Ford of Canada-CASCAR report
1 June 1999
CASCAR Super Series Report June 1, 1999 // For immediate release Three Fords in Top Five at Peterborough OAKVILLE, ON - It was a busy weekend of racing for the Ford Taurus competitors on the CASCAR Castrol Super Series tour. The Eastern series was busy with an event at Peterborough Speedway on Saturday evening, while the Western Super Series opened its campaign Sunday afternoon at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park. At the one-third mile Peterborough Speedway oval, Ford Fast Lane Taurus driver Kerry Micks captured the first podium finish of the season for the carmaker by taking second in the C.A.G. Golden Gavel 150. Micks is a former National champion and looked strong on Saturday. The Mt. Albert, ON driver started the race sixth on the grid, in the field of 30 CASCAR Late Models, and worked his way steadily through the lead pack and lapped traffic. As the laps wound down, however, Micks was unable to catch and challenge race winner Don Thomson, of Hamilton, ON. Nonetheless, Micks was happy with the result. "Donnie [Thomson] had me covered there at the end," said Micks. "I was driving hard to stay with him. He started in second and I had a further way to come, through traffic, to get near him. I drove the wheels off the car getting up to him. If I could have saved the car a bit getting up to him, we might have given him a run, but it took too much out of us getting to second. I'm happy with this finish. Donnie just had a little bit better car at the end." Finishing fourth at Peterborough was reigning CASCAR National champion Dave Whitlock. His Ford Quality Care Taurus was fourth fastest in time trials and was up and down a few spots during the race. But in the end, the Petrolia, ON racer finished where he started - in fourth. Whitlock was pleased with the outing, and content that he'd battled for positions throughout. "The car ran well. We qualified better today - up to fourth - and we had a solid car in the race. But lapped traffic was tough." Finishing on Whitlock's bumper was his Whitlock Motorsports teammate, Mark Dilley. The Barrie, ON racer was participating in his second race with the team and is enjoying his NTN Bearings / Herbrand Tools Taurus. "I feel fine. I feel comfortable in the car and the laps aren't bothering me at all. It was a pretty standard night. Usually, it can get pretty wild here, but there were no adventures tonight." Perhaps the fastest Ford on the track belonged to Dorchester, ON racer Steve Robblee. Another former CASCAR champion, Robblee won the pole during qualifying time trials and led the first 79 laps until getting caught up in an incident with a slower car. A cut tire and brake line dropped him to 20th at the end. Kelly Williams' C.A.G. Ford Taurus started the race in third place but a mid-race spin dropped her several places. She finished 18th. In the Eastern point standings, following two events, Dave Whitlock sits in a fourth-place tie, while Kerry Micks is sixth. Mark Dilley is eighth, one spot ahead of Kelly Williams. This weekend, the series heads to Quebec City's Circuit Ste. Croix for its third race of the season. Out west CALGARY, ON - Following a one day rain delay, the Super Series West started its summer of action on Sunday afternoon at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park. The highlight of the weekend for the Ford brigade was the third-place showing by Trevor Seibert in his CASCAR debut. A former road racer, the Williams Lake, BC resident has been out of action for several years but was lured back behind the wheel by another former road racer; Kevin Dowler. The Edmonton driver has launched a second Ford Quality Care Taurus team car and tagged Seibert for the ride. Dowler encountered mechanical problems in the Race City 150 and finished 16th. Dowler and Seibert will be looking for victory this weekend (June 5) at Bridge City Speedway in Saskatoon, SK.