Ford Quality Care / Apollo - Toronto Indy Report

Ford Quality Care / Apollo Motorsports

For immediate release / July 9, 2002

Dowler wins again at the Toronto Indy
Ford Quality Care Taurus racer becomes CASCAR's winningest driver of 2002

TORONTO, ON - Proving he can win in dry conditions, as well as on wet 
surfaces, Kevin Dowler stunned everyone at the Toronto Indy, on Saturday 
afternoon, with his spectacular 'back-to-front' charge to the checkered 
flag. The Ford Quality Care Taurus driver suffered an engine failure, just 
moments into the Saturday morning qualifying session, and was forced to 
start at the back of the pack in Saturday afternoon's 36-lap race after 
opting to race in his backup car.
	Traditionally a difficult place to pass, the Exhibition Place temporary 
street circuit gave the Edmonton, AB racer an opportunity to shine. His 
Quality Care Taurus carved through the back of the field in short order. 
Once near the front of the pack, Dowler methodically picked up positions - 
many while under heavy braking - in some very tight sections of the 
concrete-walled track.
	In the end, Dowler advanced 36 positions in 36 laps en route to his second 
CASCAR Super Series race win of the season, and his second Toronto Indy 
CASCAR victory. Following four annual CASCAR events at the 11-turn, 2.825 
km track, Dowler and Robin Buck each have a pair of wins to their credit.
	Despite the daunting challenge of starting 'scratch' for the race, Dowler 
attacked the event with a plan. "Starting at the back, you had to save your 
tires. I knew that Robin [Buck] and the other leaders were going to be 
battling hard. I was fortunate that the cautions came out when they did. 
And I just kept on running around in high gear, to stop from spinning the 
tires. That was the only way I was going to get forward bite... and it paid 
off."
	Combining his two wins with the June 30 victory by Matt Kenseth in the 
"Canada Day Shootout" at Cayuga Speedway, Dowler's Apollo Motorsports team 
has three CASCAR Super Series wins to its credit thus far in 2002. "This is 
a pretty good year for our Ford Quality Care Taurus," continued Dowler. "We 
won at Mosport in the rain, so I guess I showed I can do it in the 'dry', too."
	Discussing his progress toward the front, Dowler continued, "I was 
surprised that I caught the fast group of cars as fast as I did... like 
Donnie Thomson, Peter Gibbons and Ron Beauchamp. They were having their own 
battle. We had some great Performance Friction brakes on the car. They were 
awesome and they were still in great shape at the end. We could have run 
another 36 laps after this one. I don't know if the driver would have made 
it, though. My Ford Quality Care team did a great job coming together in 
the face of adversity. We won because of it."
	Joe Goncalves finished second at the Toronto Indy, to earn his first ever 
CASCAR podium appearance. Polesitter Robin Buck led for most of the race, 
and finished third.

NEXT RACE: Dowler's Ford Quality Care Taurus will race in his home province 
of Alberta on July 19-21 when the CASCAR Super Series makes its annual 
visit to Race City Speedway. Dowler, who is currently fifth in the point 
standings, is hoping to overcome the handling gremlins that dogged him in 
the most recent oval race, at Cayuga. "I'm excited about the way things 
have gone for us this year. The next thing is to get a handle on the ovals. 
We'll do our best to make that happen at Race City."

Prepared by Inside Track Communications (416) 962-7223.