CASCAR - N#11 - Kawartha Preview
CASCAR SUPER SERIES
PREVIEW: Dodge Dealers of Ontario Dodge Charger 250 presented by MOPAR
Kawartha Speedway // September 16-17, 2006
For more information contact CASCAR’s Toronto office at (416) 531-4714
For immediate release / September 14, 2006
Kawartha Speedway is set to play host to the Dodge Charger 250 CASCAR Super
Series finale
TORONTO, ON – This Sunday, the 2006 CASCAR Super Series season will draw to
a close at Kawartha Speedway. The event will be special for several
reasons. Heading into the Sept. 16-17 race weekend at the high-banked,
3/8-mile Peterborough-area oval, 18-year-old racer J.R. Fitzpatrick leads
the points by a healthy margin. The talented Ayr, ON resident is poised to
dethrone his Fitzpatrick Motorsports teammate Don Thomson Jr., who has
dominated the CASCAR Super Series championship for the past five seasons.
Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy) enters the ‘Dodge Dealers of
Ontario Dodge Charger 250 presented by MOPAR’ in third-place in the
standings, a full 69-points back of young Fitzpatrick (Milwaukee Tools
Chevy). Sitting between the youngster and his mentor is former Super Series
champ Kerry Micks (Cdn. Detailing Svcs. Ford), who is 51 markers back of
points-leader Fitzpatrick.
In all, the top six competitors are within 100-points of
each other as the 2006 Super Series season has been as competitive as any
before it, producing eight different winners in the 10 feature events held
so far. Only Micks (Mosport Int’l Raceway & the G.P. de Montreal) and Dave
Whitlock (Mosport Speedway & Cayuga Int’l Speedway) have made more than one
trip to victory lane this season.
The Dodge Charger 250 will also be notable in that it will
signal an end to a glorious chapter in Canadian motorsports. The Sept. 17
event will be the final CASCAR Super Series race ever. Taking its place in
May 2007 will be the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, which was unveiled on
Tuesday morning at a press conference in downtown Toronto.
Initial reaction to the news has been swift and positive.
The CASCAR racers and teams are eager to join the NASCAR family, and are
honoured to be invited to become part of motorsports most successful
sanctioning body.
Peter Gibbons, who has flown the Canadian Tire colours for
a decade on the Super Series, is extremely pleased to see the new series
announced, and is looking forward to being in the starting field for the
first ever NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race, next May. “This allows the
existing people and the new people to create something enormous,” said the
two-time National champion, following the press conference. “I talk to a
bunch of the racers and they’ve been on the edge of their seats, waiting
for the time when they could tell people that NASCAR and Canadian Tire are
involved. We’re looking to go into 2007 bigger than ever.”
Sunday afternoon’s ‘Dodge Dealers of Ontario Dodge Charger
250 presented by MOPAR’ is the headline event in a busy weekend of racing
at Kawartha Speedway. The Sportsman Series and Ontario Legends will take to
the track on Saturday, while the CASCAR Super Series will complete its
entire qualifying and race program on Sunday. See below for a full schedule
of events.
KAWARTHA RACE NOTES: On Saturday, the CASCAR Sportsman Series will hold its
fifth and final race of the season, at Kawartha Speedway. The 100-lap
feature race will take the green flag on Saturday night (Sept. 16) at 9:00
p.m. Defending series champ Dion Verhoeven enters the race two points ahead
of recent race dominator Shawn McGlynn… DJ Kennington is the defending
winner of the Dodge Charger 250 Super Series race at Kawartha. He also led
the way in qualifying in ‘05, earning the pole with a time trial lap of
18.166 seconds around the 3/8-mile oval… This year’s top Super Series
rookie, Jason Hathaway, won last year’s Sportsman Series closer at
Kawartha… DaimlerChrysler is poised to win its second-consecutive CASCAR
Manufacturers Championship, on Sunday at Kawartha. Two consecutive podium
sweeps by the MOPAR-powered, Dodge Charger contingent – in the last two
races – have laid the groundwork for the longtime Super Series sponsor to
earn this prestigious honour for a second year in a row… The CASCAR banquet
will take place on Friday, October 6 in London, ON. Contact CASCAR for details.
SCHEDULE: Kawartha Speedway
Peterborough, Ontario
Dodge Dealers of Ontario Dodge Charger 250 presented by MOPAR
CASCAR Super Series // CASCAR Sportsman Series
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. CASCAR Sportsman Series Practice
6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Legends Practice
7:00 p.m. Legends Heats (2)
7:20 p.m. CASCAR Sportsman Series
Time Trial Qualifying
7:50 p.m. Legends Heats (2)
8:10 p.m. Legends Feature Race
9:00 p.m. START: CASCAR Sportsman
Series Feature Race (100 Laps)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2006
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Practice
1:30 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Time
Trial Qualifying
2:15 p.m. Driver Autograph Session
3:00 p.m. Driver Introductions
3:30 p.m. START: CASCAR SUPER
SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
THE DODGE CHARGER
250 PRESENTED BY THE DODGE DEALERS OF ONTARIO
POINT STANDINGS
CASCAR Super Series (As of Sept. 9, 2006 // Top 15): 1. #84 JR Fitzpatrick
(1732); 2. #02 Kerry Micks (1681); 3. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1663); 4. #39
Dave Whitlock (1662); 5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1646); 6. #9 Mark Dilley
(1632); 7. #22 Scott Steckly (1628); 8. #1 Peter Gibbons (1580); 9. #19
Brad Graham (1555); 10. #17 DJ Kennington (1554); 11. #10 Doug Brown
(1538); 12. #25 Jim Lapcevich (1532); 13. #3 R Jason Hathaway (1507); 14.
#11 Ron Van Es (1242); 15. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (1217)
CASCAR Flo~Pro.Com Western Series (As of Sept. 3, 2006 // Top 15): 1. #36
Jim White (1188 pts.); 2. #35 Kevin Dowler (1165); 3. #30 Derek Polack
(1128); 4. #6 Todd Nichol (1069); 5. #26 Shaun Polack (1032); 6. #79 Wade
Lee (1031); 7. #21 Jason White (993); 8. #86 Shawn Press (974); 9. #24
Scott Dennis (958); 10. #71 Daryl Harr (957); 11. #2 Carl Harr (905); 12.
#87 James Ward (617); 13. #5 Fred Whiteman (540); 14. #48 Chris Dennis
(483); 15. #96 Norm Hunger (478)
CASCAR Sportsman Series (As of Sept. 3, 2006 // Top 10): 1. #77 Dion
Verhoeven (326 pts.); 2. #81 Shawn McGlynn (324); 3. #00 Steve Munro
(303); 4. #32 Mike Alguire (295); 5. #11 Cole Weber (286); 6. #95 Ron
Lethbridge (285); 7. #82 Dave Connelly (273); 8. #48 Doug Cathcart (269);
9. #67 Scott Mitchell (267); 10. #36 Alan Lebert (264)
CASCAR ON TV: The ‘Hot Head Henry 200 powered by Griddly Headz’ from Cayuga
Int’l Speedway will air on Saturday (Sept. 16) on SPORTSNET (9:00 p.m. on
ONT // 8:00 p.m. on EAST / WEST / PAC. For information regarding initial
airings and replays of Super Series races, please check your local listings
or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
Contact CASCAR’s Toronto Office at (416) 531-4714 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416)
561-2320 (cell).
Comments regarding additions to – or deletions from – this mailing list
should be sent to: greg@insidetracknews.com
