Whitlock Motorsports - CASCAR report
26 May 1999
May 26, 1999 Delaware debut for new Team Taurus PETROLIA, ON - The 1999 version of 'Team Taurus' took to the track for the first time on Sunday afternoon at Delaware Speedway Park. Both Dave Whitlock and Mark Dilley had strong runs going before flat tires ended their hopes for victory. In the end, Whitlock recovered from a two lap deficit to finish one lap down to eventual race winner Neil Fair. The Ford Quality Care Taurus driver was 12th in the final tally. For his part, Dilley started deep in the pack, climbed to fourth, and dropped to 15th at the end, following his tire woes. "Yeah, we got a flat tire again," sighed Whitlock after the race. "We're pretty consistent about getting them here at Delaware." But the Petrolia, ON racer wasn't totally discouraged with the outing. The team was able to get the #98 Ford ready for action just hours before qualifying commenced and it performed just as planned. "We just finished this car yesterday [Saturday] at 8 o'clock after working all night Friday. The car was really good. I was happy with it. I think all the work over the winter paid off. We're happy with the chassis. It was good last year, but we still worked on it this winter. Today, it was really good and I think that if it wasn't for the flat, we'd have been right in contention. I was pleased that we got one lap back, but there just weren't enough cautions to get laps back today. I was happy." Whitlock was also pleased with the performance of his new teammate, Dilley. "Mark had a pretty good day going. He was up to fourth and he got a flat, too. That's the way it goes." Dilley was similarly encouraged by the outing. "It was a good start with Whitlock Motorsports," said the '94 CASCAR National champion. "And my team, Ultra Motorsports, performed well for their first time together. The car was great. 'They' knew we were there today. We passed a lot of cars. I think we had a top five finish ahead of us." A miscue prior to time trials hurt Dilley, but he was able to recover during the race. "We got set back a bit after time trials. It was my mistake that we were low on fuel and we got nailed for being 18 lbs. light. Live and learn. So, we started 28th, came up to seventh before pitting, and returned. Then, we got up to fourth on lap 121 when we got the flat. I couldn't get down the track and we lost a couple of laps. But all in all, the NTN / Herbrand Tools / Avenue Motorworks / Grillpro / Auto Essentials Ford Taurus was great for the first time out. I loved driving the Ford. I was off most of last year, so there wasn't too much of an adjustment, because I wasn't really used to anything else." This Saturday night (May 29), Whitlock and Dilley turn their attention to the 150 lap affair at Peterborough Speedway. Whitlock promises bigger and better things as the team progresses. "We put a lot of emphasis on the big events later in the season, like the National events. We're working in these races, but it takes longer to get going for these. We haven't got everything working the way we want just yet, but we'll get it better." - 30 -