Road Course Woes Continue For Van Es

Courtesy Ken Spencer

The curse of road course racing followed Ron Van Es and his team to the Province of Quebec this past weekend and the results were representative of the bad luck they have experienced in past non-oval track events.

They were forced to the sidelines early when engine problems developed in the team’s Star Van Systems Monte Carlo after just 6 laps of the scheduled 42-lap chase through the unique Grand Prix de Trois Rivieres street course. The problem was later diagnosed as a broken camshaft.

“We just can’t finish a road course event,” a disgruntled team owner Andy Van Es remarked following this latest setback in the team’s 2006 year-to-date record. “This is our sixth road course attempt since coming to CASCAR and they have all resulted in disasters.”

“We really deliberated coming this weekend given our current record but before the season began we committed to running the full schedule, so we’ll carry on,” the senior Van Es added.

The team is hoping for improved results on the ovals beginning with this weekend’s race at the half-mile Mosport Speedway where Ron has had a 12th and 13th-place finish in his two past visits. He actually had stronger runs than the results show and will be looking for a top-ten or better finish in the 200-lap event.
They will then have a weekend off to prepare for CASCAR’s fourth and final road course race of the season at the CHAMP Car Grand Prix weekend in Montreal –August 25th-27th.

The CASCAR Super Series will end its season on the ovals beginning with the Labour Day Weekend special at Cayuga International Speedway (September 2nd-3rd), then off to Autodrome Ste. Eustache north of Montreal (September 9th) and close at Kawartha Speedway (September 16th-17th).

For the Mosport and Cayuga events, Marshall's Truck & Trailer Wash And Repair Ltd of Hamilton will be adding their sponsorship support toward the #11 Van Es Racing Team’s efforts.