Wednesday, August 18, 2010

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Statistical Advance: Analyzing The Dickies 200 At Mosport Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 18, 2010) – The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 makes its fourth visit to Mosport Speedway, near Bowmanville, Ont., on Saturday, Aug. 21 for the Dickies 200. It is the 2010 season’s ninth event and the fifth of eight oval-track races on the year. Below is a statistical look at the race and recent performance of selected drivers at Mosport Speedway, as well as some statistical trends:

Ron Beauchamp Jr. (No. 60 Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge)
·            Posted his best Mosport Speedway finish of fourth last season
·            Posted finishes of 19th and 12th in first two starts on the Mosport oval
·            Just one top-10 finish in last five starts
·            One of seven drivers to start all 46 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races, to date

Mark Dilley (No. 9 PartSource/Dickies Dodge)
·         Pair of runner-up finishes – 2007 & 2008 – at Mosport Speedway
·         Led a total of 72 laps on the oval at Mosport
·         Has posted three consecutive top-10 finishes
·         One of seven drivers to start all 46 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races, to date

JR Fitzpatrick (No. 84 Schick Hydro Chevrolet)
·         Has finishes of sixth (2007) and 13th (2008) in his two outings at Mosport Speedway
·         Set track record of 21.592 seconds (83.364 mph) in 2007 qualifying
·         Current points leader by one point over DJ Kennington
·         Collected his sixth series victory on July 25 at Edmonton City Centre Airport
·         Collected his fifth series victory on June 13 at Mosport International Raceway
·         Five of his six career series wins have come on road courses – Mosport (2), Edmonton (2) and Montreal
·         Finished seventh on June 19 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., in his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start in 2010 and first for JR Motorsports
·         Finished 11th on Aug. 7 in NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.)

John Gaunt (No. 11 Triad Racing Technologies Dodge)
·         Finished a Mosport Speedway-best sixth in 2008
·         Has finishes of eighth (2007) and 11th (2009) in other two Mosport Speedway starts
·         Has top-10 finishes in three of four starts this year
·         Is sharing seat time this year with reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Jason Bowles, who is racing selected road-course events this year

Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Snap-on Tools/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge)
·         Posted career-best Mosport Speedway finish of fourth in 2007
·         Other two starts on the Mosport oval resulted in ninth-place finishes
·         Has four consecutive top-10 finishes and five in last six starts
·         One of seven drivers to start all 46 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races, to date

DJ Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge)
·         Has posted third-place finishes at Mosport Speedway in each of the last two years
·         Finished 10th in 2007 race on the Mosport oval
·         Earned the victory in four of his last nine series starts dating back to 2009
·         Collected his seventh career series win and third of 2010 on Aug. 4 at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway
·         Collected his sixth career series win and second of 2010 on July 3 at Autodrome St. Eustache
·         Collected his fifth series-career win in 2010 season opener on June 5 at Delaware Speedway

Jeff Lapcevich (No. 23 Tim Hortons Chevrolet)
·         Finished 13th (2009) in his only Mosport Speedway start
·         Has top-10 finishes in four of his 2009 starts
·         Posted top-10 finishes in seven of last nine series starts dating back to last season

Steven Mathews (No. 15 Mathews Motorsports Ford)
·         In his series debut, finished sixth last season at Mosport Speedway
·         Making first series start since July 3 at Autodrome St. Eustache

Joey McColm (No. 50 UltimateDrivers.ca Dodge)
·         Has finishes of 16th (2007), 15th (2008) and 17th (2008) in his three Mosport Speedway starts
·         Has started every series race this season

Kerry Micks (No. 02 Dickies/Beyond Digital Imaging Ford)
·         Won the 2008 race at Mosport Speedway
·         Has a pair of top 10s in other two starts on the Mosport oval – third in 2007 and seventh in 2009
·         Has finished inside the top 10 in 14 of his last 15 series starts dating back to last season
·         Has one oval-track win (Mosport Speedway in 2008) and two road-course wins (Montreal and Trois-Rivieres in 2007) in NCATS action
·         Is one of seven drivers to compete in all 46 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races

Pete Shepherd III (No. 7 National Exhaust Dodge)
·         Making his series Mosport Speedway debut in Saturday’s Dickies 200
·         Making first series start since July 3 at Autodrome St. Eustache

Anthony Simone (No. 95 Rx100 Chevrolet)
·         Registered a 10th-place finish in last season’s event at Mosport Speedway
·         Finished 19th on the oval at Mosport in his rookie year of 2008
·         Has top-10 finishes in three of his last four starts
·         Posted a pair of runner-up finishes on road courses – Mosport and Trois-Rivieres – last season

Dexter Stacey (No. 55 Bully’s Truck Stop Dodge)
·         Registered a 20th-place finish in his first Mosport Speedway start last season
·         Posted a season-best finish of 12th last Sunday in Trois-Rivieres
·         Was runner-up to 2008 Rookie of the Year Joey Hanssen

Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire/MotoMaster Dodge)
·         Logged a career-best Mosport Speedway finish of second in last year’s race
·         Other two starts on the oval at Mosport resulted in finishes of seventh (2007) and 21st (2008)
·         Has led a total of 132 laps in action at Mosport Speedway
·         Collected his first win of the season on July 31 at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, B.C.
·         Has finished inside the top five in five of eight starts this season
·         Has eight NASCAR Canadian Tire Series wins to his credit
·         Won 2008 series championship

Don Thomson Jr. (No. 4 Home Hardware Chevrolet)
·         Won inaugural series race at Mosport Speedway in 2007
·         Posted top-five finishes in his other two starts at the track – fourth (2008) and fifth (2009)
·         Has led a series-high 208 laps at the Mosport oval
·         Finished outside of the top 10 last Sunday in Trois-Rivieres for the first time since the season opener
·         Holds the overall series career mark for poles with 11
·         His five series wins is the fifth-highest total in series history

Derek White (No. 99 OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet)
·         Making his Mosport Speedway debut in Saturday’s Dickies 200
·         Current leader in 2010 Rookie of the Year standings

Jason White (No. 21 A&W/Zimmer-Wheaton GMC Chevrolet)
·         Has finished 16th in each of his last two races at the Mosport oval
·         Was 2008 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Rookie of the Year

NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES presented by MOBIL 1 At Mosport Speedway
·         This is the series’ fourth season to compete at Mosport Speedway.
·         The series also races at Mosport International Raceway, a permanent road course, adjacent to the oval track.
·         A Ford has won the last two seasons at Mosport Speedway.
·         There has been an average of seven caution periods for an average of 53 laps in the three prior races at Mosport Speedway, with the earliest coming at Lap 12 in 2007 and the latest at Lap 201 in 2007.
·         The average starting position of the winner is 5.67, while the polesitter has an average finish of 10.67.
·         The 2008 event at Mosport Speedway is the only race, to date, in series history in which qualified was not held due to inclement weather.

From Shon Sbarra, NASCAR Public Relations