Category: Featured Other Series

[media-credit name=”delawarespeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]In race number two of the three oval races stretch, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series heads to Delaware Speedway for the Emco 200. It will mark the fourth race of the season when the field takes the green flag on the half-mile.

It will mark the fourth race on the oval located in London, Ontario. in the previous three races, D.J. Kennington has found victory lane twice while Don Thomson Jr. found victory lane once.

For Kennington, his two victories came in 2009 and 2010 while he finished third last season while leading a total of 293 laps in those three starts. It’s no surprise to anybody at Kennington’s success so far as he began his racing career at Delaware as a kid.

The 2010 series champion will be looking for his second straight victory of the season as he won last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s half-mile oval. Kennington’s consistency of five straight top-fives and six consecutive top 10s has paid off as he currently sits second in points, one point behind J.R. Fitpatrick.

Fitzpatrick will come into the event with experience on his pit box as last year’s winner Thomson Jr. is now his crew chief. Fitzpatrick has had success at Delaware in the past as he finished runner-up in 2010 and fifth last year, while leading a total of 64 laps over the past three years.  Fitzpatrick will look to continue his string of consistant finishes after opening the season with a win at CTMP’s road course.

“The goal of this team is to win the championship. Period,” Fitzpatrick said at the start of the season.

However, part of that will be making sure communication with Thomson Jr. is solid. Back at CTMP after he won the race, he said that it was good as they clicked well together.  Though he said earlier this week that there are some issues they need to work through.

“We do need to communicate better during the race in terms of adjustments,” Fitzpatrick says. “I need to be more specific on how the car is handling, so that we can get the right adjustments made.”

He also adds that part of it is the fact that he’s gets a little frustrated at times and he knows he has to get that better.

“J.R. is intense behind the wheel. That’s who he is and you’re not going to get that out of him,” Kennington says. “He’s just got to manage it. So far, it’s working for him.”

Beyond those pair, another driver to keep an eye on is Andrew Ranger as he enters this weekend sitting third in points, six points behind Fitzpatrick. This will mark Ranger’s first start at Delaware since racing there in 2009, where he finished eighth. However, he is on a roll as he has top 10 finishes in his last six Canadian Tire Series starts and has finished inside the top 10 in 25 of his last 26 starts, dating back to 2008.

Not in the championship picture, but one to watch is Mark Dilley. Last week in his 2012 season debut, he finished second at CTMP. He is splitting driving duties with Kerry Micks in the No. 02 PartSource/BDI/Leland Ford as they look to become the first to win the owner’s championship in a team effort. They currently sit eighth in owner’s points, 30 points behind the No. 84, which is driven by Fitzpatrick and owned by his father John. Last season, Dilley scored his best finish at Delaware when he finished 11^th.

There are other drivers that bring momentum to Delaware as both Steve Côté and Noel Dowler (No. 5 notched their first series-career top-10 finishes. Côté’s finish allowed him to move up to first in the Rookie of the Year standings, one point ahead of Martin Roy. They will both be making their first starts at Delaware this weekend, along with L.P. Dumoulin, Roy, Ray Courtemanche Jr., Larry Jackson, Howie Scannell Jr. and Mike Scholz.

While he has not yet to find victory lane, Ron Beauchamp Jr. could break that spell as he has an average finish of 6.3. Last year, he finished ninth and had a runner-up finish in 2009. He is also coming into Delaware riding a wave of momentum as he has scored back-to-back top 10s in his last two series starts.

[media-credit name=”Matthew Manor/NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”350″][/media-credit]While normally on the short tracks its all about track position, D.J. Kennington proved on Saturday night that wasn’t the case at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as he charged from the back of the field to win the Clarington 200. It marked his first victory of 2012 and his 12th series victory overall. He also became the fifth different driver to win on the half mile oval in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Kennington had qualified fifth during the qualifying sessions, however he had to drop to the back after making unapproved adjustments to the car.

“We didn’t let the penalty bother us,” the St. Thomas, Ontario driver says. “The race was 200 laps and pit strategy was going to come into play. There was plenty of time to get to the front. Everybody raced great tonight. There were some inexperienced drivers in the field and they did a super job.”

Kennington put his No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge in the top five on lap 27, before taking the lead a quarter way through the race. The only time he lost it was during a round of green flag pit stops.

“My car was great all day long. I was able to rotate it in the corners and get right back on the throttle,” he says. “And it stayed like that. My crew gave me a fast car. It was a pleasure to drive.”

Mark Dilley would come home second in his season debut behind the wheel of the No. 02 PartSource/BDI/Leland Ford. He is splitting the season with fellow series veteran Kerry Micks with Micks running the road courses while Dilley runs the ovals.

“It’s a little bit of strange deal Kerry and I have going this season,” Dilley comments. “It was very difficult sitting out those first two races and I’m sure Kerry was going through the same thing tonight. But it was great to jump right into it and get a great finish.”

J.R. Fitzpatrick finished third to score his third straight top-three finish to start the season.

“I think we could’ve done better, but it was another solid finish for the Equipment Express Chevrolet,” Fitzpatrick says. “Consistency is the key in these points battles and we’ve done that so far.”

Both Jeff Lapcevich and Jason Hathaway scored their first top fives of 2012, as they finished fourth and fifth. Steve Mathews finished sixth, followed by Andrew Ranger, Ron Beauchamp Jr., Steve Cote and Noel Dowler.

Last year’s race winner Scott Steckly ran into mechanical problems before the race started, and they just continued throughout the day, leading him to a 14th place finish.

Pete Shepherd III, who sat on the pole with a record time, also experienced mechanical problems and finished 16th.

In the point standings, Fitzpatrick has just a single-point lead over Kennington with Ranger six points off the pace in third.

The Clarington 200 will be telecast by TSN on Sunday, June 24 at 1 p.m. ET and the RDS2 premiere is set for Wednesday, July 11 at 10 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is right back on the track on Saturday, June 23 at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway for the EMCO 200 presented by Niagara Plumbing Supply and McKeough Supply.

While it marked the first time in four years that the OSCAAR Super Late Models had raced at Barrie Speedway, it also marked the first time ever that Jesse Kennedy found feature victory lane.

“We struggled all day with a tight car,” Kennedy says. “We threw everything, but the kitchen sink at it to get it to turn. It was obviously better. I honestly didn’t think I had much for Brandon at the end. I got a good start on the outside and… we just kind of pulled it off.”

In the first heat, it’d start off with Mike Hillier running into mechanical problems, making contact with the wall and collecting Rudy Oppersma. The second caution would then come out when rookie Rob Poole would spin Mike Beyore in turn two, and that’d be followed up with a third caution when Poole spun Kyle Passer in turn four. Shawn Chenoworth would go on to take the win in his first start of the year, followed by Tony Tiemersma, Beyore, Poole, Oppersma and Kyle Passer.

In the second heat, Jim Bowman would go for a single-car spin. Four-time series champion Glenn Watson would take the win, followed by his nephew Brandon Watson, Ian Bourque, Todd Campball, George Wilson and Bowman.

In the third heat while battling for the lead, Rob Clarke and Charlie Gallant would go for the spin. Jeff Dunford would assume the lead and go on to take the win. Jesse Kennedy finished second, followed by Gary Passer and Quinn Misener.

Tony Tiemersma would take the win in the fourth heat, followed by Chenoworth, Beyore, Poole, Oppersma and Kyle Passer.

Brandon Watson would win the fifth heat, followed by Glenn Watson, Bourque, Wilson, Campball and Bowman.

On the first lap of the last heat, Clarke would go for a spin, collecting Gallant while Dunford had mechanical problems. Kennedy went on to win, followed by Gallant, Gary Passer and Msener.

Virtue of his qualifying effort, Brandon Watson would start on pole, followed by Jesse Kennedy, Shawn Chenoworth, Tony Tiemersma and Glenn Watson.

There’d be a caution right away on the start of the race as Tiemersma would go for a spin after getting hit from behind by Mike Beyore as Watson did not get a good start. Chenoworth would have to make a pit stop, virtue of getting damage on the start from G. Watson. This would set the running order with B. Watson first, followed by Kennedy, G. Watson, Beyore and Ian Bourque.

The second caution would come out on lap two as when Chenoworth was pulling off pit road, Jim Bowman would make contact with him and go for a spin. By this point, G. Watson had passed Kennedy for second while Bourque passed Beyore for fourth.

On the restart, the Watsons would battle side-by-side for the lead with G. Watson clearing B. Watson on lap five. On the same lap, a caution came out for Kyle Passer spinning in turn one, setting the Watsons back up side-by-side. On the restart, B. Watson would manage to around G. Watson.

The fourth caution came out when Tiemersma would go for another spin while trying to get around the lapped car of Kyle Passer. By this point, Charlie Gallant had gotten by Beyore for fifth.

The fifth caution came out when Bowman went for another spin. Then on the restart, there’d be another caution when Rudy Oppersma pushed Beyore into the inside wall on the backstretch.

With 35 laps to go, the seventh caution would come out when Rob Clarke sent Gallant for a spin. This would allow George Wilson to crack the top five while Kennedy made the pass for second G. Watson behind B. Watson while Bourque ran fourth.

At the halfway mark on lap 25, Wilson passed Bourque for fourth while rookie Rob Poole was up to sixth. Wilson would continue his climb by passing G. Wilson for third on lap 28.

On lap 32, Jeff Dunford would bring out the eighth caution with a flat tire. There’d be more mechanical problems as Rob Poole would break a rear end on lap 39, ending his night and bringing out the ninth caution to clean up the oil. By this point, it was still B. Watson over Kennedy while G. Watson had made his way back by Wilson for third with Bourque in fifth. Tiemersma had also made his way back up to sixth after his early problems.

With 10 laps to go, Kennedy would make the pass on B. Watson after getting a good run on the outside on the restart.

“Earlier with (Glenn) Watson, I kind of let him go. I said ‘maybe he can do something with Brandon’,” Kennedy says. “He kept backing up to us so I said ‘guess we have to go’. So I was saving some tires for that last ten-lap heat there.”

He would go on to lead the final 10 laps to win his first ever OSCAAR feature. B. Watson finished second to go with his win at Sunset with Wilson third after being disqualified at Sunset.

“After that last restart, our car kind of faded away. We must have had some marbles or some speedy-dry on our tires. It just got really loose,” B. Watson says. “I couldn’t get that car to turn off the corner one bit.”

G. Watson and Tiemersma rounded out the top five.

“The car was really tight so it was a tough night for us,” G. Watson says.

Bourque finished sixth, followed by Gallant, Todd Campball and Dunford.

[media-credit name=”ARCARacing.com” align=”alignright” width=”265″][/media-credit]After scoring six victories on the short tracks in the span of two years, Chris Buescher led the final 14 laps on his way to his first speedway victory in the RainEater Wiper Blades 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

“That was so cool,” Buescher says. “Hats off to these guys on pit road. We had great stops and the Roulo Brothers car was awesome right off the truck.”

The race was met with tire problems throughout the day as the most drivers could go on a set of tires was 25 to 30 laps. Buescher played the strategy to perfection as he pitted his No. 17 Roulo Brothers Racing Ford with 25 to go.

Then under a caution with 15 to go for Kevin Swindell getting into the wall, Buescher stayed out and assumed the lead as the rest of the leaders pitted, including current leader Alex Bowman. He was then able to cross the finish line 0.054 seconds ahead of Alex Bowman.

“It was a battle right to the end,” Buescher adds. “I had a close call with that lapped car right there at the end. Thanks to Alex Bowman for running us clean. I really appreciate it.”

Cunningham Motorsports’ Bowman came home second after leading 12 laps throughout the day.  Bowman stated after the race that his team will not be able to make the trip to Winchester Speedway due to lack of sponsorship.

“As of right now, we’re done,” Bowman says. “Winchester is next weekend. We’re trying real hard. Everybody knows funding is the name of the game in racing.”

Coulter Motorsports’ Matt Lofton finished third after leading 15 laps, while Brennan Newberry finished fourth in his ARCA debut. Brandon Davis rounded out the top five with a career best finish of fifth.

John Blankenship finished sixth for a career best, followed by Frank Kimmel and Spencer Gallagher. Menards Pole Award winner Joey Coulter finished ninth after leading a couple of laps, while Buster Graham rounded out the top 10.

Points leader Brennan Poole led the first 59 laps, though ran into tire issues and had to make multiple pit stops under green with the first coming at lap 61. He would finish 11th, three laps off the pace. He was able to keep the points lead, now 20 points over Buescher.

Poole wasn’t the only driver who suffered tire problems as so did Coulter, Ryan Reed (who finished 12th), Swindell (finished 14th), Gallagher, Lofton, Buescher and Davis. Though most came home with good finishes after Poole lapped over half the field early in the race.

The race would have it’s big incident of the day on lap three when Nelson Canache spun and both Tom Hessert and Larry Barford Jr. made contact with him afterwards.

“It’s definitely unfortunate for us,” Hessert says. “Looks like the 35 (Canache) car just got into the corner on lap two and spun out. Definatley gives us a tough hit in the points. but it’s a long race so who knows whats going to happen. There’s also a lot of races left this year.”

Under this caution, last week’s second place finisher Chad Hackenbracht would run into problems with the fuel pump and be slow on the apron.

The second caution came out on lap 12 for Jared Marks going for a spin while trying to pass Newberry.

The third caution came out on lap 25 for the competition yellow. ARCA made the decision to put out the competition yellow due to running on a newly paved surface.

The fourth caution came out on lap 40 when rookie Aleks Gregory would get into the wall.

The next race for the ARCA Racing Series is the 200-lap, 100-mile Herr’s Chase the Taste 200 at Winchester Speedway. ARCARacing.com will carry live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race.

Race Results

[media-credit name=”CoulterMotorsports.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Before moving up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Joey Coulter made his mark in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, catching the eyes of NASCAR car owner Richard Childress. With the trucks having the weekend off, Coulter returns to ARCA routes this weekend.

Coulter proved in qualiying why he was picked by Childress for the No. 22 truck as he won the Menards Pole for the RainEater Wiper Blades 200, setting a new track record in the process. His lap of 37.471 seconds (192.149mh) broke the record set by Cale Gale, which was just under 190 mph. This marks his second career pole award after scoring his first pole at Berlin Raceway in 2010.

“It was a little hairy; I never took the throttle off the thing,” Coulter says. “It was a heck of a lap. I can’t thank everybody at Rip It and Coulter Motorsports enough for putting this car together. (Crew chief) Harold Holly’s calling the shots for this weekend, and I don’t know what he figures out for qualifying, but he can make a rocket ship. It’s a great feeling to me. My dad’s team, they’ve really been getting better and better. I think we’ve found a good combination and something that’s going to work. It’ll be great for (teammate) Matt (Lofton) the rest of the year.”

Coulter has been successful at Michigan in the past in the ARCA Series as in three previous starts, he has never finished outside of the top 10. Earlier in the week, Roger Curtis, the president of Michigan International Speedway, picked Coulter to win the race.

Points leader Brennan Poole will start second as he was 0.247 seconds behind Coulter. Alex Bowman starts third, followed by Venturini Motorsports’ teammates Ryan Reed and Kevin Swindell.

Coulter’s teammate Matt Lofton qualified sixth, followed by Kyle Larson, Frank Kimmel, Chris Buescher, and Jared Marks.

Tonight’s race will begin at 5 p.m., with SPEED airing live coverage and ARCARacing.com featuring live timing and scoring.

Starting Grid

[media-credit name=”canadiantiremotorsportspark.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]While the opening two races of the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season have been on road courses, this weekend marks the first oval race of 2012, taking place on the half-mile Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

When the series was there back in May for the opening race on the 2.459-mile road course, J.R. Fitzpatrick emerged the winner after a thrilling battle with Scott Steckly and D.J. Kennington. While Fitzpatrick has three wins on the road course, his best finish on the oval is a second which came in 2010. In four starts at CTMP, the Cambridge, Ontario native has three top 10s and a pole, which came last year.

Fitzpatrick’s crew chief Don Thomson Jr. is the all-time win leader on the oval with a total of two wins. Thomson teamed up with Fitzpatrick at the beginning of the season.

Coming into the weekend, Fitzpatrick leads the points, one point over Andrew Ranger. This year’s CTMP race will mark Ranger’s first start on the oval since winning in 2009. Though he is on a roll as he has finished in the top five in his last five series starts and has finished in the top 10 in 24 of his last 25 series starts.

2011 Series Champion Scott Steckly won the 2011 edition of the race at CTMP and currently sits third in points. In five starts on the oval, he has finshed in the top 10 three times. Steckly is known for being consistant as he has had four consecutive top-five finishes dating back to last year and has scored a top 10 finish in six of his last seven series starts.

Steckly’s young teammate L.P. Dumoulin will make his first start on the oval after starting the year with back-to-back top fives on the road courses to sit fifth in points. Though he was the 2011 series rookie of the year, this just marks his fourth career oval start.

The last previous CTMP race winner not mentioned yet is Kerry Micks, who won the 2008 version, but will not be behind the wheel of the No. 02 this weekend. He is only running the road course events this year while series veteran Mark Dilley runs the ovals. This weekend marks his 2012 series debut at a track where he’s finished well before as he finished runner-up in 2007 and 2008. However, in his last three starts at CTMP, he has only one top 10.

Another driver looking forward to this weekend’s race at CTMP is D.J. Kennington, who currently sits third in points. Kennington finished second and fifth at the two road course events this year, though finds his comfort zone on the ovals.

“It’s not that I don’t like I don’t like road racing because I do,” Kennington comments. “It’s very challenging, but I’m just more comfortable on ovals.”

The St. Thomas, Ontario native says he’s off to a decent start to the year with only being seven points behind points leader Fitzpatrick.

“I think we had a top-three car at ICAR, but we made a few mistakes,” he says. “Third in the opener was solid. Anytime you can beat Andrew Ranger (fourth place) on a road course, that’s a good day.”

It’s no secret that Kennington is more successful on the ovals as 10 of his 11 series-career wins have been on the ovals. He has yet to reach victory lane at CTMP, with his best finish being third, which he got in 2008 and 2009. Last year, he finished in fifth.

“It’s a tough track. None of the turns are alike. I’m not sure I’ve ever hit the same mark twice in a row,” he notes. “I think I won a CASCAR race there in 2005, but for one reason or another we haven’t gotten a NASCAR win there.”

While most drivers are involved in single-car operations in the Canadian Tire Series, Kennington runs a multi-car team that sees him prepare cars for both Noel Dowler and Jason White.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword. Sometimes I wish we didn’t have three cars to get ready, but sometimes it’s good to turn your attention to something else,” he comments. “It’s really a good way for us not to obsess on our own stuff.”

Last year, White finished 15^th at CTMP driving one of Kennington’s cars while Dowler makes his CTMP debut this weekend.

Dowler is one of eight drivers making their CTMP debut as Steve Côté, Ray Courtemanche Jr., L.P. Dumoulin, Larry Jackson, Martin Roy, Howie Scannell Jr. and Mike Scholz are also slated to make their first start on the half-mile oval.

Meanwhile, Jeff Lapcevich will make his 41^st career start this weekend at CTMP, looking to improve on the eighth place finish he got last year on his third start on the oval. With this being Lapcevich’s first full-time NASCAR season, it looks good so far as he currently sits sixth in points.

With this being the first oval of the season, it sets the tone for the rest of the year as it gives everybody a preview of what to expect going forward. It also begins a three-race oval stretch as the next pair of races – Delaware Speedway and Motoplex Speedway – are both on ovals.