CASCAR: Mosport Speedway 200 Preview
CASCAR Super Series Preview: Mosport Speedway 200 August 19, 2004 Three multi-time Super Series champs in tight points chase as CASCAR heads to Mosport LONDON, ON - When CASCAR makes its annual appearance at Mosport Speedway on Saturday night (Aug. 21) for the Mosport Speedway 200, the Super Series will be returning to the scene of one of its best races of all time. Last season’s race at Mosport featured a classic ‘back and forth’ battle between Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr.; the prime combatants for the ’03 Super Series crown. While Thomson ultimately edged out Micks in ‘the war’ that is the National championship, Micks won the memorable ‘battle’ at the Mosport oval when he came home first in a race that featured 11 official lead changes between he and Thomson. No one else led during the race, which saw the lead duo swap the top spot many more times than just the 11 technically registered at the ‘start/finish’ line, at various points around the high-speed, half-mile oval. Heading to this year’s Mosport Speedway 200, two-time National champion Peter Gibbons holds a slim 27-point lead over a pair of three-time Super Series title holders; Don Thomson Jr. and Dave Whitlock. Gibbons, driver of the Canadian Tire Chevy, has amassed 1402 points in the series’ first eight races, while Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy) and Whitlock (Avenue / NMT Dodge) are deadlocked at 1375 apiece. Another former Super Series champion, Kerry Micks (Power Water Ford), is lurking in fourth place with 1336 points after a highly-successful western Canadian swing that saw him take third in the feature races in Calgary and Vancouver. The Mt. Albert, ON racer also won his Twin 100 qualifying sprint race in Calgary, and if he can repeat his Mosport magic of last year, he can climb to within striking distance of his second career Super Series crown. A second important points chase is being waged further down the overall points list. Rookie racers Pete Shepherd III, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Rob Graham are 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively, and are separated by just 43 points in the Rookie of the Year chase, with four races remaining. Qualifying for Saturday night’s Mosport Speedway 200 takes place at 4 p.m. The green flag on the feature race is scheduled to fly at 7:00, following the CASCAR Autograph Session and the Driver Introductions. MOSPORT SPEEDWAY 200 SCHEDULE: Saturday, August 21, 2004 1:30 p.m. Spectator Gates Open 4:00 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Time Trials 5:15 - 6:30 p.m. CASCAR Driver Autograph Session 6:35 p.m. CASCAR Driver Introductions 7:00 p.m. START: MOSPORT SPEEDWAY 200 ** The Mosport Speedway 200 program will also include heat and feature races for the Ontario Legends. VENUE CHANGE FOR FINAL SUPER SERIES & CARQUEST SERIES EVENTS: On Wednesday, CASCAR and Kawartha Speedway jointly announced that the final event of the 2004 CASCAR Super Series and CARQUEST Series Championships will take place at Kawartha Speedway on Sept. 17-19. The event was originally scheduled to be held at Cayuga 2000 Speedway near Hamilton Ontario. The Sept. 17 CARQUEST Series event will be the tour’s inaugural visit to the Peterborough-area oval, while Sunday, Sept. 19’s Super Series finale will mark the National series’ third Kawartha appearance. Three-time Super Series champion Don Thomson won at the 4/10-mile in 2001 and 2002. Qualifying for the Super Series’ finale will take place Saturday, Sept. 18, with the 250-lap title-determining feature event slated for Sunday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. Regarding Cayuga Speedway, CASCAR noted that Cayuga 2000 Speedway has been host to two CASCAR events in 2004, and that CASCAR and Cayuga 2000 Speedway management will continue to work closely together to create successful CASCAR events for the 2005 season. CANADIAN TIRE 100 VANCOUVER INDY TELEVISION BROADCAST: The CASCAR Canadian Tire 100 CASCAR Super Series race at the Vancouver Indy will air starting Thursday, August 19 at 7:00 p.m. on SPORTSNET. Check your local listings and http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html for subsequent viewing times on SPORTSNET’s various regional channels. CASCAR NOTEBOOK: Derek Polack of Stony Plain AB won his first ever CASCAR EMCO Western Series feature race on Saturday night (Aug. 14) at Penticton Speedway, in Penticton, BC. The Chevy driver came home in front of points leader Kevin Dowler. Kelowna’s James Ward, James Van Domselaar (Fort. Sask, AB) and Shaun Polack (Stony Plain, AB) rounded out the top five finishers. CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINTS AS OF JULY 31, 2004: POS. CAR# DRIVER (MAKE / POINTS): 1. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 1402 points); 2. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 1375); 2. #39 Dave Whitlock (Dodge / 1375); 4. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 1336); 5. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1319); 6. #64 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 1283); 7. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Dodge / 1236); 8. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 1227); 9. #17 DJ Kennington (Dodge / 1183); 10. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 1158); 11. #50 ® Pete Shepherd III (Dodge / 1134); 12. #84 ® J.R. Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 1108); 13. #55 ® Rob Graham (Chevrolet / 1091); 14. 25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1086); 15. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 1036); 16. #10 Doug Brown (Various GM / 734); 16. #11 ® Ron VanEs (Chevrolet / 734); 18. #3 ® Mark Swain (Various / 702); 19. #86 Kenny Forth (Ford / 660); 20. #42 Sean Stafford (Chevrolet / 660) CASCAR CARQUEST SERIES POINTS AS OF AUGUST 7, 2004: POS. CAR# DRIVER (MAKE / POINTS): 1. #6 Brad Graham (Dodge / 426 points); 2. #18 Andre Coursol (Chevrolet / 412); 3. #76 Jason Hathaway (Chevrolet / 406); 4. #00 Steve Munro (Chevrolet / 397); 5. #80 Mike Hryniuk (Pontiac / 375); 6. #36 Ken Grubb (Ford / 358); 7. #16 Paul DeJong (Chevrolet / 354); 8. #7 Jerry Marinuk (Chevrolet / 343); 9. #09 R Kent Nuhn (Pontiac / 340); 10. #66 R Josh Wood (Pontiac / 326); 11. #02 R Scott O’Connor (Olds / 323); 12. #12 Mark Patrick (Chevrolet / 317); 13. #8 R Michael Wagner (Chevrolet / 254); 14. #03 Jesse Kennedy (Pontiac / 223); 15. #67 Scott Mitchell (Chevrolet / 190); 16. #5 Jay Christie (Pontiac / 130); 17. #45 Bob Merrifield (Dodge / 128); 18. #81 Chad McGlynn (Ford / 124); 19. #39 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 93); 20. #28 Steve Robblee (Ford / 82); 21. #3 R Robb Star (Pontiac / 80); 22. #46 Kevin Trevellin (Dodge / 64) CASCAR EMCO WESTERN SERIES POINTS AS OF AUGUST 14, 2004: POS. CAR# DRIVER (MAKE / POINTS): 1. #35 Kevin Dowler (Ford / 811); 2. #12 Ron Larson (Chevrolet / 760); 3. #30 Derek Polack (Chevrolet / 738); 4. #09 Trevor Seibert (Ford / 729); 5. #6 Todd Nichol (Chevrolet / 713); 6. #14 James VanDomselaar (Chevrolet / 710); 7. #26 Shaun Polack (Chevrolet / 709); 8. #87 James Ward (Ford / 543); 9. #22 Bill Dawson (Pontiac / 527); 10. #38 Jim White (Chevrolet / 403); 11. #34 Darren Turner (Chevrolet / 300); 12. #2 Carl Harr (Chevrolet / 293); 12. #71 Daryl Harr (Chevrolet / 293); 14. #31 Sean Maltman (Chevrolet / 268); 15. #27 Mark Derks (Chevrolet / 251); 16. #64 Chris Shirley (Chevrolet / 176); 17. #22E Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 161); 18. #95 Paul Savoie (Dodge / 146); 19. #74 Dennis Masse (Chevrolet / 140); 19. #48 Nathan Weenk (Chevrolet / 140)