CASCAR: Calgary MOPAR 300 Summary & Results
CASCAR Super Series SUMMARY & RESULTS: MOPAR PARTS 300 Race City Motorsport Park July 31, 2004 Whitlock wins fourth career MOPAR Parts 300 in Super Series thriller at Race City Motorsport Park CALGARY, AB Three-time CASCAR Super Series National champion Dave Whitlock won his fourth career MOPAR Parts 300 at Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park on Saturday night. The Avenue / NMT Dodge driver started fifth in the 25-car field and took the lead from his Whitlock Motorsports teammate, Mark Dilley, on lap 293 following a lengthy side-by-side battle for the lead. Dilley’s NTN Dodge was one of the fastest cars on the track for much of the race. The Barrie, ON racer recovered a lost lap caused by an early-race flat tire, but in the end was unable to hold off Whitlock, who came home just over a second in front of Dilley. “We were off a little bit yesterday [in his Twin 100] but we changed a bunch of things before the race and all throughout it,” said Whitlock, who hails from Wyoming, ON. “I knew that I could run side-by-side with Mark [Dilley] for as many laps as we had to. I trust him and he’s a great teammate.” Whitlock won this race in 2003 after Dilley tangled with lapped traffic, while leading, with just a handful of laps to go. Even though he’s seen two MOPAR Parts 300 victories slip through his grasp in the past two seasons, Dilley was pleased with the outcome. “We raced really hard to get back into contention and it wore out the right rear tire,” said Dilley, after the race. “The car was good, especially on the outside. Second is a good result after having to get our lap back after the flat.” Third place went to Kerry Micks, driver of the Power Water Taurus. The Mt. Albert, ON racer led 48 laps prior to the two-thirds point of the race in spite of handling troubles with his car. In the end, he was left to fight for third place with rookie driver Pete Shepherd, who was having the best race of his CASCAR career prior to mechanical troubles with just a few laps to go. Prior to that, the young Dodge driver refused to back down from the veteran race leaders. After dropping off the pace, Shepherd soldiered on to a ninth-place finish, just behind the top finishing rookie, J.R. Fitzpatrick, who was eighth. Kevin Dowler of Sherwood Park, AB finished sixth in the MOPAR Parts 300 to record the top finish by a western racer. The EMCO Ford driver struggled in his Twin 100 race on Friday night at Race City and improved eight places from his 14th-place starting position. In terms of the National points chase, Peter Gibbons retained the lead he has held from the start of the season. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver started second in Calgary and led a total of 188 laps before a flat tire derailed his hopes for a fourth MOPAR Parts 300 win. The Stouffville, ON racer finished seventh in Saturday night’s race, one lap behind the leaders. Don Thomson leaves Calgary in second place in the points following a fourth-place finish in the MOPAR 300. The Home Hardware Chevy started on the pole and led twice for a total of 15 laps but his late-race pit stops didn’t improve his car’s handling for the final run and he was out of contention for the win. PHOTO: (l to r) Mark Dilley (2nd), Dave Whitlock (1st) and Kerry Micks (3rd) were the podium finishers in the MOPAR Parts 300 on Saturday night at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track Motorsport News CASCAR SUPER SERIES UNOFFICIAL POINTS AS OF JULY 31, 2004: 1. #1 Peter Gibbons (1402 points); 2. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1376); 3. #39 Dave Whitlock (1375); 4. #02 Kerry Micks (1336); 5. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (1319); 6. #64 Mark Dilley (1283); 7. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1236); 8. #22 Scott Steckly (1227); 9. #17 DJ Kennington (1187); 10. #19 Brad Graham (1158); 11. #50 Pete Shepherd III (1134); 12. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1108); 13. #25 Jim Lapcevich (1086); 14. #88 Dave Jacombs (1036); 15. #55 Rob Graham (963). 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 RESULTS: MOPAR PARTS 300 Round #8 // July 31, 2004 // Race City Motorsport Park Calgary, AB // 300 Laps // ˝-Mile, High-Banked Oval FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 5 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) Avenue MotorWorks / NMT Dodge 300 2 7 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Dodge 300 3 3 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) Power Water Ford Taurus 300 4 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 5 9 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) ERB Group Pontiac Grand Prix 300 6 14 35 Kevin Dowler (Sherwood Park, AB) EMCO Ltd. Ford Taurus 300 7 2 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 299 8 12 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) R Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 299 9 11 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton, ON) R ATTO Dodge 299 10 6 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Parts / Exide Dodge 298 11 4 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Castrol Canada Dodge 298 12 13 3 Stu Robinson Jr. (Holland Landing, ON) R Snap-On Tools / General Electric Dodge 298 13 17 09 Trevor Seibert (Williams Lake, BC) Mobil 1 / McEwen’s Ford Taurus 295 14 20 36 Jim White (Kamloops, BC) McAuliffe Dodge (Kamloops) Dodge 295 15 16 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Retrocom Growth Fund / Fastline Chevrolet Monte Carlo 295 16 10 11 Ron Van Es (Smithville, ON) R Star Van Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 295 17 8 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Tim Horton’s / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 283 18 18 74 Dennis Masse (Lethbridge, AB) Auto Value Dodge 281 19 24 55 Rob Graham (Bothwell, ON) R G-Dox / Doering Brown Monte Carlo 278 20 25 53 Scott Kessler (Calgary, AB) R Fountain Tire Chevrolet Monte Carlo 275 21 21 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. Pontiac Grand Prix 254 22 19 38 Darren Turner (Kelowna, BC) James Western Star Sterling Chevrolet Monte Carlo 234 23 15 27 Dan Saunders (Edmonton, AB) R Caltech Surveys Chevrolet Monte Carlo 182 24 23 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Lou’s BBQ / Inroble / FAG Ford Taurus 135 25 22 12 Ron Larson (Quesnel, BC) Northwest Engine Exchange / Tower Chrysler Dodge 54 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 50 minutes and 4.963 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.196 seconds // CAUTIONS: 5 for a total of 39 laps // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1-4); #1 Peter Gibbons (5-153); #4 Thomson (154-164); #1 Gibbons (165-203); #22 Scott Steckly (204-233); #02 Kerry Micks (234-281); #64 Mark Dilley (282-293); and #39 Dave Whitlock (294-300). Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.sympatico.ca