Cascar Ford of Canada Report
9 June 1999
Ford of Canada CASCAR Castrol Super Series Report The Canadian Road Oakville, Ontario L6J 5E4 Dowler wins in Saskatoon SASKATOON, SK - Ford driver Kevin Dowler picked up the carmaker's first CASCAR Castrol Super Series 'feature' checkered flag of the season on Saturday night at Bridge City Speedway in Saskatoon, SK. Driving the Ford Quality Care Taurus, the Edmonton (AB) racer set the fastest lap during time trials for the second western event of the season and started the feature in the fifth spot, following an inversion of the top five qualifiers. From there, Dowler quickly advanced through the pack and by the one-third mark of the 150 lap race, was ready to take the lead from BC racer Steve Jefferson. "We were coming out of [turn] two and on the straight at Saskatoon, before you know it, you're into [turn] three. We were going by a lapped car. Jefferson had a good run on the outside and went high on the lapped car. I got underneath the lapped car and all I saw was Steve driving over top of the lapped car," chuckled Dowler. "I knew it was my turn to lead from there. We just ran around after that, and with a lap or two to go, it got close again with Dan Shirley on our bumper, but we held on." According to Dowler, everyone was happy with the outcome, which saw 'hometown' favourite Dan Shirley take second, ahead of Jefferson. "It was a Ford, Chevy, Chrysler finish and they can't ask for any better than that. The top five cars were within a second and a half and that's pretty good." After a mechanical problem that resulted in a lower finish in the Race City opener, the previous weekend, Dowler has climbed back to third in the overall standings, after two events. Fellow Edmonton racer Fred DelPero was seventh in Saskatoon and is seventh in the western rankings. The next CASCAR West race is on June 26 at Hythe Motor Speedway, in Hythe, AB. At Ste. Croix STE. CROIX, QC - Ford Quality Care Taurus racer Dave Whitlock qualified third fastest for the third Eastern Super Series race of the season, on Saturday night at Circuit Ste. Croix, near Quebec City (QC). But following an early race incident that saw the defending National champion leave the ground and spin around... and a subsequent flat tire under green, the Petrolia, ON racer left Quebec with a 15th place result. "We didn't have a good race. We started near the front and the car was running really well. But on an early restart, Kelly Williams was on the outside of me. She didn't mean to get into the side of me, but she got off the track on the backstretch - kind of lost it - and she came back on and caught me in the rear wheel. I spun around and got about four feet up in the air. We got a flat tire, but the car wasn't hurt too badly. We had to pit, though, and went to the back. We came back to about ninth and got another flat tire, under green. We had to come in again and that cost us two laps." Even with all the problems, though, Whitlock wasn't discouraged because when it was pointed the right way - with four wheels underneath it - the #98 Taurus was a contender. "The car was strong all race long, even with the things that happened. We were down, but still one of the quicker cars at the end. We're optimistic, but it's disappointing. We've had two flats under green so far this year. Hopefully, we'll get them out of the way by August." Whitlock's teammate, Mark Dilley faired better, although he felt his car wasn't 'right' after a first lap bump which affected the handling of the NTN Bearings / Herbrand Tools Taurus. "It was a full moon night," said Dilley. "It was hard to handle after the hit, and I'm amazed that we finished with such a good result." Whitlock and Dilley sit sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Eastern point standings. In other Ste. Croix results, Taurus driver Jim Lapcevich was 13th, while Kelly Williams was 14th. Fast Lane Taurus racer Kerry Micks took 24th. The Eastern series takes a week off and returns to action on June 19 at Montreal's Autodrome St. Eustache. CASCAR Notes: Kevin Dowler confirmed that he would be taking part in the CASCAR race at the Toronto Molson Indy on July 18 in a Ford Quality Care Taurus. It will be a busy weekend for the winner of last summer's Edmonton National event. In addition to Saturday's Eastern series race at the Toronto Indy, he will also be jetting back to Quesnel, BC for a western stop on Sunday... In other Dowler team news, the team's second car will return to action - under the control of Trevor Seibert - for the June 26 Western series race at Hythe Motor Speedway. Seibert was third in the May 30 Race City opener in his return to racing.