TORONTO, ON – For the second year in a row, CASCAR will be at Barrie Speedway for the MOPAR Canada Day Weekend, presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario. Sunday afternoon’s 300-lap feature race will be the focus of a busy three-day festival of motorsports at the speedway, as well as in downtown Barrie.
And while it will be the Super Series’ second visit of the season to the 1/3-mile tri-oval, located just north of Barrie, ON, the setting will be very different from the May long weekend when CASCAR held its season opener at the popular speedway.
For starters, the May event was held during winter’s last gasp in the Central Ontario region. And in the time since the May 22 opener, track owner Brad Moran has completed extensive work on the facility, which included building up the banking in turn 4 and laying down a high-tech asphalt surface around the entire speedway.
Former Super Series champion Mark Dilley won last year’s MOPAR Canada Day 300 at Barrie Speedway and he’s excited to be returning, especially under warmer conditions and with work on the new track layout complete. The Barrie, ON resident recently had an opportunity to test the reworked configuration. “We put on a racing school up there since the track was re-done, so I had a chance to do quite a few laps at Barrie. The track feels good and I’d really like to do well there again, since it’s my hometrack.” The Dodge Charger driver continued, “We’re really excited about the MOPAR Canada Day 300 at Barrie Speedway. It’s a great race and hopefully we can be as good as we were last year.”
But Dilley is not the only one who is enthused about returning to Barrie. Scott Steckly broke through to CASCAR’s victory lane for the first time in his career during the May race and he’s looking forward to continuing his strong start in 2006. The ERB Dodge Charger racer came home third in Race #2, on the road course at Mosport Int’l Raceway on Father’s Day, and is currently second in the points.
The man they will all be chasing in the MOPAR Canada Day 300 is Ford Taurus driver Kerry Micks, a former CASCAR champion who is riding high after his win at Mosport. Micks hails from Mt. Albert, ON and he holds a four-point lead over Steckly in the championship chase.
Incidentally, this will be the first race since June 2, 2005 at Autodrome St-Eustache that a driver other than Don Thomson Jr. has led the points heading into a Super Series race weekend. MOPAR Dodge Charger driver Ron Beauchamp Jr. led after two events last season. But in every race since – with the exception of this year’s season opener at Barrie – Thomson has entered the race as the points leader. This weekend, however, the five-time and current National Champion finds himself in fourth, in the standings, following his 23rd-place finish at Mosport.
The CASCAR Sportsman Series will also be in action this weekend at Barrie Speedway. Hometown favourite Ron Lethbridge won last year’s Canada Day Weekend Sportsman race at Barrie en route to capturing the Rookie of the Year Award. The MOPAR 100 Sportsman Series feature event is slated to start at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, while the MOPAR Canada Day 300 is scheduled to commence at 3:30 p.m on Sunday. Additional festivities include the $1,000-to-win MOPAR Pit Stop Challenge in downtown Barrie (on Lakeshore Dr.) at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening, while the Super Series Time Trials and Twin 50 Sprint Races will be the focus on Saturday evening at Barrie Speedway.
NEW PROMOTIONAL PARTNER: Last week, Headz Gamez Enterprises Int’l and CASCAR jointly announced a new promotional partnership that will see the company’s ‘Griddly Headz’ brand take a prominent position in the 2006 CASCAR Super Series Championship. The CASCAR race at the Grand Prix of Edmonton will be named the ‘Griddly Headz 100’, while the Labour Day event at Cayuga Int’l Speedway will be the ‘Hot Head Henry 200, powered by Griddly Headz’. For more information, visit www.griddlyheadz.com.
SCHEDULE: BARRIE SPEEDWAY (Barrie, Ontario)
CASCAR Super Series // MOPAR Canada Day 300
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006
10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Promenade Days at Downtown Barrie
5:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Barrie Speedway Parade
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. MOPAR Pit Stop Challenge (Lakeshore Drive)
SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2006
3:30 p.m. Spectator Gates Open
6:30 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Time Trials
7:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. Barrie Speedway Home Track Feature Races
9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Twin 50 Sprint Races
SUNDAY, JULY 2, 2006
11: 00 a.m. Spectator Gates Open
12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. CASCAR Sportsman Series Time Trials
12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. CASCAR SPORTSMAN SERIES MOPAR 100 FEATURE RACE
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Driver Autograph Session
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Driver Introductions
3:30 p.m. START: MOPAR CANADA DAY 300 CASCAR SUPER SERIES FEATURE
CASCAR ON TV: Catch the MOPAR Canada Day 300 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario from Barrie Speedway on Saturday, July 15 on SPORTSNET. For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
MEDIA INVITATION: Members of the media are invited to attend the MOPAR Pit Stop Challenge on Friday afternoon at 6:00 p.m., and the MOPAR Big Block Party on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. at The ROXX, on Dunlop St. in Barrie.
POINT STANDINGS: CASCAR SUPER SERIES: After 2 Events: 1. #02 Kerry Micks (394 pts.); 2. #22 Scott Steckly (390); 3. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (374); 4. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (364); 5. #10 Doug Brown (364); 6. #39 Dave Whitlock (354); 7. #17 DJ Kennington (350); 8. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (350); 9. #1 Peter Gibbons (343); 10. #19 Brad Graham (337); 11. #25 Jim Lapcevich (337); 12. #9 Mark Dilley (330); 13. #14 John Fitzpatrick (319); 14. #3 Jason Hathaway (318); 15. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (314); 16. #77 Derek Lynch (309); 17. #93 Joe Goncalves (288); 18. #11 Ron Van Es (281); 19. #9 Kent Nuhn (271); 20. #88 Dave Jacombs (201)
POINT STANDINGS: CASCAR FLO~PRO.COM WESTERN SERIES: After 2 Events: 1. #35 Kevin Dowler (325); 2. #36 Jim White (320); 3. #71 Daryl Harr (307); 4. #30 Derek Polack (301); 5. #6 Todd Nichol (290); 6. #87 James Ward (278); 7. #21 Jason White (275); 8. #2 Carl Harr (268); 9. #26 Shawn Polack (264); 10. #79 Wade Lee (262); 11. #96 Norm Hunger (254); 12. #48 Chris Dennis (252); 12. #42 Lyle Paulson (252); 13. #24 Scott Dennis (247); 14. #11 Marty White (244); 14. #86 Shawn Press (244); 14. #76 Dale Biesick (244); 14. #31 Shawn Maltman (244)
Contact CASCAR’s Toronto Office at (416) 531-4714 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416) 561-2320 (cell).
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