LONDON, ON – Following a 10-year gap – almost to the day – since the last time the CASCAR Super Series appeared at Barrie Speedway, Canada’s top racing series is set to pay a return visit to the newly reconfigured one-third-mile, banked tri-oval for a busy weekend of stock car racing.
Sunday afternoon’s ‘Dodge Charger 300 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario’ is the feature event of the Canada Day Northern 500 Weekend at Barrie Speedway, which also includes the CASCAR PowerWater Sportsman Series’ 100-lapper on Saturday night and the MOPAR Pit Stop Challenge in downtown Barrie on Friday evening.
Veteran CASCAR racer Kerry Micks won the 100-lap feature race on July 1, 1995 at Barrie; a track that he called ‘home’ for almost 10 years – off and on – during the early days of his racing career. The format for that last Barrie race included two, 50-lap qualifying races, followed by a 100-lap main event, which the Mt. Albert, ON resident won.
“Barrie Speedway was my hometrack for a long time,” recalled the 1993 Super Series champ, who is excited to head back to the facility after so many years. “It’s nice to see the track in such good shape and everyone is looking forward to going back. We’ve tested there and our PowerWater Taurus was really, really good. The new configuration makes it a totally different place from what it was in the past, though. It’s night and day, really.”
And while he’s looking forward to racing at Barrie again, Micks cautioned that the 300-lap Dodge Charger 300 will be a test for the Super Series competitors. “It’s a short track and there’s not a lot of room, so people will have to use their heads. There’s a good outside groove in turns 3 and 4 but it’s quickest around the bottom in turns 1 and 2. And to get around lapped traffic, you’re going to have to be good up high. It’s gonna be tricky and it’s going to be exciting for the fans.”
The Dodge Charger 300 is the fourth Super Series race of the season. The green flag is scheduled to fly on Sunday afternoon (July 3) at 2 p.m.
CASCAR NOTEBOOK: In addition to the busy weekend of CASCAR racing at Barrie Speedway, the CASCAR Western Series is also in action during the Canada Day Weekend. The Sun Valley 200 takes place on Saturday night at Sun Valley Motor Speedway in Vernon, British Columbia. The next day, the series heads to Penticton Speedway in Penticton, BC for the second half of the Western Series’ doubleheader… Barrie, ON racer John Gaunt won the pole for the last Super Series race at Barrie Speedway (in ’95). Gaunt, who currently races at Barrie Speedway on Saturday nights, lapped the then-quarter-mile-oval in 15.720 seconds…
CASCAR ON TV: The Berms R Us presents the Clarington 200 from Mosport Int’l Raceway will air on SPORTSNET on Saturday, July 2 at 1 p.m. on the ONTARIO and EAST channels. The following day, PACIFIC and WESTERN SPORTSNET viewers can catch the premier showings of the race at 3 p.m. For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
SCHEDULE:
DODGE CHARGER 300
PRESENTED BY THE DODGE DEALERS OF ONTARIO
BARRIE SPEEDWAY NORTHERN 500 CANADA DAY WEEKEND
FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2005
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. CASCAR Super Series cars on display in downtown Barrie
on Dunlop St., between Maple Ave. and Mary St.
5:30 p.m. Parade through the streets of downtown Barrie
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. MOPAR Pit Stop Challenge on Lakeshore Dr.
SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2005
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon CASCAR Super Series Practice
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. PowerWater Series Practice
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. PowerWater Series Time Trials
3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Super Series Happy Hour
7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Super Series Time Trials
9:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. GREEN FLAG: POWERWATER SERIES
100 LAP FEATURE RACE
SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2005
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon CASCAR Super Series Cars on the Grid
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Super Series Driver Autograph Session
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies & Driver Introductions
2:00 p.m. GREEN FLAG: THE DODGE CHARGER 300
PRESENTED BY THE DODGE DEALERS OF ONTARIO
POINT STANDINGS:
CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINTS AFTER 3 EVENTS: (TOP 20): 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 487); 2. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Dodge / 460); 3. #9 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 436); 4. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 434); 5. #39 Dave Whitlock (Dodge / 433); 6. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 419); 7. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 408); 8. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 406); 9. #84 J R Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 403); 10. #14 John Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 400); 11. #17 DJ Kennington (Dodge / 384); 12. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 384); 13. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 380); 14. #71 Bryan Cathcart (Chevrolet / 362); 15. #37 R Tara MacLeod (Ford / 350); 16. #42 Sean Stafford (Chevrolet / 348); 17. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 340); 18. #3 Stu Robinson (Chevrolet / 322); 19. #18 R Chad McGlynn (Ford / 320); 20. #10 Doug Brown (Chevrolet / 318)
CASCAR POWERWATER SPORTSMAN SERIES POINTS AFTER 1 EVENT: (TOP 20): 1. #28 Steve Robblee (Ford / 172); 2. #32 Mike Alguire (Pontiac / 159); 3. #00 Steve Munro (Chevrolet / 152); 4. #6 Brad Graham (Dodge / 148); 5. #66 R Josh Wood (Pontiac / 144); 6. #95 R Ron Lethbridge (Dodge / 144); 7. #38 Ken Grubb (Ford / 140); 8. #80 Mike Hryniuk (Pontiac / 139); 9. #77 Dion Verhoeven (Pontiac / 139); 10. #97 R Michael Gold (Dodge / 134); 11. #91 Dean Fantin (Dodge / 132); 12. #11 R Cole Weber (Chevrolet / 128); 13. #09 R Kent Nuhn (Pontiac / 126); 14. #12 Mark Patrick (Chevrolet / 124); 15. #02 R Scott O’Connor (Olds / 122); 16. #39 Kevin D'Amore (Dodge / 120); 17. #45 Bob Merrifield (Dodge / 118); 18. #36 R Alan Lebert (Pontiac / 116); 19. #67 Scott Mitchell (Chevrolet / 114); 20. #53 R Todd Musker (Ford / 112)
CASCAR WESTERN SERIES POINTS AFTER 2 EVENTS: (TOP 20): 1. #30 Derek Polack (Chevrolet / 323); 2. #79 Wade Lee (Chevrolet / 318); 3. #35 Kevin Dowler (Ford / 310); 4. #12 Ron Larson (Dodge / 294); 4. #14 James VanDomselaar (Chevrolet / 294); 6. #6 Todd Nichol (Chevrolet / 285); 7. #36 Jim White (Dodge / 275); 8. #26 Shaun Polack (Chevrolet / 266); 9. #21 R Jason White (Chevrolet / 262); 10. #96 R Norman Hunger (Pontiac / 250); 11 #69 R Randy Kozek (Ford / 246); 12 #64 Chris Shirley (Pontiac / 166); 13 #46 Dan Shirley (Pontiac / 141); 14 #87 James Ward (Ford / 138); 15 #48 R Rusty Martin (Chevrolet / 135); 16 #31 Sean Maltman (Chevrolet / 134); 17 #99 R Jack Freisen (Chevrolet / 134); 18 #07 R Nick Allen (Chevrolet / 129); 19 #04 Gil Gillett (Chevrolet / 124); 19 #00 R Lawrence Skoworodko (Chevrolet / 124)
Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416) 561-2320 (cell).
Comments regarding additions to – or deletions from – this mailing list should be sent to: greg@insidetracknews.com
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