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Dilley scores a
fourth-place finish on the streets of TO
Heads out west in second place in the CASCAR Super Series points
TORONTO, ON
– On Sunday
afternoon at the Molson Indy Toronto, CASCAR Super Series veteran Mark
Dilley earned an impressive fourth-place finish in the series’ annual
appearance on the streets of Toronto.
The
Barrie, ON racer started 12th in the 32-car field and
meticulously worked his way forward, through traffic, all the while being
careful to protect his PowerWater / Dodge / Mobil 1 /Exide Dodge Charger
for a late-race charge. At the conclusion of the 36-lap CASCAR feature
race around the 11-turn temporary street circuit on the grounds of
Toronto’s Exhibition Place, Dilley was all over third-place finisher Don
Thomson Jr., and narrowly missed making an appearance on the podium.
“The guys worked
really hard on the car on Saturday and Sunday morning and really got it a
lot better than it was,” said Dilley, after the race, which took place in
front of a Sunday crowd of over 70,000 fans. “Our plan was to save the car
to put on a late charge at the end. I almost got Donnie [Third-place
finisher Don Thomson Jr.] at the end; I was up almost to his door by the
finish line on the last lap. Another lap and we would have gotten him.
Dilley continued,
“That’s my best Toronto Indy finish and it equals my top road course
result; we got a fourth at Mosport once before. It was a great showing for
PowerWater with Kerry Micks winning and me coming fourth; that’s for
sure.”
The Toronto weekend
was also special for Mark and the entire Whitlock Motorsports team because
it marked the return of his long-time sponsor NTN Bearings to Dilley’s
car. “They’re back on board with our program for the rest of the year and
we couldn’t be happier. The people at NTN are like family to me and our
team because we had such a long association together. It was so great to
have them back on the car in Toronto and for the rest of the season. I’d
like to join the Dodge and DaimlerChrysler people in welcoming NTN back to
our program.”
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LOOKING AHEAD:
On the strength of
his performance in Toronto, Dilley cemented his hold on second-place in
the overall point standings as the series heads to Alberta and B.C. for
its annual two-race swing through Western Canada.
“We’re feeling
really good about where we are at this point in the season,” said Mark, as
the series approaches its midway point. “We’re going to some of our strong
tracks right now; especially Calgary’s Race City Speedway. We finished
second there last year to our teammate Dave Whitlock in the MOPAR 300 and
we had that race won the year before we got into it with a lapped car.
We’re excited heading to that track for a MOPAR-sponsored event with our
new Dodge Charger. The track owes us a win.”
RACE NOTES:
Kerry Micks won the
CASCAR race at the Toronto Indy, ahead of another former series champ
Peter Gibbons. Points leader Don Thomson Jr. was third… The next CASCAR
Super Series event is the MOPAR 500 Race Weekend at Calgary’s Race City
Speedway (July 22-23)
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