CASCAR - MOPAR 300 - Results & Summary
CASCAR Super Series MOPAR 300 May 18, 2003 Whitlock breaks Delaware jinx with a win in the MOPAR 300 at Delaware Speedway LONDON, ON - Three-time CASCAR Super Series National champion Dave Whitlock ended years of frustration at Delaware Speedway when he won the MOPAR 300, on Sunday afternoon. Racing in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at the half-mile, London area oval, Whitlock took the lead with a lap 288 pass on reigning Super Series champion and race polesitter Don Thomson. Once out front, Whitlock - who started 11th in the 32-car field - extended his lead over Thomson and finished 2.5 seconds ahead of the Home Hardware Chevy driver. Following the win - which was Whitlock's first Super Series feature victory at Delaware in 11 years of trying - the Wyoming, ON racer said, "I'm happy to finally get this Delaware monkey off my back. Actually, it was more like a gorilla." Whitlock's win was also significant because it came in his first outing behind the wheel of his APC /Artcal Intrepid, after years of driving Ford vehicles. Whitlock is still searching for a primary sponsor and hopes that his win in the season opening CASCAR Super Series race will help him in his quest for backing. Finishing third at Delaware was veteran racer Neil Fair, in his Skoal Inc. / Mac's Intrepid. Fair came from 16th at the start. The race was slowed eight times for a total of 44 laps. Red flags brought the race to a halt, on two occasions. One involved CASCAR's winningest driver, Steve Robblee. The Remax Ford Taurus racer lost his brakes on the way into the first turn on lap 155 and slammed the outside wall, at speed, which sent his car tumbling down the banking. Fortunately, the Dorchester, ON racer was unhurt. The other stoppage was for a scary fire inside the car of Hamilton, ON racer Nik Lapcevich. The driver's compartment of his Chevy was fully engulfed for several seconds before he was able to come to a stop and exit his charred racecar, with minor burns. The next CASCAR Super Series race is June 7 at Peterborough Speedway. PHOTO: (l to r) Don Thomson (2nd), Dave Whitlock (1st) and Neil Fair (3rd) were the podium finishers in the season opening CASCAR Super Series race - the MOPAR 300 - at Delaware Speedway on Sunday afternoon. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / ITMN UNOFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. #4 Don Thomson (169 points), 2. #39 Dave Whitlock (162), 3. #33 Neil Fair (152), 4. #02 Kerry Micks (152), 5. #77 Pete Vanderwyst (148), 6. #14 John Fitzpatrick (140), 7. #22 Scott Steckly (138), 8. #64 Mark Dilley (136), 9. #37 DJ Kennington (134), 10. #10 Doug Brown (132) CASCAR Super Series RESULTS: MOPAR 300 Round #1 // May 18, 2003 // Delaware Speedway // London, Ontario FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 11 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) APC / Artcal Intrepid 300 2 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 3 16 33 Neil Fair (Ancaster, ON) Skoal Inc. / Mac's Intrepid 300 4 13 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) UFCW Canada Ford Taurus 300 5 14 77 Pete Vanderwyst (St. Thomas, ON) Exide Batteries Pontiac Grand Prix 300 6 8 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 7 15 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) Schick Xtreme3 / Razor Mag. / ERB Pontiac Grand Prix 300 8 12 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Intrepid 299 9 10 37 D.J. Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Snap On Tools / Castrol Canada Intrepid 299 10 20 10 Doug Brown (Brantford, ON) NAPA / Autopro Chevrolet Monte Carlo 298 11 17 55 Rob Graham (Bothwell, ON) OKI / Doering & Brown Chevrolet Monte Carlo 298 12 5 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Performance Parts / Exide Intrepid 297 13 4 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Volvo Trucks Pontiac Grand Prix 296 14 27 56 Jim Bray (Brantford, ON) Trailers By Jim Bray Chevrolet Monte Carlo 293 15 23 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Labour Ready / 820 CHAM / Rockton Berry Farm Ford Taurus 292 16 26 41 John Tsoumaris (Toronto, ON) BAK-A / John's Unique Auto Chevrolet Monte Carlo 291 17 18 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 278 18 19 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough, ON) R National Fast Freight Intrepid 246 19 32 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Holmar Plumbing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 242 20 25 44 Marv Wilder (Toronto, ON) Longbow Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 235 21 24 94 Mark Graham (Odessa, ON) Jumbo Video / Microplay / Coca-Cola Chevrolet Monte Carlo 223 22 30 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Remax Preferred Realty / Mortgage Intelligence Intrepid 211 23 28 00 Billy Innes (Simcoe, ON) Regional Auto Glass Chevrolet Monte Carlo 203 24 6 7 Sean Dupuis (LaSalle, ON) Havoline / CANUSA / APC Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 25 7 24 Cole Pearn (Mt. Brydges, ON) Kubota Canada Pontiac Grand Prix 176 26 2 28 Steve Robblee (Dorchester, ON) Ron O'Brien Remax / CGC Ford Taurus 153 27 3 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire Chevrolet Monte Carlo 141 28 21 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON) Industrial Waterproof Systems / A-DOR Pontiac Grand Prix 40 29 9 52 Ron Sheridan (Strathroy, ON) R Restoration Masters / Dale Wurfel Pontiac Grand Prix 40 30 31 91 Doug Day (Waterloo, ON) Twin City Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo 16 31 29 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) FAG / Inroble Brakes Taurus 6 32 22 5 Nik Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 6 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. MARGIN OF VICTORY: 2.507 seconds // AVERAGE SPEED: 56.287 mph // TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 39 minutes and 53.648 seconds // CAUTIONS: 8 for a total of 44 laps - including 2 red flag stoppages // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don Thomson (1 - 90), #28 Steve Robblee (91 - 143), #19 Brad Graham (144 - 169), #02 Kerry Micks (170 - 187), #77 Pete Vanderwyst (188 - 189), #25 Jim Lapcevich (190 - 204), #4 Thomson (205 - 286) and #39 Dave Whitlock (287 - 300).