Courtesy Whitlock Motorsports
Barrie, ON – Jul 03 2005: "That was one tough race, but we’re real happy to survive with a top 5 finish" said 3-time Champion Dave Whitlock. The Dodge Charger 300 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario was the feature event in the Canada Day Northern 500 weekend that marked the first return in ten years of the CASCAR Super Series to Barrie Speedway. Team mate Mark Dilley was the winner in his #9 Dodge Power Water Charger.
Knowing that track position would be everything here, the Wyoming ON team owner had a disappointing qualifying time that placed him deep on the grid at 11th.
"Our #39 Avenue / NMT Dodge was a bit better in the early stages" said Whitlock who had moved to 7th by lap 20, to 4th by lap 40 and to 2nd behind Dilley by lap 80. The two Dodges ran together until both pitted at lap 131. Whitlock was not happy with the changes and again pitted on lap 170 with nine cars remaining on the lead lap. By lap 260 he had mustered 6th and moved to his finishing position during the final 10 laps. Only six cars finished on the lead lap.
"Racing the track itself and getting around the slower cars were the biggest challenges today. I think we went a bit too far with the changes we made during that stop but considering everything that we had to deal with today, a fifth is just fine. I’m sure that when the problems get fixed, we’ll see Barrie Speedway become a real fan favourite."
The surface of the newly configured track deteriorated badly causing two race stoppages to sweep debris. But what may soon be dubbed as CASCAR’s Bristol, the facility was pristine and efforts by track management will undoubtedly make this a popular future event. Pole-sitter Kerry Micks came home 2nd, DJ Kennington 3rd, and Don Thomson Jr. 4th - netting Dodge 3 of the top 5 spots.
On TV: Set your VCR for this one… the Dodge Charger 300 from Barrie Speedway this Saturday – Jul 9th at 3 pm on SPORTSNET at 3 pm EST.
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