CASCAR Super Series
Preview: Sun Valley Speedway
VERNON, BC – Canada’s top stock car series will make its inaugural appearance at Sun Valley Speedway this weekend when the CASCAR Super Series visits Vernon, British Columbia’s scenic half-mile tri-oval. The format for the event will be the same as for last weekend’s MOPAR 500 Weekend in Calgary.
Time trials will open the weekend racing program on Friday night (July 29). The drivers with the two best times will lock themselves into the top two starting positions for Saturday’s 300-lap feature event. Friday night’s racing program will also include a pair of 100-lap, full-points qualifying sprint races. These Twin 100s will set the rest of the field for Saturday’s main event.
While the majority of the Super Series competitors in action this weekend at Sun Valley will be seeing the track for the first time, multi-time Western Series champ Kevin Dowler has lots of experience at the unique facility. The EMCO Ford driver – who has several Super Series road racing wins to his credit – is hoping his knowledge of Sun Valley helps him earn his first-ever Super Series feature win on an oval.
“I’m excited about racing at Vernon,” said Dowler, who lives in Edmonton, Alberta. “The Western Series has probably raced there 16 times or so and I believe we have half-a-dozen wins. If there’s a chance of me getting it done in a Super Series oval race, I really think it could be this one.”
Describing Sun Valley’s configuration, Dowler says it’s a special place. “It’s just a great little racetrack. It’s fast and it’s been good to us. There’s no other track like it in Canada. There are two totally different turns at each end of the track. There’s progressive banking in turns 3 and 4, and turn 1 is just about flat. And there’s a kink in the middle of the front straight. It’s almost like a small road course, or maybe like Richmond International Raceway, with alternate ends.”
Dowler, who is riding high after winning his Twin 100 race in Calgary and scoring a fifth-place finish in the MOPAR 300, is banking on his extensive experience at Sun Valley to make a difference this weekend. The veteran racer joked about his newfound popularity among the visiting eastern-based Super Series regulars. “As the old story goes, I was surprised how many Eastern friends I had when we started talking about the Vernon race, last weekend in Calgary. Everyone was my friend when they wanted to know about Sun Valley. ‘What gear? What springs?’ I told them all, ‘You’ve got lots of gears and springs… try ‘em all.’”
SUN VALLEY NOTEBOOK: EMCO has sponsored a three-stage pit stop competition in the region in advance of this weekend’s inaugural CASCAR Super Series stop at Sun Valley Speedway. The first portion took place on Wednesday afternoon in Kamloops, BC. The second is scheduled for Thursday afternoon (1 p.m.) at The Brick in Kelowna, BC. The final Pit Stop Contest starts at 4 p.m. at Watkins Motors in Vernon, BC… After the racing action is finished on Friday evening, well-known country music artist Lee Dinwoodee will headline a concert for the fans at Sun Valley… In addition to being a Super Series race, the races at Sun Valley are also full points events for the CASCAR Western Series…
CASCAR ON TV: 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: SUN VALLEY SPEEDWAY
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2005
1:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Practice
6:00 p.m. Time Trials to set the top two positions for the MOPAR 300
7:00 p.m. MOPAR 100 Qualifying Sprint Race #1
MOPAR 100 Qualifying Sprint Race #2
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2005
6:30 p.m. Driver Introductions
7:00 p.m. START: 300 LAP FEATURE RACE
POINT STANDINGS: After 6 events. Unofficial as of July 28, 2005: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1100 pts.); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (1044); 3. #02 Kerry Micks (1031); 4. #9 Mark Dilley (1029); 5. #39 Dave Whitlock (984); 6. #17 DJ Kennington (975); 7. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (952); 8. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (951); 9. #19 Brad Graham (941); 10. #14 John Fitzpatrick (920); 11. #88 Dave Jacombs (900); 12. #22 Scott Steckly (866); 13. #37 Tara MacLeod ® (844); 14. #50/71 Pete Shepherd (830); 15. #10 Doug Brown (826)
® Denotes Rookie of the Year.
Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications.
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