Team Mopar Bitten by Mechanical Woes

By Todd Lewis - TL Sports & Entertainment

BOWMANVILLE, ON - Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the Mopar Parts team embarked on the second half of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series looking to put recent troubles behind them, and focus on a new start at Mosport Speedway on August 11. The start of the day and the race were strong, but then mechanical gremlins crept back in.

The Mopar Parts Team opened the day struggling for speed on the half mile oval. After several adjustments and a mock qualifying run the team made a significant discovery. “The tire temperatures were not coming up as quickly as we needed to get a good run” said Ron Beauchamp Jr. “So we made an adjustment in air pressure and it really paid off”. Beauchamp would qualify the Mopar Parts Dodge with the fourth fastest time.

As the Green Flag waved to begin competition Beauchamp set out to establish a consistent race pace and maintain contact with the front runners. “Everything was working just fine through the first part of the race” said the driver. “I was trying to take it easy in the first part of the race, this track is a little bumpy and if you’re not careful it will cause you some problems but everything was good. Beauchamp continued to circulate at a strong and consistent pace and then trouble appeared.

With absolutely no warning or indication of any kind of problem, the Mopar Parts Dodge began to slow. Unable to continue at speed Ron Beauchamp Jr. was forced to stop along pit road where the Mopar Parts Crew scrambled under the hood to seek out the problem. As has been the case lately, the mechanical troubles were too serious to continue.

“This one is totally frustrating” said Beauchamp. “Our oil pressure was fine, the car wasn’t running hot, and there was absolutely no warning that anything was wrong. This is definitely one of the most frustrating times I’ve ever experienced, but we’ll be ready to go next week. We’ll take the positives from this event, we were fast, we qualified well and we’re looking forward to the race at Trois Rivieres”.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will run the final road course event of the season this coming weekend, August 19th at the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres. The 12 race schedule will take the teams from coast to coast and will consist of ovals, road courses and temporary street circuits. For the complete schedule, results and other information log onto nascar.ca. Also, all twelve races this season will air TSN.