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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Keeping Pace

Ranger Dominating In Dickies 200 Victory

Andrew Ranger on his record-setting pole run on Saturday at Mosport. Ranger went on to win the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series road course event. (Photo Credit: Joe Hamilton/NASCAR) (The Spokesman-Review)
Andrew Ranger on his record-setting pole run on Saturday at Mosport. Ranger went on to win the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series road course event. (Photo Credit: Joe Hamilton/NASCAR) (The Spokesman-Review)

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series makes its way to Vernon, B.C. in July and features live pits stops and stars such as former Indy Car driver, Andrew Ranger, who picked up a win on Saturday. Also running the series are Kevin Harvick Inc. development driver, Cale Gale, KHI's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, JR Fitzpatrick and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, DJ Kennington.

Courtesy: NASCAR Media Relations

BOWMANVILLE, Ont. – Andrew Ranger won the Dickies in dominating fashion in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series action at Mosport International Raceway.

Ranger (No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide Ford), out of Roxton Pond, Que., took the lead from Anthony Simone (No. 95 Crown Modular/United Lumber Chevrolet) on Lap 39 and ran away from the field. Ranger beat Simone to the finish line by 6.678, the largest margin of victory in series history.

Ranger dominated the early portions of the race, opening up a lead as much as five seconds over DJ Kennington (No. 17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge). However, Ranger lost several positions, when the field began making green-flag pit stops, due to a sub-par stop.

“The car was just awesome all weekend,” said Ranger. “The pit stop was a little slow and we got behind a little, but we were able to make up the time.”

All told for the weekend, Ranger led both practice sessions, qualified on the pole and led 31 of the 51 laps of the race en route to his second career victory at Mosport International Raceway. It was his fourth series career victory.

Second-place Simone earned his first series podium finish. Racing out of Holland Landing, Ont., Simone is off to a solid start in his sophomore season after being the runner-up in rookie-of-the-year honors a year ago.

Third-place finisher JR Fitzpatrick (No. 84 Fitzpatrick Motorsports Chevrolet) came all the way from the back of the field in 2009 series debut. He was forced to start from the rear due to taking over the controls of the car from Jim Lapcevich, who practiced and qualified the car yesterday. Fitzpatrick was at Michigan International Speedway where he competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Kennington finished in fourth followed by Ron Beauchamp Jr. (No.60 Mopar/Mobil 1/Exide Dodge) in fifth.

Robin Buck, Jeff Lapcevich, Jason Hathaway, Howie Scannell Jr. and Mark Dilley rounded out the top 10.

In the race’s fourth lap, rookie driver Joey Hanssen (No. 40 Prime Champ Dodge) made hard contact with the tire wall in Turn 8. He was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Unofficially in the championship point standings after three races, Beauchamp holds a slim eight-point advantage over Ranger. Kennington is in third, 35 points off Beauchamp’s pace.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series takes a few weekends off before hitting the track again on July 11 at Autodrome St. Eustache (Que.) for the Tide 250.

NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES-Dickies 200 Unofficial Results
Sunday
At Mosport International Raceway
Bowmanville, Ontario
Lap length: 2.459 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
 1. (1) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Que., Ford, 51 laps, 79.220 mph, $8,000.
 2. (6) Anthony Simone, Holland Landing, Ont., Chevrolet, 51, $4,000.
 3. (13) JR Fitzpatrick, Cambridge, Ont., Chevrolet, 51, $3,500.
 4. (5) DJ Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 51, $5,000.
 5. (11) Ron Beauchamp, Jr., Windsor, Ont., Dodge, 51, $3,600.
 6. (8) Robin Buck, Campbellville, Ont., Ford, 51, $2,000.
 7. (19) Jeff Lapcevich, Grimsby, Ont., Chevrolet, 51, $2,900.
 8. (10) Jason Hathaway, Appin, Ont., Dodge, 51, $2,300.
 9. (14) Howie Scannell, Jr., Milton, Ont., Dodge, 50, $1,650.
 10. (9) Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ont., Dodge, 50, $1,550.
 11. (15) Kent Nuhn, Williamsford, Ont., Chevrolet, 50, $1,450.
 12. (17) Derek Lynch, Warkworth, Ont., Dodge, 50, $1,400.
 13. (20) Pierre Bourque, Ottawa, Ont., Dodge, 50, $1,350.
 14. (12) Trevor Seibert, Williams Lake, B.C., Ford, 50, $1,325.
 15. (21) Jason White, Sun Peaks, B.C., Chevrolet, 50, $1,300.
 16. (3) Kerry Micks, Mt. Albert, Ont., Ford, 49, $1,250.
 17. (22) John Fletcher, Ancaster, Ont., Dodge, 49, $1,250.
 18. (16) Jarrad Whissell, Calgary, Alb., Ford, 48, $1,200.
 19. (7) Dave Whitlock, Petrolia, Ont., Dodge, 28, $1,200.
 20. (2) Scott Steckly, Milverton, Ont., Dodge, 21, $1,150.
 21. (24) Dexter Stacey, Kahnawake, Que., Pontiac, 21, $1,150.
 22. (4) Don Thomson, Jr., Hamilton, Ont., Chevrolet, 16, engine, $1,100.
 23. (18) Joey Hanssen, Venray, Holland, Dodge, 3, accident, $1,100.
 24. (23) David Thorndyke, Oshawa, Ont., Chevrolet, 3, mechanical, $1,050.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 34 minutes 59 seconds
Margin of Victory: 6.678 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: A.Ranger (104.000 mph, 85.119 seconds)
Caution Flags: 1 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Ranger 1-18; A. Simone 19-20; H. Scannell,Jr. 21-25; J. Hathaway 26-27; A. Simone 28-38; A. Ranger 39-51.
Standings: 1. R. Beauchamp,Jr., 500; 2. A. Ranger, 492; 3. D. Kennington, 465; 4. A. Simone, 459; 5. K. Micks, 450; 6. D. Whitlock, 442; 7. S. Steckly, 438; 8. M. Dilley, 409; 9. J. Hathaway, 392; 10. K. Nuhn, 384.



Keeping Pace

Motorsports correspondent Doug Pace keeps up with motorsports news and notes from around the region.