CASCAR: Gibbons wins Eastern closer at St-Eustache
7 August 2000
MONTREAL, QC - Peter Gibbons went from the front, to the back, and returned to the front - with just 20 laps to go - in Sunday afternoon's CASCAR Castrol Super Series East season finale at Montreal's Autodrome St-Eustache. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver lined up second in the 29-car field for the 200 lap UAP NAPA / Autopro 200 but was involved in an early-race incident with a car that had spun off turn 2, which removed most of the bodywork from Gibbons' vehicle. Although it looked like it was in rough shape, Gibbons' car was one of the fastest cars on the track. And over the final 150 laps, the reigning National champion was able to recover from the lap 50 melee and took the lead for the second and final time on lap 181. It was the second CASCAR victory in as many weekends for Gibbons, who won the National championship race at Calgary's Race City Motorsport Park, last Sunday. Finishing second at St-Eustache was defending Eastern series champion, Don Thomson Jr. The Home Hardware Chevrolet driver also had to fight back from an early-race setback, in which he spun while in heavy traffic, on lap 38. Three-time National champion Dave Whitlock completed the podium finishers. The Ford Quality Care Taurus driver sustained heavy front-end damage in the same crash that collected Gibbons, but he was able to soldier on to collect his best finish of the season. Following the race, an unofficial tally of the Super Series East points has Thomson and Gibbons deadlocked atop the standings. CASCAR's tie-breaking formula in the event that two drivers accumulate the same amount of points is to award the championship to the competitor who has the most race wins. So far, Thomson has two Super Series East checkered flags in 2000, compared to Gibbons lone Eastern win, which he captured on Sunday. The final points will be released as soon as possible. $10,000 REWARD: Just hours before the final CASCAR Castrol Super Series East race of the season, driver Dave Jacombs and the Whitlock Motorsports team got a terrible surprise. Jacombs, who came into the Autodrome St-Eustache event in third place in the Eastern standings, learned that his racecar, tow vehicle, hauler and all of its contents were stolen from a parking lot in Laval, QC. Whitlock Motorsports immediately offered a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to the recovery of its equipment. The tow vehicle was a black 2000 Ford F350 Supercab dually pickup truck. The race hauler is a 44' trailer with two side doors and is white with #88 Speedy Auto Service lettering. The racecar is a CASCAR Late Model Ford Taurus stock car with Speedy Auto Service identification. The team can be contacted at (519) 845-0579. by Inside Track Communications.