06.20.04 ::Clarington 200 - Mosport International Raceway - Results

FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS

1 3 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre ON) Tim Horton’s /Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51
2 2 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville ON) Canadian Tire / MonroeBrakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51
3 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton ON) Home Hardware ChevroletMonte Carlo 51
4 4 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton ON) ERB Group Pontiac GrandPrix 51
5 7 64 Mark Dilley (Barrie ON) NTN Bearings Dodge 51
6 9 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert ON) Ford Taurus 51
7 5 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming ON) Avenue / NMT Dodge 51
8 6 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton ON) Retrocom Growth Fund /Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 51
9 11 8 Marc Miller (Holland MI) R Carhartt Clothing ChevroletMonte Carlo 51
10 8 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor ON) MOPAR Parts / ExideDodge 51
11 24 3 Mark Swain (Port Perry ON) R Snap-On Tools / GeneralElectric Dodge 50
12 12 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough ON) www.berms.r.us.comChevrolet Monte Carlo 50
13 13 50 Pete Shepherd (Brampton ON) R ATTO Dodge 49
14 25 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas ON) Castrol Canada Dodge 49
15 22 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe ON) Challenger Motor Frt. PontiacGrand Prix 48
16 16 20 Robby Reck (Kitchener ON) R Mid-America FreightSystems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 48
17 19 55 Rob Graham (Bothwell ON) R G-Dox / Doering BrownMonte Carlo 48
18 15 42 Sean Stafford (Springfield ON) Mid-America FreightSystems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 47
19 18 44 Marv Wilder (Toronto ON) Longbow Freight SystemsFord Taurus 44
20 14 10 Doug Brown (Brantford ON) NAPA / Autopro ChevroletMonte Carlo 33
21 17 03 Jesse Kennedy (Southwold ON) Pontiac Grand Prix 32
22 10 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope ON) Lou’s BBQ / Inroble /FAG Ford Taurus 30
23 20 94 Mark Graham (Odessa ON) Jumbo Video Chevrolet MonteCarlo 19
24 21 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden ON) Parkinson Tours / 820 CHAMFord Taurus 14
25 23 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr ON) R Latta Crane ChevroletMonte Carlo 2
26 DNS 11 Ron VanEs (Smithville ON) R Star Van Systems ChevroletMonte Carlo 0

R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender.

TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 24 minutes and 25 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 21.718 seconds // CAUTIONS: 1 for a total of 3 laps. // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1-17) and #23 Jeff Lapcevich (18-51).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2004

Petey Shepherd - Lucky ‘13’s’ at Mosport

(Bowmanville, Ontario) – Petey Shepherd and his Team ATTO / Performance Racing News Dodge arrived at Mosport Raceway last weekend for the first road course event of the 2004 CASCAR Super Series season. Shepherd had made a one lap appearance at Mosport last season to make a start and qualify for the Canada Day Shootout, but essentially the 2004 edition of the Clarington 200 would be his road course debut.

Shepherd got a head start on the weekend Friday, as he took a Camaro on the track. “John Fletcher took me out for the day, and taught me a lot about getting around Mosport. This place is very challenging, and John gave me a lot of tips that I was able to use through the weekend.”
Saturday began with practice, and the session didn’t go as planned for Team ATTO. While heading down the backstretch another car had slowed, and Shepherd ran into the back of him. “It was a rookie mistake. They use different flags on a road course, and I made a mistake. But, I can’t say enough about my crew. As soon as we got back to the pits they swarmed the car and had it fast again by qualifying.”
The field ran a pair of half-hour time trial sessions, but for Shepherd, his spot on the grid wasn’t as important as making laps and getting more familiar with the track. “When qualifying was done we were 13th, and that actually surprised me. I didn’t know that we would be that competitive right out of the box.”

When the green flew for the 51-lap trek through the hills North of Bowmanville, Shepherd accepted it from the inside of the seventh row. The team’s pit stop strategy was to wait until late in the event, in the hopes that a number of cars would be a lap down and they could hit pit road under yellow. In the meantime, Shepherd worked his way forward a few positions, and then lost a few positions. “It was another chance to get some valuable seat time. I really wanted to make all the laps, and keep the car in one piece.”
Petey had worked his way to seventh-place by lap 40, before giving up track position to come to pit road and change four tires, while taking on fuel. He returned to the speedway and completed the final 11 laps, bringing his # 50 home with a 13th-place finish. “We didn’t get the yellow we needed. If we could’ve got a caution sometime after halfway there would have only been about 10 cars on the lead lap. We’re still pleased with the way the car ran all day, and how much better I became at driving this place. We knocked about a second and a half off our lap times by the end of the event.”

Don Thomson Jr., and Peter Gibbons occupied the front row for the 51-lap trek around Mosport. Thomson was able to grab an early lead, while Jeff Lapcevich, who started fourth moved into second. On lap 18 Lapcevich made his move and took command. While many of the top drivers pitted for four new tires, Lapcevich used a quick two-tire stop to build a sizable lead, a margin that was 21 seconds when the checkered flag fell. For Lapcevich it was the third consecutive CASCAR road course win, while Gibbons and Thomson joined him on the podium.
1. Jeff Lapcevich, 2. Gibbons, 3. Thomson, 4. Scott Steckly, 5. Mark Dilley, 13. Petey Shepherd.

Official Point Standings (after four of 12 events) – 1. Gibbons (641 points), 2. David Whitlock (613), 3. Thomson (609), 4. Jeff Lapcevich (571), 5. Kerry Micks (570), 14. Petey Shepherd (471).

The next event for Petey Shepherd and Team ATTO will be July third and fourth at Cayuga 2000 Speedway for the third annual ATTO 200 Canada Day Shootout. Event number five for the 2004 CASCAR Super Series campaign will begin on Saturday with Series qualifying. Also on Saturday’s card will be the third race of the Carquest Sportsman Series, followed by Canadian recording stars Julian Austin, Jason McCoy, and John Landry. Sunday’s events will feature a 200-lap feature for the Super Series and Shepherd is looking forward to tackling Cayuga for the season time this season. “We can’t wait for Cayuga. We had a great car there last time, and we’re bringing back the same setup. As long as no one else got faster since we were there the first time we’ll be all right, and could have a shot at a podium spot.”

For more information on Petey Shepherd, Team ATTO, CASCAR, Mosport, or Cayuga 2000 Speedway, please visit www.cascar.ca, www.mosport.com, or www.cayuga2000speedway.com. Or contact Maudsley Motorsports at (519) 670-3278, or maudsleymotorsports@sympatico.ca.