Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: kerry micks

  • NCAT: Frustrations Take Over Barrie Speedway, Penalties Handed Down

    NCAT: Frustrations Take Over Barrie Speedway, Penalties Handed Down

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”200″][/media-credit]

    NASCAR announced that two NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers and three crew members have been penalized as a result of rules violated at Barrie Speedway on September 10thafter racing was over.

    J.R. Fitzpatrick and Kerry Micks were found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – aggressive driving and excessive speed on pit road after the race) of the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series rule book.  They are both on probation for the final two races of schedule and remain on probation till September 28, 2011. Both drivers sped down pit road after an on-track altercation on the final lap where Micks spun out Fitzpatrick due to earlier contact.

    Matt Vanderwal, crew chief for Don Thomson Jr. was found in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area) and 9-4 (the crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his team members). Vanderwal has been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.

    Josh Turner, crew member for No. 3 of Jason Hathaway, and Chad Turner, crew member for Don Thomson Jr., were both found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area). Both have been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the track this weekend for the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

  • NCTS: Mark Dilley Comes Out Victorious After Last Lap Incident in Wild Wing 300

    Short tracks always seem to bring close racing and the Wild Wing 300 presented by Independent Electric Saturday night at Barrie Speedway for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was no exception as there would be contact with the leaders in the final laps.

    On the green-white-checkered restart, Kerry Micks and JR Fitzpatrick would start side-by-side. With history being on their side with past incidents between them, the eventual contact of Micks spinning Fitzpatrick around was no surprise.

    Though amidst the smoke, Mark Dilley would find his way past both Mick sand Fitzpatrick to score his third career victory.

    “I just thought I’d stay as close as I could to everybody and that way by the time they went, I would go through,” he said. “They just tapped just going down in 1 there and I just seen smoke and I just turned left as hard as I could and floored it and we got lucky.”

    Dilley had qualified the car in the seventh position, though ended up starting at the back of the 22 car field to start the race. This mark’s Dilley’s first win since Cayuga Motor Speedway in 2008.

    “Its good to win in your hometown and all that,” he said in victory lane. “Barrie Speedway has been good to me obviously over the years with the racing. It was just a good race. The guys did a great job on the pit stops. We had to go to the back at the beginning and I just tried to keep my head and not knock the wheels off it and it just worked out good.

    “I can’t thank Rheem, PartSource, all the sponsors enough. They make it possible. They’ve been sticking with us through thick and thin so I mean this one’s all for them.”

    Jason Hathaway would grab second and Kerry Micks would end up third at the end of it all.

    “We started 12th and tried to be real calm coming through and I think we did a real good job there,” Micks said afterwards. “We got all the way up to the lead there without too much damage to anything or anybody. J.R. goes through my spotter and says, ‘Let’s just have a nice clean race here’ and I said, ‘Okay. That sounds good to me.’

    “And we go into the second corner and he puts me completely sideways and you know that’s just not right. When you got your man’s word to say something like that and I said okay, and just didn’t happen. He put me sideways and I said, ‘I’m not taking that’.

    “Then we’re going down the front straightaway and he puts me in the front wall. I’m passing him on the outside and he puts in the wall. I said, ‘What are you thinking?’

    “Anyways, I don’t want to race that and its just too bad, but I don’t take any…..”

    Don Thomson Jr. would come home fourth followed by Jeff Lapcevich, Brad Graham, DJ Kennington, Joey McColm, Fitzpatrick and Chris Raabe. Kennington would rally back to a seventh place finish after spinning to bring out the final caution of the evening.

    Meanwhile Kennington’s points rival and the pole sitter, Scott Steckly, would lead 147 laps before having a wheel issue, which caused him to finish 15th. Steckly now leads Kennington by 69 points with two races remaining.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be back in action next weekend on September 17th with the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway.

     

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
    1 7 9 Mark Dilley Rheem/Exide Dodge 310 185 5 Running
    2 11 3 Jason Hathaway Snap-on Tools/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge 310 175 5 Running
    3 12 02 Kerry Micks Dickies/Beyond Digital Imaging Ford 310 170 5 Running
    4 2 8 Don Thomson, Jr. Farmers Feed Families Dodge 310 160 Running
    5 8 23 Jeff Lapcevich Tim Hortons Dodge 310 155 Running
    6 6 19 Brad Graham Holmar Plumbing Dodge 310 150 Running
    7 5 17 D.J. Kennington Castrol Edge Dodge 310 146 Running
    8 14 50 Joey McColm Espar Dodge 310 142 Running
    9 9 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick Equipment Express Chevrolet 310 143 5 Running
    10 15 01 Chris Raabe * Canadian Tire/MotoMaster/Sylvania Dodge 309 134 Running
    11 18 07 Isabelle Tremblay * Groupe Beton Brunet/ADF Diesel Ford 307 130 Running
    12 17 55 Dexter Stacey Bully’s Truck Stop Dodge 302 127 Running
    13 19 47 L.P. Dumoulin * Maskimo/Somavrac Dodge 302 124 Running
    14 1 22 Scott Steckly Canadian Tire/MotoMaster Dodge 285 131 10 Running
    15 10 60 Ron Beauchamp, Jr. Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge 267 118 Running
    16 3 15 Steve Mathews * Bill Mathews Motors Ford 231 115 Accident
    17 20 5 Noel Dowler * EMCO/Whitemud Mechanical Dodge 218 112 Accident
    18 13 21 Jason White A&W Cruisin’ The Dub Dodge 205 109 Accident
    19 22 59 John Farano * Tower Motorsports Dodge 183 106 Accident
    20 16 00 Pierre Bourque Aaron’s Dodge 143 103 Steering
    21 4 7 Pete Shepherd, III Hy-Tech Drilling/Nat’l Exhaust Dodge 131 100 Engine
    22 21 97 Hugo Vannini * Vannini Motorsports Ford 250 97 Accident

  • Race #4 for NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Mosport

    Opening in 1961, Mosport International Raceway is a track that many Canadian motorsports fan know of and have been too. The 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course also has been on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule since the first year in 2007.

    On that first race on June 17, 2007, it was then 20-year-old Andrew Ranger winning the event in just his third stock car start after switching from open-wheel racing. Ranger won the 2009 event, as well, though will not be racing in this year’s event.

    Winning the other two races was JR Fitzpatrick, who will attempt the Road America-Mosport double. On Saturday June 25th, he will run the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America for Go Canada Racing after scoring a top 10 there last year for JR Motorsports. He follow that by running the Vortex Brake Pads 200 on Sunday at Mosport. The Cambridge, Ontario native has led 72 laps on the Mosport road course and is known for how he runs on them as five of his six career wins have come on road courses. So far this year, he has had a successful start to the season, finishing in the top 10 all three races.

    The 10-turn course, though, will pose a chalelnge as according to Robin Buck, series competitor and instructor.

    “The pretty drastic elevation change along with a couple blind turns makes Mosport fairly unique,” Buck, who got his career win earlier this year at Circuit ICAR, said. “It’s a driver’s course, but long straightaway from Moss Corner to The Esses requires horsepower regardless of what kind of car you are in.”

    One of the parts of the track to watch is the Mario Andretti Straightaway.

    “If you have a car that can’t pull up that straightaway, then you’re going to have a long day at Mosport,” Fitzpatrick said.

    Another part of the race to watch will be the pit stops as with this being the longest of the five road courses, it requires at least one pit stop. Once a caution comes out, teams will have a tough decision to make as series rules mandate teams cannot change tires and fuel the car under the same stop.

    “There’s going to be a caution at some point,” veteran driver Kerry Micks said. “The odds of the race going green-white-checkered are pretty slim. So, when a caution does come, you have to decide what’s most important at the time – fuel or tires. Obviously, a fuel stop under green is easier than changing tires but everything depends on those yellows.”

    Last year, Micks scored his best finish ever at Mosport as he finished fifth, well the previous three starts resulted in a high finish of 16th. He has had success on the road courses despite that as he has two road course wins, both coming in 2007.

    Depending on how a driver works the strategy and drives the course will depend if they find success or not. For those who do, it will mean a lot.

    “Practically every racing fan in Canada has heard of Mosport and knows of its history,” defending champion DJ Kennington said. “For sponsors, it’s an easy drive from Toronto. The setting at the track is comfortable. It’s not cramped. All in all, it’s a good setting and if your sponsors are there, then you want to win.”