Chevy go quickly. The first-year CASCAR racer has extensive experience racing on dirt, but is new to the CASCAR Late Model scene. The Castor Centre, ON resident qualified 16th-fastest at St-Eustache and locked himself into the starting grid without having to participate in the Final Qualifiers' race. By the time rain ended the event, Plazek had advanced two positions, to finish 14th. Plazek practiced extensively during the afternoon, prior to time trials, and raced aggressively during the event. CASCAR NOTES: Following a review of the finish, Pete Vanderwyst will be scored in seventh-place in the official St-Eustache results, one place lower than initially recorded immediately after the finish of the race... Cayuga Speedway issued a press release on June 2, announcing that Ted Musgrave, the winningest driver on the Craftsman Truck Series tour in the past 18 months, will be joining the star-studded roster for the June 30 CASCAR race at the legendary 5/8-mile oval. Musgrave will drive a Beauchamp Motorsports-prepared Intrepid. UNOFFICIAL SUPER SERIES POINTS (After 3 of 12 Rounds / As of June 1, 2002): 1. #17 DJ Kennington (Intrepid / 471 points); 2. #64 Mark Dilley (Ford / 453); 3. #9 Robbie Thompson (Intrepid / 444); 4. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 434); 5. #39 Dave Whitlock (Ford / 425); 6. #99 Pete Vanderwyst (Pontiac / 419); 7. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 402); 8. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 400); 9. #35 Kevin Dowler (Ford / 396); 10. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 383); 11. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 380); 12. #76 Al Turner (Intrepid / 366); 13. #3 Bill Rowse Jr. (Chevrolet / 360); 14. #32 Mike Alguire (Pontiac / 356); 14. #14 John Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 356); 16. #0 ® Joe Plazek (Chevrolet / 354); 17. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 350); 17. #93 Joe Goncalves (Chevrolet / 350); 18. #15 Robin Buck (Pontiac / 346); 20. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Intrepid / 334); 21. #33 Neil Fair (Chevrolet / 333); 22. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 332); 23. #24 ® Cole Pearn (Pontiac / 314); 24. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 300); 25. #31 Kelly Williams (Pontiac / 246); 26. #82 Steve Munro (Chevrolet / 232); 27. #52 ® Ron Sheridan (Pontiac / 210); 28. #41 John Tsoumaris (Chevrolet / 202); 29. #00 Billy Innes (Chevrolet / 182); 30. #81 Shawn McGlynn (Ford / 174) Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.ca Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416) 561-2320 (cell). 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