BARRIE, ON On a several occasions during the past few seasons, you got
the feeling that it was only a matter of time before J.R. Fitzpatrick would
win his first CASCAR Super Series race. On Sunday afternoon at Barrie
Speedway, the talented youngster guided his #84 Milwaukee Tools Chevy to
victory in the MOPAR Canada Day 300, confirming that he is a serious
contender on Canada’s top stock car tour.
The Ayr, ON resident lined up fourth on the grid for the third
race of the season and cruised comfortably in fourth-place for most of the
race before being the beneficiary of some late-race chaos that eliminated
the three drivers in front of him within the final five laps of 300-lap race.
During a late-race restart, on lap 295, Fitzpatrick’s teammate
Don Thomson Jr. was in the lead, in front of DJ Kennington and Mark Dilley.
Moments after taking the green flag, Kennington got into the back of
Thomson, sending him sideways and into the wall on the backstraight of the
1/3-mile tri-oval speedway. Thomson, the five-time and current National
champion was done for the day. And so, it turned out, was Kennington, who
was black-flagged by CASCAR officials for causing the incident. That left
Dilley in the lead, in front of J.R. Fitzpatrick and Ron Beauchamp Jr.
Moments later, Dilley’s Dodge-sponsored Charger was pushed
high into the second groove, opening the way for Fitzpatrick to jump into
the lead with just two laps to go. From there, he maintained his position
in front of Beauchamp’s MOPAR Dodge Charger and came home less than one
second in front of the Windsor, ON driver. Three-time Super Series National
champ Dave Whitlock celebrated his 40th birthday in style by finishing
third in the MOPAR Canada Day 300, in his NTN Bower / NMT Dodge Charger.
In addition to Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy), who was scored
in 10th-place in the final results, several other championship
front-runners had difficulty at Barrie Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Former
points leader Kerry Micks (Canadian Detailing Services / Trailers by Jim
Bray Ford Taurus) had transmission woes and finished 20th. Two-time
National champion and 2005 championship runner-up Peter Gibbons was
involved in a crash that sidelines his Canadian Tire Chevy on lap 151;
leaving him in 18th-place at the end.
Following three events, J.R. Fitzpatrick leads the Super
Series points by just eight points over Milverton, ON’s Scott Steckly (542
to 534). NAPA / Autopro Chevy driver Doug Brown is in third with 513
markers. In Sunday’s race, Brown repeated his fourth-place performance from
the season opener at Barrie, in May, to equal his best-ever result in Super
Series action.
After contesting the first three races of the season in
Ontario, the CASCAR Super Series will head west for a two-race swing
through B.C. and Alberta. On July 15 & 16, the tour will visit Sun Valley
Motor Speedway in Vernon, BC. The following week (July 21-23) CASCAR will
make its return to Alberta for the G.P. of Edmonton ChampCar weekend.
CASCAR ON TV: Catch the MOPAR Canada Day 300 presented by the Dodge Dealers
of Ontario from Barrie Speedway on Saturday, July 15 on SPORTSNET. For
information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races,
please check your local listings or visit
http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
CASCAR Super Series
RESULTS: MOPAR Canada Day 300
presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
Round #3 // July 2, 2006 // Barrie Speedway
Barrie, Ontario // 300 Laps // 1/3-mile, banked tri-oval
FIN. ST. # DRIVER
(HOMETOWN) SPONSOR(S) /
MAKE
LAPS
1 2 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr,
ON) Milwaukee Tools Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 300
2 10 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor,
ON) MOPAR / Mobil1 / Exide / Chrysler Jeep Dodge Svc. Dodge
Charger 300
3 7 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming,
ON) NTN Bower / NMT Dodge
Charger 300
4 4 10 Doug Brown (Brantford,
ON) NAPA / AUTOPRO Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 300
5 6 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton,
ON) ERB / AW Millwrights Dodge
Charger 300
6 9 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe,
ON) Challenger Motor Freight / Logel’s Dodge
Charger 300
7 1 9 Mark Dilley (Barrie,
ON) Dodge / Mobil 1 / Exide / Leland / Avenue
M.W. / CRS Dodge Charger 300
8 14 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton,
ON) EMCEA Transport / Tim Hortons Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 299
9 15 3 Jason Hathaway (Appin, ON)
® Snap-On Tools / Arctic Cat / Super 8 Dodge
Charger 297
10 3 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton,
ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 295
11 8 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas,
ON) Castrol Dodge
Charger
295
12 20 11 Ron VanEs (Smithville,
ON) Star Van Systems Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 294
13 18 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord,
ON) Bolt-On Performance / Pro-Spray Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 294
14 19 09 Kent Nuhn (Williamsford, ON)
® Nuhn Motorsports Pontiac Grand
Prix 294
15 12 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough,
ON) Fitzsimmons Stars Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 293
16 21 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr,
ON) Latta Cranes Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 292
17 17 50 Joey McColm (Ajax, ON)
R ATTO Dodge
Charger
154
18 5 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville,
ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 151
19 13 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope,
ON) Lou's BBQ / CPS Flooring Ford
Taurus 130
20 11 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert,
ON) Cdn. Detailing Services / Trailers by Jim Bray Ford
Taurus 124
21 16 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River,
ON) Re/Max Preferred Team Dodge
Charger 35
22 22 12 Richard Durivage (Montreal, QC)
® MIAPOXY Chevrolet Monte
Carlo DNS
® after the hometown denotes Rookie contender.
POLESITTER: #9 Mark Dilley (14.132 seconds * New Record) // TIME OF RACE: 2
hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds // AVERAGE SPEED: 39.268 mph // MARGIN OF
VICTORY: .960 seconds // CAUTIONS: 11 for a total of 79 // LAP LEADERS: #9
Mark Dilley (1-6), #4 Don Thomson Jr. (7-142), #09 Kent Nuhn (143-146), #4
Thomson (147-295), #9 Mark Dilley (296-297), #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (298-300)
// GOODYEAR BELTS & HOSES FASTEST LAP: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (14.434 seconds)
// HARD CHARGER: #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Advanced 8 positions)
POINT STANDINGS:
CASCAR SUPER SERIES: Unofficial after 3 events (top 10): 1. #84 J.R.
Fitzpatrick (542 pts.); 2. #22 Scott Steckly (534); 3. #10 Doug Brown
(513); 4. #02 Kerry Micks (506); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (506); 6. #4 Don
Thomson Jr. (505); 7. #17 DJ Kennington (480); 8. #19 Brad Graham (477); 9.
#9 Mark Dilley (475); 10. #25 Jim Lapcevich (473)
CASCAR SPORTSMAN SERIES: Unofficial after 2 events (top 10): 1. #77 Dion
Verhoeven (165 pts.); 2. #32 Mike Alguire (164); 3. #00 Steve Munro (154);
4. #81 Shawn McGlynn (150); 5. #11 Cole Weber (147); 6. #95 Ron Lethbridge
(140); 7. #67 Scott Mitchell (136); 7. #20 Dave Didero (136); 9. #48 Doug
Cathcart (135); 10. #36 Alan Lebert (133)
POINT STANDINGS: CASCAR FLO~PRO.COM WESTERN SERIES: After 2 Events (top
10): 1. #35 Kevin Dowler (325); 2. #36 Jim White (320); 3. #71 Daryl Harr
(307); 4. #30 Derek Polack (301); 5. #6 Todd Nichol (290); 6. #87 James
Ward (278); 7. #21 Jason White (275); 8. #2 Carl Harr (268); 9. #26 Shawn
Polack (264); 10. #79 Wade Lee (262)
Contact CASCAR’s Toronto Office at (416) 531-4714 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416)
561-2320 (cell).
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