Mosport II race report

Three-time CASCAR Super Series champion Dave Whitlock wins the Mosport Speedway 200

BOWMANVILLE, ON -- Dave Whitlock ended his personal two-year winless streak on Saturday night at Mosport Speedway. The CASCAR Super Series driver started 10th in the field of 23 racers at the tight, half-mile oval. And while others abused their brakes and tires, Whitlock was ultimately rewarded for preserving his NTN-Bower / Griddly Headz / NMT Dodge Charger for the end of the Mosport Speedway 200.

The Wyoming, ON resident emerged in 10th-place after pitting with the rest of the field, one-third of the way into the race. From there, the three-time CASCAR champ worked his way forward. With 75 laps to go, he cracked the top five. And on lap 163, he moved into second, passing series points leader J.R. Fitzpatrick (Milwaukee Tools Chevy), leaving only race leader Kerry Micks (Cdn. Detailing Svcs. Ford) in his way.

There was little doubt that Whitlock had the faster car of the two, and on lap 169, he blew past Micks on the entry to turn 1. Micks attempted to cool his tires and brakes for another late run at Whitlock, but it wasn't to be. In the end, Whitlock's Dodge came home less than half-a-second in front of Micks' Ford, to become the seventh different feature winner in as many Super Series races this season.

"We adjusted the stagger a bit during our stop, and that set us up for the end," said Whitlock after the race. "We needed a long green flag run to get through the pack, and we got it. Everybody raced me very clean. Kerry [Micks] basically let me go. He knew how quickly we caught him and he gave me lots of room. I'm sure he was going to try and save his tires for a late run at me, but I wasn't going to let him get close enough for that."

For his part, Micks was pleased with the result. "Our goal tonight was to get the lead and stay out front for a while. I wasn't going to push it too hard with Dave [Whitlock]. I was planning to go back at him later, but we'd worn our stuff out by then. And when J.R. [Fitzpatrick] came up on me so fast, the goal turned into keeping second, and that's what we did."

J.R. Fitzpatrick, who led twice during the race for a total of 63 laps, finished third. The podium result allowed the youngster to extend his points lead over his teammate Don Thomson Jr., after seven events. Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy) recovered to fifth-place at the end after being taken out by a backmarker, while running second, during a mid-race restart.

Ron Beauchamp Jr. guided his MOPAR-sponsored Dodge Charger to fourth at the end. The Windsor, ON racer enjoyed a relatively uneventful race, leaving the physical stuff to others. The Dodge-sponsored Charger of polesitter Mark Dilley came home sixth in the Mosport Speedway 200.

PHOTO: Dave Whitlock won the Mosport Speedway 200 CASCAR Super Series race at Mosport Speedway on Saturday night, ending a two-year winless streak for the three-time National champion. (Credit: G. MacPherson / Inside Track)

CASCAR NOTEBOOK: Prior to Mosport, Dave Whitlock's last Super Series victory came on July 4, 2004 at Cayuga Speedway. In that race, he passed Kerry Micks with five laps to go en route to the win-- The CASCAR Super Series takes next weekend off before heading to Quebec for the Aug. 25-27 ChampCar Grand Prix of Montreal.

UNOFFICIAL POINTS: CASCAR SUPER SERIES (After 7 events, as of August 12, 2006): 1. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1221 pts.); 2. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1198); 3. #02 Kerry Micks (1173); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (1154); 5. #22 Scott Steckly (1147); 6. #9 Mark Dilley (1114); 7. #19 Brad Graham (1107); 8. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1103); 9. #1 Peter Gibbons (1084); 10. #10 Doug Brown (1081); 11. #17 DJ Kennington (1070); 12. #25 Jim Lapcevich (1055); 13. #3 Jason Hathaway ® (1048); 14. #11 Ron Van Es (954); 15. #09 Kent Nuhn (926)

-credit: www.cascar.ca