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Whitlock fifth at inaugural Dodge Charger 300
Barrie, ON – Jul 03 2005: “That was one tough race,
but we’re real happy to survive with a top 5 finish” said 3-time
Champion Dave Whitlock. The Dodge Charger 300 presented by the Dodge
Dealers of Ontario was the feature event in the Canada Day Northern 500
weekend that marked the first return in ten years of the CASCAR Super
Series to Barrie Speedway. Team mate Mark Dilley was the winner in his
#9 Dodge Power Water Charger.
Knowing that track position would be everything here,
the Wyoming ON team owner had a disappointing qualifying time that
placed him deep on the grid at 11th.
“Our #39 Avenue / NMT Dodge was a bit better in the
early stages” said Whitlock who had moved to 7th by lap 20, to 4th by
lap 40 and to 2nd behind Dilley by lap 80. The two Dodges ran together
until both pitted at lap 131. Whitlock was not happy with the changes
and again pitted on lap 170 with nine cars remaining on the lead lap. By
lap 260 he had mustered 6th and moved to his finishing position during
the final 10 laps. Only six cars finished on the lead lap.
“Racing the track itself and getting around the
slower cars were the biggest challenges today. I think we went a bit too
far with the changes we made during that stop but considering everything
that we had to deal with today, a fifth is just fine. I’m sure that when
the problems get fixed, we’ll see Barrie Speedway become a real fan
favourite.”
The surface of the newly configured track
deteriorated badly causing two race stoppages to sweep debris. But what
may soon be dubbed as CASCAR’s Bristol, the facility was pristine and
efforts by track management will undoubtedly make this a popular future
event. Pole-sitter Kerry Micks came home 2nd, DJ Kennington 3rd, and Don
Thomson Jr. 4th - netting Dodge 3 of the top 5 spots.
Next CASCAR Super Series race: July 8 – 10 on the streets of Toronto
during the Molson Indy.
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On TV: Set your VCR for this one… the Dodge Charger 300 from Barrie
Speedway this Saturday – Jul 9th at 3 pm on SPORTSNET at 3 pm EST.
Replays: EAST TUESDAY JULY 12th @2:00PM EST / WED 13th @1:00PM EST / ONT
MONDAY 11th @3:00PM EST / WED 13th @2:00PM EST / WEST THURS 14th @1:00PM
MT / TUES 19th @3:00PM MT / PAC SUNDAY 10th @12:00AM PT / THURS 14th
@1:00PM PT / THURS 21st @1:00PM PT

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