CASCAR: Vancouver - Final Qualifying & Starting Grid
CASCAR Super Series VANCOUVER: Final Qualifying and Starting Grid Canadian Tire 100 July 24, 2004 Lapcevich smashes Vancouver qualifying record to earn the pole for Canadian Tire 100 VANCOUVER, BC - On Saturday morning, Jeff Lapcevich carved almost a full second off his best Friday lap time to defend his pole starting position for Saturday afternoon's Canadian Tire 100 CASCAR Super Series race at the Vancouver Indy. In the process, the Tim Hortons / Fastline Chevy driver destroyed the existing CASCAR track record at the temporary Concord Pacific Place street circuit. The Caistor Centre, ON resident stormed around the 12-turn track in a time of 1 minute and 22.962 seconds, bettering his Friday provisional time of 1:23.810. Lapcevich is the defending Canadian Tire 100 race winner and has been dominant in CASCAR road course competition for the past year. Starting second in today's 35-lap feature race will be Canadian Tire Chevy driver Peter Gibbons; the current CASCAR points leader. The Stouffville, ON racer slammed into a tire barrier early in Saturday's final qualifying session, and his team spent much of the 45-minute period repairing bodywork and straightening suspension components. Gibbons took to the track in the final minutes of the session and posted a pair of quick laps in his battered racer. His second hot lap was good enough to nab second on the grid (1:23.750). Kevin Dowler will line up third in his EMCO Ford, alongside of Power Water Ford driver Kerry Micks. Three-time and defending CASCAR National champion Don Thomson Jr. experienced engine trouble and will have a new powerplant under the hood of his Home Hardware Chevy for Saturday afternoon's feature race. The engine change caused Thomson's best Saturday lap to be thrown out, leaving him eighth on the starting grid based on his fastest lap on Friday. The Canadian Tire 100 CASCAR Super Series race is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. POLE NOTES: Jeff Lapcevich's new pole record is indicative of the overall improvement the CASCAR Super Series teams have made in their four appearances at the Vancouver Indy. Al Turner's pole-winning effort in 2001 was 1 minute and 25.465 seconds, which would have only been good enough for the 14th-best starting position in today's race. Lapcevich's new pole record (1:22.962) eclipsed the old record (1:23.547) which was set by Kevin Dowler in 2002. PHOTO: Jeff Lapcevich destroyed the CASCAR qualifying lap record on Saturday morning in Vancouver and will start on the pole in the Canadian Tire 100. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track Motorsport News CASCAR 100 TORONTO INDY TELEVISION BROADCAST: The CASCAR 100 CASCAR Super Series race at the Toronto Indy will air starting Monday, Aug. 2 on SPORTSNET (ONTARIO & EAST) at 7:00 p.m. Viewers of SPORTSNET WEST & PACIFIC can catch the race starting the same night (Aug. 2) at 8 p.m. Check your local listings and http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html for subsequent airings. CASCAR Super Series STARTING GRID: CANADIAN TIRE 100 Round #7 // July 24, 2004 // Vancouver Molson Indy Vancouver, BC // 100 km // 35 Laps // 12-turn street circuit ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE TIME / KMH 1 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Tim Horton's / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:22.962 / 124.365 2 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:23.750 / 123.195 3 35 Kevin Dowler (Sherwood Park, AB) EMCO Ltd. Ford Taurus 1:23.760 / 123.181 4 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) Power Water Ford Taurus 1:23.821 / 123.091 5 09 Trevor Siebert (Williams Lake, BC) Lake Excavating Ford Taurus 1:24.087 / 122.701 6 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) ERB Group Pontiac Grand Prix 1:24.231 / 122.492 7 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Parts / Exide Dodge 1:24.259 / 122.451 8 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:24.602 / 121.995 9 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) Avenue MotorWorks / NMT Dodge 1:24.773 / 121.709 10 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Castrol Canada Dodge 1:24.788 / 121.687 11 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Retrocom Growth Fund / Fastline Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:24.801 / 121.668 12 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Dodge 1:24.894 / 121.535 13 8 Marc Miller (Holland, MI) R Carhartt Clothing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:24.986 / 121.404 14 79 Wade Lee (Calgary, AB) Guyons Performance Centres Dodge 1:25.410 / 120.801 15 3 Mark Swain (Port Perry, ON) R Snap-On Tools / General Electric Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:25.733 / 120.346 16 10 Glenn Mueller (Richmond, BC) Green Line Hose & Fittings Dodge 1:25.807 / 120.242 17 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) R Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1:26.001 / 119.971 18 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. Pontiac Grand Prix 1:26.657 / 119.063 19 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Lou's BBQ / Inroble / FAG Ford Taurus 1:26.976 / 118.626 20 55 Rob Graham (Bothwell, ON) R G-Dox / Doering Brown Monte Carlo 1:27.458 / 117.972 21 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton, ON) R ATTO Dodge 1:28.289 / 116.862 22 81 James Ward (Kelowna, BC) Lordco Auto Parts Ford Taurus 1:32.412 / 111.648 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender.