CASCAR: Cayuga Report and Championship Notes
CASCAR Super Series Cayuga Speedway - Results and Summary Vanderwyst and Thomson big winners at Cayuga in CASCAR Super Series finale HAMILTON, ON October 4, 2003; It was déjà vu all over again on Saturday afternoon at Cayuga Speedway when veteran CASCAR Super Series driver Pete Vanderwyst dug deep into his bag of tricks to win the 2003 CASCAR Super Series season-ending ‘Molson Canadian Presents the CASCAR Championship Showdown’ at Cayuga Speedway. The St. Thomas, ON racer passed Dave Whitlock on lap 198 of the 200-lap affair to record just his second career Super Series victory. The race was stopped by rain for almost an hour, at lap 161, but after the delay, there was no stopping Vanderwyst who powered to the front of the field on fresh tires. The Pontiac driver’s only prior win had occurred on August 8, 1999 at Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park when he took the lead of that race with just three laps to go. And just like at Cayuga, Vanderwyst’s win at Calgary took place after that event was stopped, by rain, for a considerable amount of time. Vanderwyst started on the pole in the Championship Showdown and led the first 113 laps around the 5/8-mile Cayuga oval, at which point he finally pitted. The majority of the contenders had made their stops earlier than that, which worked in Vanderwyst’s favour when he made his late-race charge to victory. When the field started rolling after the rain delay, Vanderwyst sat 12th in the running order with just 38 laps to go. He wasted little time in carving his way back to the front. Running third with five to go, Vanderwyst powered past Kerry Micks to take second place, and quickly erased the gap between himself and leader Whitlock. Looking to win at the track where he’d finished second, this past June, Vanderwyst rocketed past Whitlock on the backstraight on lap 198 and into the lead. By the end of the race, he’d amassed a .760 second lead over Whitlock. Micks held on for third, ahead of Neil Fair and DJ Kennington. Kerry Micks entered the race 55-points behind Don Thomson Jr. in the battle for the Super Series championship. A solid podium finish wasn’t enough to erase that gap as Thomson finished eighth to take his third consecutive CASCAR National crown in as many seasons. In doing so, Thomson Jr. joined Whitlock as the only three-time National champions of Canada’s top stock car series. Unofficially, Thomson’s 1928 points total was 39 better than Micks’. DJ Kennington had another solid season and finished third with 1864 markers. UNOFFICIAL CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINT STANDINGS, AFTER 12 OF 12 EVENTS: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1928 points), 2. #02 Kerry Micks (1889), 3. #37 DJ Kennington (1864), 4. #64 Mark Dilley (1820), 5. #1 Peter Gibbons (1812), 6. #33 Neil Fair (1805), 7. #22 Scott Steckly (1734), 8. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1720), 9. #19 Brad Graham (1695), 10. #25 Jim Lapcevich (1672), 11. #14 John Fitzpatrick (1668), 12. #88 Dave Jacombs (1639), 13. #24 Cole Pearn (1566), 14. #71 Bryan Cathcart (1522), 15. #86 Kenny Forth (1494). CASCAR NOTEBOOK: The final race of the CASCAR EMCO Western Series will take place on Sunday, Oct. 12 at Sun Valley Motor Speedway, in Vernon, BC... National Fast Freight Intrepid driver Bryan Cathcart was the top finishing rookie in the final 2003 Super Series point standings. The Peterborough, ON racer ended up 14th overall... Don Thomson Jr. has earned National championships in 2003, 2002 and 2001. Combined with the Eastern titles he won in 2000 and 1999, the Home Hardware Chevy driver has secured five major CASCAR championships in the last five years. PHOTO: Pete Vanderwyst made his second ever trip to CASCAR's victory lane on Saturday afternoon at Cayuga Speedway. CREDIT: Inside Track Motorsport News CASCAR Super Series RESULTS: Molson Canadian Presents the CASCAR Championship Showdown Round #12 // October 4, 2003 // Cayuga Speedway Hamilton, ON // 200 Laps // 5/8-mile, high-banked oval FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 1 77 Pete Vanderwyst (St. Thomas, ON) Pontiac Grand Prix 200 2 10 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) Unitec / NMT Intrepid 200 3 7 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) UFCW Canada Ford Taurus 200 4 3 33 Neil Fair (Ancaster, ON) Fairway Transport / Mac's Intrepid 200 5 9 37 D.J. Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Snap On Tools / Castrol Canada Intrepid 200 6 12 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 7 6 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Performance Parts / Exide Intrepid 200 8 32 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 9 14 28 Steve Robblee (Dorchester, ON) Remax / Kendall Ford Taurus 200 10 4 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Tim Horton’s / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 11 5 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 12 8 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton, ON) ATTO & Associates Insurance Brokers Intrepid 200 13 17 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) Schick Xtreme3 / Razor Mag. / ERB Pontiac Grand Prix 200 14 2 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Intrepid 199 15 21 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Volvo Trucks Pontiac Grand Prix 199 16 16 10 Doug Brown (Brantford, ON) NAPA / Autopro Pontiac Grand Prix 198 17 13 38 John Fletcher (Milton, ON) Fairway Transport / Mac's Intrepid 198 18 25 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Labour Ready / 820 CHAM / Rockton Berry Farm Ford Taurus 198 19 29 94 Mark Graham (Odessa, ON) Jumbo Video / Microplay / Coca-Cola Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 20 24 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Remax Preferred Mortgage Intrepid 196 21 15 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Inroble Brakes / FAG Ford Taurus 196 22 22 5 Nik Lapcevich (Ancaster, ON) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 195 23 27 41 John Tsoumaris (Toronto, ON) BAKA / John's Unique Auto Chevrolet Monte Carlo 192 24 26 42 Sean Stafford (Springfield, ON) Mid-America Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 184 25 31 81 Shawn McGlynn (Kitchener, ON) Ford Taurus 167 26 28 44 Marv Wilder (Toronto, ON) Longbow Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 166 27 20 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough, ON) R National Fast Freight Intrepid 165 28 11 24 Cole Pearn (Mt. Brydges, ON) Kubota Canada Pontiac Grand Prix 162 29 23 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON) Industrial Waterproof Systems Pontiac Grand Prix 136 30 18 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Tim Horton’s / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 129 31 30 6 Howie Scannell Jr. (Milton, ON) Hobby Hobby Chevrolet Monte Carlo 117 32 19 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Holmar Plumbing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 13 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 0 minutes and 44 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.760 seconds // CAUTIONS: 8 for a total of 65 laps and 1 red flag (rain) // LAP LEADERS: #77 Pete Vanderwyst (1-113), #88 Dave Jacombs (114), #39 Dave Whitlock (115-197) and #77 Vanderwyst (198-200).