CASCAR: Dowler second in Edmonton CASCAR race
19 August 1999
OAKVILLE, ON - The CASCAR Castrol Super Series completed its annual two-race National swing through Alberta on Sunday with the 250 km road course race at the Edmonton City Centre Airport. That event was run one week to the day after the opening National championship round, on the half-mile oval, at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park. The highlight of the two races for the Ford of Canada drivers who competed was the second place run, in Edmonton (Aug. 15), by hometown racer Kevin Dowler. The Ford Quality Care Service driver was the defending winner of the Edmonton road race and overcame a wide range of obstacles en route to his runner-up finish in front of his many admiring fans. A few weeks prior to the Edmonton road race, the Ford driver broke his shoulder blade in a crash while qualifying for a race in Prince George, BC. But Dowler's shoulder held up in the Calgary outing. And even a jammed piece of equipment in his car's drivetrain, early on in the Edmonton race, couldn't keep him off the podium. "The Ford Quality Care Taurus was awesome," beamed Dowler, after emerging from his car. "The crew and I had a plan and we didn't deviate from it much. But Donnie [Thomson, the race winner] had a great car and congratulations to the Home Hardware team. I'm happy to see the variety, and congratulations to Carl Harr for his great [third place] run." As for his injured shoulder, Dowler reported that he was able to focus on driving during the race. "It's a little tender. I wasn't thinking about it during the race, but I couldn't get the cork out of the champagne when I was on the podium." The early race mechanical gremlin that knocked Dowler off the pace early occurred on lap 18 of the 87 lap chase as he was running second and catching then race leader Peter Gibbons. "The Watts Link on the back of the car jammed up and the car wouldn't handle. It slipped so that the car was just like driving a board. We were fortunate to get a caution right after that and we came in and fixed it. Second place for this team is great. We've been through a lot of adversity this year... this is great." In other Ford news at Edmonton, two-time defending National champion Dave Whitlock climbed to a ninth-place finish after he lost a motor during his qualifying heat race the day before and was forced to start 25th in the 28 car field. "The Edmonton race was a little bit better than how we've been doing the past few races," said the Petrolia, ON resident. "It's been a frustrating few months. Going into today's race, we haven't finished five of the last six times we started, so we just wanted to finish. Over the course of the day, we moved up from 25th to ninth. It's not a bad day, but it wasn't what we wanted. The car was just a little too tight to be up in the top five. We didn't get to run the whole qualifying race, so we didn't get a good indication of what the car would be like today." Edmonton Ford Notes: Other Ford finishers at Edmonton included: Kerry Micks (12th), Fred DelPero (15th), Kelly Williams (18th), Mark Dilley (23rd) and Dave Jacombs (26th). Micks, usually a strong road racer, has been hampered by sway bar trouble in his last three road course outings and is hoping to solve the problem for National Round #3 at Mosport Int'l Raceway on Aug. 27-29. During qualifying for the Edmonton road race, Dowler and Dilley were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the first heat race. Calgary Ford Notes: The week before (Aug. 6-8), the National championship kicked off with a 300 lap feature race at Calgary's Race City Speedway. Dave Whitlock's Ford Quality Care Service Taurus was the top finishing Ford in that event, coming home in ninth after being involved in a late-race incident. Kerry Micks (Ford Fast Lane), Kevin Dowler (Ford Quality Care Service) and Mark Dilley (NTN Bearings) followed him across the line to place four Taurus runners in the top 11. CASCAR Castrol Super Series National Points Standings / After Round #2 of 4 / As of August 15, 1999: 1. #4E Don Thomson Jr. (978 points); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (970); 3. #17 DJ Kennington (944); 4. #77 Pete Vanderwyst (912); 5. #79 Wade Lee (910); 6. #35 Kevin Dowler (904 / Ford); 7. #02 Kerry Micks (884 / Ford); 7. #76 Al Turner (884); 9. #33W Don Sales (848); 10. #2 Carl Harr (844); 11. #33E Neil Fair (842); 12. #98 Dave Whitlock (840 / Ford); 13. #20 Kim Richard (820); 14. #66 Robin Buck (814); 15. #52 Bill Rowse Jr (812); 15. #4W Daryl Harr (812); 17. #46 Dan Shirley (806); 18. #44 Fred DelPero (802 / Ford); 19. #31 Kelly Williams (790 / Ford); 20. #64 Mark Dilley (784 / Ford); 28. #88 Dave Jacombs (674 / Ford) Coming up: The CASCAR Castrol Super Series National championship resumes Aug. 27-29 at Mosport for the second of two National road races. Last year, the Mosport event was won by road racer Scott Maxwell of Toronto, ON, driving a third Whitlock Motorsports Ford Taurus team car.