CASCAR: Kawartha Summary & Results
September 19, 2004 Micks wins Super Series finale at Kawartha as Thomson earns fourth-straight National title PETERBOROUGH, ON - The 2004 CASCAR Super Series season came to a close on Sunday afternoon at Kawartha Speedway. Don Thomson Jr. started on the pole for the fifth race in a row, and for the eighth time in 12 events this season. The Home Hardware Chevy driver led twice during the berms-r-us.com 250 and came home third behind race winner Kerry Micks and runner-up Jim Lapcevich to earn his fourth consecutive CASCAR Super Series National championship. Adding Thomson's two Eastern Championships that immediately preceded his string of National titles, the Hamilton, ON racer has put together an incredible string of six major CASCAR championships in as many years. Peter Gibbons, Thomson's main rival for the Super Series crown coming into the event, started second but was involved in a pair of incidents with another racer that left his Canadian Tire Chevy difficult to handle. In the end, the Stouffville, ON racer finished 15th in the 250-lap race and 52-points back of Thomson in the championship chase. "Everyone on this team works so hard and us winning this championship is just an indication of what a great car John Fitzpatrick gives me to race with each weekend and how hard guys like our crew chief Sandy Hamilton and everyone on the Fitzpatrick Motorsports team works to make this happen," said Thomson, after becoming the only four-time National champion. "This is probably the happiest day of my life. It feels very special to do something that no one else has done." Micks was equally enthused about winning his first CASCAR feature race in over a year. The Power Water Ford driver started seventh in the field of 35 and blasted around Thomson to take the lead with just five laps to go. The Mt. Albert, ON racer had tested at Kawartha prior to Sunday's race and set his car up to handle on the outside grove. His strategy worked perfectly as he was able to drive around the front-runners, on his way to the lead. "We came here to test and we made sure the car was going to work well in the high line," said Micks. "You save tires when the car is working well out there and you're able to make a lot of passes there. It paid off." Pete Shepherd III came out on top in the Rookie of the Year chase, over his friend and rival J.R. Fitzpatrick. Shepherd and Fitzpatrick developed significantly as racers over the course of the season and were the prime players in the best CASCAR rookie chase in many years. The two (Shepherd and Fitzpatrick) finished ninth and 11th, respectively, at Kawartha, and were separated by just 26-points in the final rookie points chase. PHOTO: Don Thomson Jr. (left) won his fourth consecutive CASCAR National championship on Sunday afternoon at Kawartha Speedway. Kerry Micks (r) won the season-ending berms-r-us.com 250. CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track Motorsport News. CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINTS (UNOFFICIAL FINAL) AS OF SEPT. 19, 2004: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 2047); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 1995); 3. #39 Dave Whitlock (Dodge / 1964); 4. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1847); 5. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 1820); 6. #64 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 1794); 7. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 1763); 8. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Dodge / 1748); 9. #17 DJ Kennington (Dodge / 1691); 10. #50 Pete Shepherd III (Dodge / 1671); 11. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 1645); 12. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 1632); 13. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1624); 15. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 1514) CASCAR ON TV: 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: BERMS-R-US.COM 250 Round #12 of 12 // September 19, 2004 // Kawartha Speedway Peterborough, ON // 250 Laps // 3/8-Mile, Banked Oval FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS 1 7 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) Power Water Ford Taurus 250 2 19 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Retrocom Growth Fund / Fastline Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 3 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 4 9 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) NTN Bearings Dodge 250 5 16 52 Ron Sheridan (Strathroy, ON) Restoration Masters Pontiac Grand Prix 250 6 6 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR Parts / Exide Dodge 250 7 5 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) Tim Horton's / Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 8 12 76 Jason Hathaway (Appin, ON) E.L. Fordham Motors / TSC Stores Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 9 11 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton, ON) R ATTO Dodge 250 10 18 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Castrol Canada Dodge 250 11 4 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) R Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 12 24 42 Sean Stafford (Springfield, ON) Mid-America Freight Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 13 29 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Parkinson Tours / 820 CHAM Ford Taurus 250 14 3 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) Avenue Motor Works / NMT Dodge 250 15 2 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250 16 17 10 Doug Brown (Brantford, ON) NAPA / Autopro Chevrolet Monte Carlo 249 17 23 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough, ON) berms-r-us.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo 248 18 14 3 Stu Robinson Jr. (Holland Landing, ON) R Snap-On Tools / General Electric Dodge 248 19 13 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) ERB Group Pontiac Grand Prix 248 20 27 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON) A-Dor Construction Pontiac Grand Prix 247 21 33 41 Matty Tsoumaris (Toronto, ON) John's Unique Auto / Mama's Pizza Chevrolet Monte Carlo 247 22 34 00 Steve Munro (Carp, ON) Maytag / Home Depot Chevrolet Monte Carlo 247 23 22 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) Latta Cranes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 247 24 28 03 Jesse Kennedy (Southwold, ON) A Dream Limousine Pontiac Grand Prix 247 25 26 18 Andre Coursol (St-Jerome, QC) CARQUEST Chevrolet Monte Carlo 246 26 35 94 Mark Graham (Odessa, ON) Edge Chevrolet Monte Carlo 244 27 21 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Bolt-On Performance Chevrolet Monte Carlo 237 28 10 11 Ron VanEs (Smithville, ON) Star Van Systems / All Cover Chevrolet Monte Carlo 229 29 30 5 Nik Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 216 30 15 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Lou's BBQ / Inroble / FAG Ford Taurus 186 31 20 20 John Fletcher (Milton, ON) Mid-America Freight Chevrolet Monte Carlo 172 32 8 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Volvo Trucks / Logel's Pontiac Grand Prix 165 33 25 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Team Remax Preferred Dodge 152 34 31 8 Marc Miller (Holland, MI) Carhartt Clothing / Maytag Chevrolet Monte Carlo 128 35 32 12 Mark Diening (Calgary, AB) R ERB Pontiac Grand Prix 84 R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender. TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 1 minute and 2 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.448 seconds // CAUTIONS: 12 for a total of 68 laps // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Pole-4), #39 Dave Whitlock (5-132), #50 Pete Shepherd (133), #86 Kenny Forth (134-143), #17 DJ Kennington (144-157), #39 D. Whitlock (158-184), #4 D. Thomson (185-244), and #02 Kerry Micks (245-250).