CASCAR: CASCAR Castrol National Super Series set to commence in Calgary
5 August 1999
KOMOKA, ON - The CASCAR Castrol Super Series kicks off its 1999 National championship chase on Friday night at Race City Motorsport Park, in Calgary, Alberta. Dave Whitlock of Petrolia, ON has won the last two CASCAR National driver's titles - and three in total - and will be battling over 30 of Canada's top stock car drivers in his quest for a fourth. In all, 17 Eastern series regulars will be making the trek to Alberta to compete against the best of the west for CASCAR supremacy. The Mopar 500 race weekend commences Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. on the high-banked, half-mile Race City oval. Time trials will set the grid for the Twin 100 qualifying races that are scheduled to begin at 7:00. On Saturday evening, action resumes with a full card of racing at Race City. The main event of the weekend - the Mopar 300 - will take place on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The popular driver autograph session and introductions will serve as the lead-in to the feature race and will start at 11:15 a.m. In terms of favourites for the Mopar 500, Don Thomson Jr. of Hamilton, ON has to be one watch. The Home Hardware Chevy driver has accumulated three wins in the East so far this season and leads the CASCAR Castrol Super Series East point standings. Ford Fast Lane Taurus driver Kerry Micks is another driver who is on a hot streak heading to Calgary. The Mt. Albert, ON driver is a former National champion and has grabbed a pair of checkered flags - both at the 5/8-mile Cayuga Speedway - in the past month. If momentum factors into the winning equation in Calgary, Micks has a definite edge. And continuing with the Eastern competitors to watch, Peter Gibbons of Stouffville, ON is the defending winner of the Mopar 300 and is always in the running to win the big races in his Canadian Tire Monte Carlo. Saskatoon, SK driver Dan Shirley has had a full year to get ready for the Mopar 500 race weekend. The NTN Bearings Chevy pilot has won the pole and smashed the Race City track record during qualifying for the Mopar 300 in each of the past two seasons. Last year, the current Western points leader dominated the race but was knocked out of contention by an electrical failure with just a handful of laps remaining. Shirley views his not winning this race as "unfinished business" and will be gunning to become the first Super Series West driver to win a CASCAR National event on an oval. Steve Jefferson of Prince George, BC recently picked up the first ever win by a Mopar driver in Western Super Series competition and will be looking to repeat the feat in the event that bears his sponsor's name. Jefferson is currently second in the Western point standings and feels confident of his ability to challenge this weekend. Mopar 500 Notes: Three-time CASCAR Castrol Super Series West champion Wade Lee will have Auto PartSource on the side of his car for the Mopar 500 weekend... Western points leader Dan Shirley will bring a new John Saunders-built engine to Calgary. According to Shirley, the new powerplant 'dynoed' better than any powerplant he's ever had... Just two weeks after breaking his scapula (shoulder blade) in a nasty practice crash at PGARA Speedway in Prince George, BC, Kevin Dowler is planning to be back behind the wheel for the Calgary CASCAR National. The Edmonton, AB racer will have a backup driver, however, in the form of fellow Ford Taurus driver Jim Lapcevich, who will be flying out west to take the reigns of the #35 Ford Quality Care Taurus if Dowler is unable to compete. *** CASCAR's National championship structure has been altered somewhat for 1999, to encompass more than just the four events that carry the "National Event" designation. Each driver is obliged to use two of their regional events - not counting the post-Labour Day races in the East (1) and the West (2) - toward their National championship point total. With that in mind, a pair of drivers have a slight edge prior to the first National event, in Calgary, this weekend. Eastern drivers Don Thomson and Kerry Micks have won three and two races, respectively, which means they are starting the National title hunt with maximum points from the 'other' two pickup events. No western driver has nabbed two feature checkered flags this season, but several have a first and a second place result, which puts them solidly in contention.