Mark Dilley - CASCAR #9

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Mark Dilley punted off track at Barrie, loses 40 laps in pits

BARRIE, ON - Mark Dilley's homecoming at Barrie Speedway was barely underway before it ended. Running in fourth-place just 50 laps into Saturday night's NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race, Dilley's #9 Dodge / Mobil1 / Exide / MOPAR / Leland / Wild Wing / CRS Dodge Avenger was unceremoniously dumped from the track in turn 2 and came to rest on top of a tire barrier.

The Barrie, ON racer lost 40 laps in the pits as his team made repairs to the car�s suspension. In the end, Dilley finished 13th in the 10th race of the season. The car was good tonight, lamented Dilley, who had qualified eighth-fastest in the field of 20 for the 300-lap race around the 1/3-mile tri-oval. It's just a matter that everyone was too impatient again and I was punted up onto the tires. I guess I was in Aisle 4 and the Canadian Tire car wanted to get to Aisle 3. I knew it was coming, too. It was just absolutely ridiculous and stupid. There's no need for that 50 laps into a 300-lap race.

Dilley's frustration at Barrie merely compounded what he was feeling from the previous week at Cayuga Speedway when he started seventh but ended up in 15th-place. �It was the same thing at Cayuga, getting caught in someone else�s problem early. We're just not having any luck right now, but hopefully that will change. But we'll go to the next one and do the best we can.

LOOKING AHEAD: Heading to Nova Scotia
With two races left on the 2007 NASCAR schedule, all Dilley can do is put the past behind him and look forward to this weekend's inaugural NCATS race at Antigonish, Nova Scotia's Riverside Speedway. The race is sponsored by the Dodge Dealers of Atlantic Canada.

"We're just looking for a good finish. Now, we're concentrating on trying to earn a top-10 points finish," continued the #9 Dodge-sponsored Avenger driver, who is currently eighth overall in the standings. "It's just been a really bad deal during the second-half of the season for us. We're looking forward to going down to Antigonish for the first time. I've heard nothing but good things about the track down there and what they've done to it. It sounds like the fans down there are really excited to have us."

BARRIE NOTEBOOK: Dodge Avenger driver DJ Kennington won Saturday nights 300-lap race at Barrie Speedway. The St. Thomas, ON racer has been one of the strongest drivers at Barrie in recent seasons and overcame throttle trouble to win the ATTO 300. Finishing second was another Dodge Avenger driver, Dave Whitlock, who came from 15th on the starting grid to earn the runner-up result. Five-time Canadian national stock car champion Don Thomson Jr. was the third and final podium finisher at Barrie.