• Cruisin’ The Dub 300 Notebook
• Canadian Tire 100 Post-Race Notebook
• Simone Not Concerned With Slow Start
White Ready For Vernon
No one will be more eager to hit the track at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, B.C., than Jim White, who has not competed in a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 race since 2007.
His anxiety is heightened by having to watch his brother, Jason, who is a full-time competitor in the series.
“It will be good to get back out there with a lot of guys I haven't seen or raced against in a while,” he said.
More importantly, though, his outing in the July 31 Cruisin’ The Dub 300 presented by A&W will have an impact on Canadians, nationwide.
His Chevrolet will carry the familiar colors of his brother’s sponsor — A&W — but the No. 26 it will sport is a major part of the story.
A&W’s ‘Cruisin’ for a Cause’ program helps raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada and on Aug. 26, A&W will donate a dollar to the MS Society for each Teen Burger sold at all 800 A&W restaurants across Canada. Last year, the effort raised in excess of $400, 000 for the charitable organization.
“As much fun as it will be for me to get out and race, and the opportunity to represent the MS Society will really be quite an honor,” he said. “Anything we can do to help raise awareness for this worthy cause is really the most important thing.”
The British Columbia-based driver would like to join his sibling on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series circuit on a regular basis.
“There are a lot of factors like time and sponsorship,” he said. “But if we are able to put together a sponsorship package, I think I could work out some of the time issues.”
Adding to the significance of the day is the chance for both White brothers to share the track for the first time since 2007.
“It’s pretty special to be able to race alongside Jason,” he said. “I may be looking forward to that more than anything short of helping to raise some money for the MS Society.”
The tallest hurdle for White is getting up to speed on the track with teams that are completely immersed in their racing programs, but he hopes that his familiarity with the track in Vernon will offset that deficiency.
“I’ve run one thing or another at Motoplex Speedway since it opened, practically” he said. I have probably more laps on that track than anyone. I hope that gives us some sort of edge. We’ll need it.”
Despite the obvious disadvantages of having been away from the series for extended time and the effort he and his team will put into the car this week, White is looking forward to the weekend.
I can’t wait,” he stated. “There’s going to be a great crowd on hand and it will be a blast.”
Fast Facts
The Race: Cruisin’ The Dub 300 presented by A&W
The Place: Motoplex Speedway, Vernon, B.C.
The Date: Saturday, July 31
The Time: 8 p.m. PT
The Distance: 300 laps / 150 miles
Race Purse: $95,498 CAD
TV Schedule: TSN, Aug. 15, 9 p.m. PT
2009 Winner: Andrew Ranger
2009 Polesitter: Ron Beauchamp Jr.
Schedule: Practice 1:30-2:30 p.m.; Qualifying 5:30 p.m.
Track Contact: Bob Newcombe, (250) 542-9090, bob@motoplexspeedway.com
NASCAR PR Contact: Shon Sbarra, (704) 309-5493, ssbarra@nascar.com
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Simone Not Concerned With Slow Start
After finishing eighth in the final point standings in 2009, Anthony Simone had his sights set on a championship run this year. However, some unfortunate luck has derailed those plans, but that doesn’t have the third-year driver down on himself or his team.
“We’ve had some bad luck this year,” said the driver out of Holland Landing, Ont. “It’s that simple.”
With a short 13-race schedule the margin for error is not high for those with title dreams, but they cannot let it snowball when adversity hits and lose the season all together.
“We’re not happy about it, but not overly concerned,” Simone said. “There’s still lots of racing left and I have complete faith in our program to have a solid season.”
Simone’s second-place run last weekend in Edmonton provided a much needed psychological boost for the Graphix Factory/Castrol/Bell Chevrolet team.
“(It) was like a win for us with the luck we’ve had this year,” he said.
It was the third series podium finish on a road course for the former open-wheel and karting competitor as he looks to join Andrew Ranger and JR Fitzpatrick as elite road-course drivers in the Canadian Tire Series.
“Those guys are as good as I’ve seen, but we’re going to build a top program on the road courses and the ovals,” he said.
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Vernon News & Notes
The Race: This event is the sixth of 13 races on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 schedule and the third of eight oval-track events on the slate in 2010. It will be the longest race of the season at 150 miles and is one of two 300-lap events, along with the Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, N.S., on the schedule. It is the series’ fourth visit to the track.
The Procedure: The starting field is 20 cars, including provisionals. The first 17 cars will be determined from two-lap time trials. The remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 300 laps (150 miles)..
The Track: The Motoplex Speedway half-mile banked tri-oval is 55 feet wide on the front and back straights, and 60 feet wide in the turns. Banking in Turns 1 and 2 is 11 degrees, while Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 14 degrees. The facility has seating for 7,500 spectators which includes corporate hospitality facilities and VIP suites. The track's first event took place on August 12, 2000. The track was known as SunValley Speedway until it was renamed earlier this year.
The Records: The one-lap qualifying record for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at the track is 18.299 seconds (98.366 mph), set by Don Thomson Jr. on July 14, 2007. The 300-lap race record was established in last year’s race on July 18 by Andrew Ranger at 1 hour, 52 minutes, 29 seconds for an average speed of 81.612 mph.
A Season Ago: Ranger dominated and led 207 of the race’s 300 laps in earning his first stock-car victory on an oval track. The only driver able to stay close to Ranger was Scott Steckly, who finished second. Ron Beauchamp Jr. finished third after winning his first series pole award.
Full Weekend: In addition to the Canadian Tire Series event on Saturday, the track is hosting Loverboy and Fab Fourever, a Beatles tribute band on Friday night. Tickets for both are still available at www.motoplexspeedway.com.
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NCATS Notebook: Canadian Tire 100 Wrap-Up
New Leader: With his second victory of the 2010 season, JR Fitzpatrick (No. 84 Schick Hydro Chevrolet) took the lead in the championship point standings. He now has a 31-point lead over DJ Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge).
Lion’s Share: Fitzpatrick and Kennington each have to races this season and have accounted for four of the five race wins this season. The only other race victor this season was Andrew Ranger in Toronto.
Road Course Success: Several drivers with top-10 finishes in Edmonton were primarily road-course drivers. Trevor Seibert (No. 69 Lake Excavating/EMCO Waterworks Dodge) in fourth, Peter Klutt (No. 42 Legendary Motorcar Chevrolet) in seventh and Jarrad Whissell (No. 44 SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford) in ninth all put together solid efforts.
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race: Fitzpatrick collected $1,500 from Mobil 1 as the Command Performance Driver of the Race award winner. It was his third Mobil 1 award of the season.
Autolite Time To Change Your Position: New to the lineup this year is the Autolite Spark Plugs Time To Change Your Position Award that goes to the driver who improves his finishing position the most over the previous event. Anthony Simone (No. 95 Graphix Factory/Castrol Chevrolet) finished second earned the $1,500 prize by bouncing back from a 30th-place finish in Toronto. It was his second time winning the Autolite award in 2010.
Dodge-Mopar Fast Five: This program rewards the top five finishing Dodges in the race eligible for the award. In the Canadian Tire 100, third-place finisher Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge) was the top-finishing Dodge and earned $2,000. Seibert placed third among the Dodges with his fourth-place effort and earned $1,500. Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge) grabbed the third spot and $1,000. The performance of Joey McColm (No. 50 WATCH IT! Dodge) ranked him fourth among the Dodge entrants and netted $750. Kennington finished 15th overall and was the fifth highest-finishing Dodge and collected $500 in the process.
Coca-Cola Move of the Race: Improving his position the most over the course of the race was James Van Domselaar (No. 14 Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet). He started from the 19thj position and finished 12th and earned the $1,000 award from Coca-Cola.
MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: The driver who compiles the most points in a specialized system involving qualifying, race finish and leading laps collects this $1,100 award. Fitzpatrick pulled the trifecta by winning the race, starting in the pole and leading the most laps to acquire the most MAHLE points for the event.
VTech Free Pass: In another new award this season, VTech is honoring the driver who logs the highest race finish after receiving a ‘free pass’ during the event with a $1,000 award. Mark Dilley (No. 9 PartSource/Dickies) made the most of his VTech free pass in Edmonton.
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Up Next: Saskatoon
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 next heads to Auto Clearing Motor Speedway to take on the quaint .333-mile oval in Saskatoon, Sask., for the Velocity Prairie Thunder on Wednesday, Aug. 4.
The 250-lap race will close the three-race swing through Western Canada and the mid-week date is the only non-weekend race on the schedule.
The Canadian Tire Series made its debut at the track a season ago in front of a sold-out crowd. In the race, Scott Steckly rebounded from a blown engine in practice and starting from the back of the field to win the inaugural event as he out-distanced Don Thomson Jr. and DJ Kennington.
The stop in Saskatoon a year ago was not only popular with the fans, but also the competitors, who gave rave reviews to the track.
From Shon Sbarra / NASCAR PR
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