Heads out west in second place in the CASCAR Super Series pointsCourtesy Don Brooks, Whitlock Motorsports
TORONTO, ON – On Sunday afternoon at the Molson Indy Toronto, CASCAR Super Series veteran Mark Dilley earned an impressive fourth-place finish in the series’ annual appearance on the streets of Toronto.
The Barrie, ON racer started 12th in the 32-car field and meticulously worked his way forward, through traffic, all the while being careful to protect his PowerWater / Dodge / Mobil 1 /Exide Dodge Charger for a late-race charge. At the conclusion of the 36-lap CASCAR feature race around the 11-turn temporary street circuit on the grounds of Toronto’s Exhibition Place, Dilley was all over third-place finisher Don Thomson Jr., and narrowly missed making an appearance on the podium.
“The guys worked really hard on the car on Saturday and Sunday morning and really got it a lot better than it was,” said Dilley, after the race, which took place in front of a Sunday crowd of over 70,000 fans. “Our plan was to save the car to put on a late charge at the end. I almost got Donnie [Third-place finisher Don Thomson Jr.] at the end; I was up almost to his door by the finish line on the last lap. Another lap and we would have gotten him.”
Dilley continued, “That’s my best Toronto Indy finish and it equals my top road course result; we got a fourth at Mosport once before. It was a great showing for PowerWater with Kerry Micks winning and me coming fourth; that’s for sure.”
The Toronto weekend was also special for Mark and the entire Whitlock Motorsports team because it marked the return of his long-time sponsor NTN Bearings to Dilley’s car. “They’re back on board with our program for the rest of the year and we couldn’t be happier. The people at NTN are like family to me and our team because we had such a long association together. It was so great to have them back on the car in Toronto and for the rest of the season. I’d like to join the Dodge and DaimlerChrysler people in welcoming NTN back to our program.”
LOOKING AHEAD:
On the strength of his performance in Toronto, Dilley cemented his hold on second-place in the overall point standings as the series heads to Alberta and B.C. for its annual two-race swing through Western Canada.
“We’re feeling really good about where we are at this point in the season,” said Mark, as the series approaches its midway point. “We’re going to some of our strong tracks right now; especially Calgary’s Race City Speedway. We finished second there last year to our teammate Dave Whitlock in the MOPAR 300 and we had that race won the year before we got into it with a lapped car. We’re excited heading to that track for a MOPAR-sponsored event with our new Dodge Charger. The track owes us a win.”
RACE NOTES:
Kerry Micks won the CASCAR race at the Toronto Indy, ahead of another former series champ Peter Gibbons. Points leader Don Thomson Jr. was third… The next CASCAR Super Series event is the MOPAR 500 Race Weekend at Calgary’s Race City Speedway (July 22-23).
For more information about the #9 team and its sponsors: http://www.whitlockmotorsports.com/
For more information about CASCAR, including complete race results, reports, point standings, event schedules and upcoming broadcast times for Super Series races on SPORTSNET, see http://www.cascar.ca/
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