Late-race spin on oil drops Dodge-sponsored Charger driver from second
BARRIE, ON – A fifth-place finish at a tough track like Barrie Speedway would usually be a satisfying result. But not when you’re in the hunt for the win with just three laps to go.
That’s the situation Mark Dilley found himself in on Monday afternoon following the season opening CASCAR Super Series race. The driver of the #9 Charger, sponsored by Dodge, started eighth in the 22-car field and worked his way through the pack by employing the outside groove.
By lap 180 of the 250-lap chase, the Barrie, ON racer was riding comfortably in second place, with his sights set on race leader Scott Steckly. Dilley won the lone CASCAR race at Barrie in 2005 and was looking to make it two in a row. But with three laps to go, Dilley and the rest of the field came upon an oil slick and assorted car parts in turn 2, during a restart. Following contact with several other competitors, the former CASCAR champ found himself facing the wrong direction and pondering what might have been.
Dilley was ultimately able to bring the #9 Dodge / Mobil1 / Exide / Leland Industries / Avenue Motor Works / CRS Trucking / NTN Bearings Dodge Charger home in fifth-place.
“I think we had the best car here,” said Dilley, after the race. “We came from the back after our stop and did it on the outside groove, where nobody else could run. With three laps to go, the racetrack was covered in oil and axels. We told people about it, and they told us that it wasn’t in the racing groove. Well, you saw the result.”
So while he knows fifth-place is very respectable, Dilley is frustrated at what might have been. “I think we had something for Scott [Steckly] in those last laps. I just wanted to make sure that I was out front of the third-place car [Donnie Thomson] enough before I thought about going to the outside. Whether we could have done it or not, we’ll never know.”
During time trial qualifying for the race, on Saturday, Dilley posted the eighth-fastest lap. He would later take fourth-place in the second 50-lap qualifying heat race, which placed the MOPAR-powered, #9 Charger sponsored by Dodge on the outside of the fourth row for the initial green flag.
CASCAR NOTES: Dodge Charger driver Scott Steckly won his first-ever CASCAR Super Series race, at Barrie, in his inaugural outing driving a MOPAR-powered CASCAR. Don Thomson Jr. and J.R. Fitzpatrick took the final two podium positions. The CASCAR Super Series returns to action on Saturday, June 10 at Autodrome St-Eustache, near Montreal, QC.
Prepared by Inside Track Communications // For more information about the #9 Dodge team and its sponsors, visit www.whitlockmotorsports.com. For more on CASCAR, including complete race results, reports, point standings, event schedules and upcoming broadcast times for Super Series races on SPORTSNET, see www.cascar.ca
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