CASCAR: Great Canadian 300 - Summary & Results
CASCAR Super Series APC-CANUSA Great Canadian 300: Summary & Results September 5, 2004 Gibbons overcomes last-row starting position to win his fifth Great Canadian 300 at Delaware Speedway LONDON, ON - In last year's edition of the Great Canadian 300, Peter Gibbons came from 16th at the start to take the win. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver topped that impressive feat on Sunday afternoon at Delaware Speedway when he started 34th in the 300-lap APC-CANUSA Great Canadian 300 and battled his way forward to win this prestigious CASCAR Super Series race for the fifth time in his career. Gibbons was relegated to the back row, by a ride-height infraction, following Saturday's time-trial qualifying session. Undeterred by the setback, the Stouffville, ON racer fought his way through the pack on Sunday and passed Don Thomson Jr. on lap 256 en route to the win in front of over 10,000 fans. "We were disappointed with the infraction, but we're here to race," said Gibbons, in victory lane. "We're a high-strung team. We paced ourselves so we'd have something left at the end, and here we are in the winner's circle. We had a real good car and we made good adjustments on it for the end. I knew what we needed to do to win the show." Second-place went to Avenue Motor Works / NMT Dodge driver Dave Whitlock, who started on the outside of the front row and led the first 74 laps of the race. The Wyoming, ON racer came home just over a second behind Gibbons. The final podium spot - for the second year in a row in this race - went to Thomson Jr., who was involved in an incident with Whitlock on lap 1 that saw him spin to the infield grass before joining Gibbons at the back of the field. Thomson had started on the pole for the fourth race in a row and for the seventh time in 11 outings, this season, but saw that advantage evaporate just seconds into the race. Determined to make up the lost ground, he and Gibbons carved their way forward with a vengeance. Thomson's recovery was complete when he took the lead on lap 136 and led for 70 laps. He led again late in the race, but couldn't hold off Gibbons. DJ Kennington finished fourth in the Great Canadian 300, overcoming intense heat in the cockpit of his Castrol Dodge. Another Dodge driver, Ron Beauchamp Jr., was fifth. The MOPAR racer was involved in a mid-race traffic jam that left his hood buckled, but his crew was able to make adjustments that made Beauchamp's ride competitive at the end. Heading into the final CASCAR Super Series race of the season, in two weeks at Kawartha Speedway, Thomson holds a slim, 17-point lead over Gibbons. Thomson has been the victor on both occasions that CASCAR has appeared at Kawartha, although Gibbons had one of those races all but won, before a cut tire robbed him of the win. PHOTO: Peter Gibbons (1) leads Dave Whitlock (39) at the end of the APC-CANUSA Great Canadian 300 at Delaware Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Gibbons' win was the fifth of his career in the prestigious race. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track. CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINTS (UNOFFICIAL TOP 15) AS OF SEPT. 5, 2004: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 1886); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 1869); 3. #39 Dave Whitlock (Dodge / 1829); 4. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1708); 5. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 1654); 6. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 1649); 7. #64 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 1646); 8. #17 DJ Kennington (Dodge / 1631); 9. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Dodge / 1608); 10. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 1544); 11. #50 Pete Shepherd III (Dodge / 1533); 12. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 1513); 13. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1468); 14. #55 Rob Graham (Chevrolet / 1445); 15. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 1422) CASCAR ON TV: The Mosport Speedway 200 will air on SPORTSNET on Monday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html. CASCAR Super Series RESULTS: APC / CANUSA GREAT CANADIAN 300 Round #11 // September 5, 2004 // Delaware Speedway London, ON // 300 Laps // 1/2-Mile, Banked Oval FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 34 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 2 2 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) Avenue Motor Works / NMT Dodge 300 3 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 4 6 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Castrol Canada Dodge 300 5 11 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Parts / Exide Dodge 300 6 3 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) ERB Group Pontiac Grand Prix 300 7 18 7 Sean Dupuis (LaSalle, ON) Marty's Garage Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 8 16 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Retrocom Growth Fund / Fastline Chevrolet Monte Carlo 300 9 15 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Lou's BBQ / Inroble / FAG Ford Taurus 298 10 22 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Volvo Trucks / Logel's Pontiac Grand Prix 298 11 13 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Tim Horton's / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 297 12 5 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) R Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 294 13 35 42 Sean Stafford (Springfield, ON) Mid-America Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 293 14 24 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON) A-Dor Construction Pontiac Grand Prix 293 15 21 10 Doug Brown (Brantford, ON) NAPA / Autopro Chevrolet Monte Carlo 271 16 32 46 Kevin Trevellin (LaSalle, ON) JD Pranksters Tap & Eatery Ford Taurus 267 17 4 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) Power Water Ford Taurus 264 18 9 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton, ON) R ATTO Dodge 262 19 8 52 Ron Sheridan (Strathroy, ON) Restoration Masters Pontiac Grand Prix 253 20 20 11 Ron VanEs (Smithville, ON) Star Van Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 241 21 28 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Team Remax Preferred Dodge 226 22 25 55 Rob Graham (Bothwell, ON) R G-Dox / Doering Brown Chevrolet Monte Carlo 220 23 19 3 Stu Robinson Jr. (Holland Landing, ON) R Snap-On Tools / General Electric Dodge 213 24 27 03 Jesse Kennedy (Southwold, ON) A Dream Limousine Pontiac Grand Prix 213 25 31 66 Josh Wood (London, ON) R EMC Technical Svcs. Pontiac Grand Prix 212 26 10 76 Jason Hathaway (Appin, ON) E.L. Fordham Motors / TSC Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo 201 27 33 5 Nik Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 145 28 26 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Parkinson Tours / 820 CHAM Ford Taurus 144 29 23 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Bolt-On Performance Chevrolet Monte Carlo 142 30 30 44 Marv Wilder (Toronto, ON) Longbow Freight Systems Ford Taurus 139 31 7 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Dodge 127 32 29 09 Kent Nuhn (Williamsford, ON) R Pontiac Grand Prix 127 33 12 77 Pete Vanderwyst (St. Thomas, ON) CANUSA Pontiac Grand Prix 114 34 17 82 Ted McIntyre (Windsor, ON) Pro Air Brush Dodge 102 35 14 28 Steve Robblee (Dorchester, ON) McRoberts Fuel / Grogan Ford Taurus 16 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.004 seconds // CAUTIONS: 7 for a total of 47 laps // LAP LEADERS: #39 Dave Whitlock (1-74), #02 Kerry Micks (75-95), #52 Ron Sheridan (96-135), #4 Don Thomson Jr. (136-141), #19 Brad Graham (142-159), #25 Jim Lapcevich (160-185), #4 Thomson Jr. (186-245), #52 Sheridan (246-251), #4 Thomson Jr. (252-255), #1 Peter Gibbons (256-300)