WHITLOCK GETS IT DONE AT
CAYUGA
Hamilton, ON, Monday Sept. 4,
2006: Dave Whitlock driver of the #39 NTN Bower/Griddly
Headz/Nitrex Metal Technologies Dodge Charger, got
it done Sunday night at Cayuga and captured his
second checkered flag in three events after a long
two year drought from the winners circle. "We
weren't going to wait another two years," stated
three time National Champion Dave Whitlock after the
event. "We had a bit of a dry spell but our new car
Wiley has two wins in three starts."
Saturday's practice, time trials
and fifty lap qualifiers were rained out as Ernesto
made himself felt in southern Ontario. The schedule
for Sunday would see all events from both days being
incorporated into one day. Whitlock practiced the
#39 Dodge in the top five and then went on to time
trial fifth quickest out of twenty seven
competitors. This lined up the NTN/Griddly Headz/NMT
Charger third in the first fifty lap qualifier. "The
car was tight during the fifty but we found out the
stagger closed up on us," said Whitlock. They held
on for a second place finish which lined them up
third on the grid for the Hot Head Henry 200 powered
by Griddly Headz later that evening.
The 200 lap main event saw
Whitlock quickly settle into the third
position.behind leader #1 Peter Gibbons and second
place #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick. They remained in that
order until pit stops on lap 104. The #39 headed to
the pits for two tires and fuel beating former
leader Gibbons out of the pits to line up for the
restart in seventh. It wasn't long until Whitlock
was back into the top five and then he just
continued picking them off one by one. He followed
then leader #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. in the Mopar Dodge
for several laps and when Beauchamp slipped up in
turn one Whitlock dove underneath him to take the
lead on lap 143. The two of them dueled for the
remaining 57 laps but Whitlock was up to the
challenge and he brought the NTN-Bower/Griddly Headz/NMT
Charger home for the win. "It was really neat
tonight winning here," said Whitlock. "Our sponsors
NTN, Griddly Headz and NMT were all here with staff
and customers and Griddly Headz sponsored the race
event so that all made it extra special. There were
also three Dodge Chargers on the podium so we
couldn't have asked for anything more."
Finish. 1. #39 Dave Whitlock 2.
#60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. 3. #9 Mark Dilley 4. #1 Peter
Gibbons 5. #3 Jason Hathaway 6. #88 Patrick
Carpentier
The points chase has tightened up
considerably with seventy-six points between first
and fifth. Dave Whitlock moved up two positions to
third just one marker behind second place Kerry
Micks and forty-five points behind leader J.R.
Fitzpatrick. Four time CASCAR champion #4 Don
Thomson Jr. currently sits fourth with #22 Scott
Steckly is shown in fifth.
Cayuga Speedway Park has
undergone some big changes with the new ownership
group working to make the facility fan friendly.
There were lots of new seats in the grandstand area,
camping was very popular and the band shell was busy
every night with music and entertainment. A big
thank you to everyone at Cayuga Speedway Park for a
job well done.
The CASCAR Super Series teams
move on to race event number ten of their eleven
race schedule next weekend just outside of Montreal
at Autodrome St. Eustache. Gates open at 2:30 and
racing action will follow.