NEWS
August 4, 2008
OFF-COURSE MOVE COSTLY FOR BROWN AT MONTREAL
Drive-Thru Penalty Takes Sting Out of Steady Run
Brantford's Doug Brown was on track for another strong road course run in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series action, this one at Montreal's Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday, until a late race penalty stalled his performance.
The driver of the Haldex-sponsored Dodge team had moved up to thirteenth spot from his twentieth starting position when he was forced to take evasive action while battling for position on the tight track and missed a corner pylon. The ensuing NASCAR-imposed penalty forced him to the rear of the field with only a handful of laps remaining.
He did, however, manage to regain some of the positions he'd lost and crossed the finish line 17th in the final running order of the 23-lap 100 km chase around the 14 turn, 2.709-mile course
"It's just one of those things that can happen on a course such as this especially when you're in a pack of cars jostling for position" the veteran competitor commented when discussing the missed turn and subsequent penalty. "That's racing".
"We'll just see what happens next week at Mosport. Hopefully, we'll have a better finish."
Local fan favourite, 21-year-old Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Quebec passed Cambridge, Ontario's JR Fitzpatrick on the white flag lap for his first win of the season.
Series' points' leader Scott Steckly of Milverton, Ontario moved into second place when Fitzpatrick spun out of control trying to recover the lead from Ranger. Fitzpatrick's spin also opened the door for Kerry Micks of Mt. Albert, DJ Kennington of St. Thomas and Don Thomson Jr. of Ayr, Ontario to round out the top five. Fitzpatrick finished one lap down in 22nd.
Saturday morning's NCATS event preceded NASCAR's Nationwide Series race.
The Canadian duo of Ron Fellows and Patrick Carpentier finished one-two in the rain shortened NAPA 200 with Marcos Ambrose, Joey Logano and Ron Hornaday rounding out the top-five.
BIG NIGHT FOR MITCHELL BROWN AT OHSWEKEN...
With his dad busy practicing and qualifying for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race in Montreal, young Mitchell Brown was having the biggest night of his young career winning a special Mini Stock race at Ohsweken Speedway.
The 15-year-old captured the 9th Annual Art Hill Memorial at the popular dirt oval south of Brantford and he did it in a big way lapping all but the second place finisher in his run to the checkered flag.
The Brantford High School student drew the outside of the front row, jumped into the lead immediately and began outdistancing the rest of 23-car field.
Only one driver, Rick Robinson, tried to keep Mitchell in sight but was unable to chase him down in the 42-lap, caution-free event as Brown maintained his torrid pace through the field.
The victory was his third feature win of the season and helped narrow the gap on points' leader Abe Castelein
July 31, 2008
BROWN RETURNS TO ACTION AT MONTREAL
Brantford Driver Hopes to Regain Momentum in National Series
Doug Brown resumes his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule this coming weekend in Montreal when the all-Canadian stock car racing series joins the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
It will the Brantford competitor's first race since July 5th at St. Eustache, Quebec where he earned his third straight top-ten finish after a disappointing start to the season at Cayuga Speedway.
The veteran driver of the Haldex-sponsored Dodge elected to skip the recent western segment of the 13-race schedule and is anxious to get back into the action and resume his steady performance improvements prior to the break.
Brown had climbed to tenth-place in the standings following his run at St. Eustache but now finds himself in 19th-place having missed the events in Vernon, BC and Edmonton.
"It was a costly decision in terms of where we are now in the standings (by not going west) but in looking at the results of the western races we may have saved ourselves a lot of money given the motor attrition some of those who went west experienced", Doug remarked in assessing his current position.
Despite his drop in the overall standings he remains optimistic that he can still salvage a top-15 or better position in the standings before the season is over.
"A lot can happen in the remaining seven events, so we'll just attempt to regain our momentum and see what we can muster. "
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series teams will practice Friday morning at the famed circuit on Île Notre-Dame beginning at 8:00 am with qualifying session scheduled for 12:30 pm.
The 23-lap/100 km NCATS event schedule for Saturday morning begins with drivers' presentation at 9:35 followed by the 10:20 race start.
Strong Canadian Contingent in NAPA 200
This year's NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA 200 will have a strong representation of Canadians vying for spots in the starting field.
Former Formula One and CART driver Jacques Villeneuve, son of Gilles Villeneuve for whom the track was named, has reached agreement with a group of sponsors (Groupe Savoie of Les Résidences Soleil, Schick Canada, L'Équipeur and Marks Work Wearhouse, the UPS Store Canada, Hype Energy Drinks, and Ganotech for his ride in the Braun Racing No. 32 Toyota Camry.
Villeneuve has captured championships in both the CART Series in 1995 and Formula 1 two years later. He has also won the 1995 Indy 500.
Patrick Carpentier a regular in NASCAR's premier Sprint Series, captured the pole position for last year's inaugural Canadian event and went on to finish second in the race. Carpentier's Gillett Evernham team decided he would skip the regular Sprint Cup series race in Pocono this weekend to concentrate on the Montreal event. This will be his fifth Nationwide start this season.
D.J. Kennington, currently third in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series standings, will being double-duty this weekend by driving the No. 81 Mahindra Tractor Dodge in the NASCAR Nationwide Series special. Kennington has already entered 17 of the 24 Nationwide Series events run todate (24th in points) with his best finish being 23rd in Nashville.
Other Canadians expected to enter the Nationwide event are Ron Fellows, Wheeler and Trevor Boys plus current NASCAR Canadian Tire points leader Scott Steckly and veteran Don Thomson, Jr. currently 131 points behind Steckly and a mere 12 points ahead of Kennington.
