Wyoming, ON – May 22 2005: Dave Whitlock had a great day at the season opening Mopar 250 at Delaware Speedway and although leading the field for a total of 104 laps, he was unable to catch Windsor’s Ron Beauchamp Jr. at the checker flag. Mark Dilley earned the final step of the all-Dodge podium.
"It really was an awesome day our Avenue / NMT Dodge team" said Whitlock. "Our race strategy worked out well but we just ran out of laps to catch Ronnie there at the end. Our hats off to their team who have worked so hard to earn that first win in seven years, and I’m really happy for Dodge and Mopar for this outstanding finish today.
They have put so much effort into this CASCAR series that it’s great to see them reaping the rewards too. And to have our team-mate Mark Dilley finish third makes it a great start to the season for Whitlock Motorsports."
Starting from outside pole, the Whitlock moved his #39 Dodge into the lead on lap 39. When most of the others, including Beauchamp, elected to pit under the fourth caution at lap 103, Whitlock chose to stay out and maintain track position. But by lap 144, the fresher tires on Beauchamp’s #60 Dodge Charger allowed him to power by for the lead. Whitlock restarted sixth with new tires after the next caution at lap 179.
The next caution came 9 laps later and he chose to take another tire, restarting seventh. As the laps wound down, Whitlock was on the move, powering up to 4th when the final caution flew. The ensuing 4-car,13-lap shootout saw Whitlock charge past Don Thomson Jr and Mark Dilley but although gaining rapidly on Beauchamp, there was too little time left, and he finished 1.013 seconds behind the winner.
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