TOP TEN RUN FOR BROWN AT MOSPORT

Courtesy Ken Spencer

Doug Brown finally got the Mosport Road Course monkey off his back on Father’s Day with a solid tenth-place run in the “Clarington 200 presented by Canadian Shield Anti Crime Response Corporation”.

In his two previous outings at the fabled track set in the hills north of Bowmanville, the Brantford racing veteran had failed to finish the 51-lap contests ending his afternoons early with engine failures.

This time it was different.

“This finish was certainly redemption for those outings”, Doug mused as he sat outside his hauler following the one hour, 37 minutes and 54 seconds run on the ten-turn circuit. “We needed to not only finish this event, we needed to run a strong and consistent race and finish hopefully in the top ten. We achieved our objective with this effort.”

Brown started his NAPA Autopro-sponsored Monte Carlo 20th in the 31-car field after a disappointing qualifying run, but moved quickly into the top fifteen managing to stay on the lead lap with a fast fuel and two-tire stop on lap 30. With some of the front runners running full out and requiring an extra stop for fuel and tire he quietly moved into eleventh-place then bolted past Warkworth, Ontario’s Derek Lynch on the final lap to earn his tenth-place finish.

Although he sat third in points entering the Sunday event, the tenth-place finish will drop his positioning in the standings but it appears he’s still within the top-five when the points are adjusted by CASCAR.

“We just need to stay consistent with our finishes and hopefully run within the top-five or top ten with each outing to earn a shot at this year’s title,” Doug added when looking at future dates on the schedule.

Kerry Micks of Mt Albert won the Sunday event, taking the lead from Peter Gibbons on lap 32 of the 51-lap race. Second-place went to Jeff Lapcevich of Caistor Centre, ON. Who made a daring pass on Scott Steckly on the final lap to secure the runner-up spot, and was just 1.6-seconds behind Micks at the end.

Steckly’s third-place finish, coupled with his win in the season opener at Barrie Speedway in May, was enough to move him to the top of the unofficial CASCAR Super Series point standings. Five-time and defending champion Don Thomson Jr. who led the points’ race after Barrie experienced engine trouble and finished Sunday’s event in 23rd place.

Next outing for CASCAR Super series teams is Barrie Speedway on July 1-2, a track where Doug Brown ran fourth on the Victoria Day weekend.