The 13th and final stop of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was held at Peterborough Ontario’s Kawartha Speedway on Saturday night. 26 teams showed up for one last run at the checker flag in Canada’s elite stock car racing series. Most of the teams have been battling through the very gruelling schedule that starts in May and leaves very few weekends off through out the summer. Many battles came down to the final race including the overall title and the top rookie honours. Sun Peaks British Columbia based driver Jason White and his A&W “Cruisin the Dub” team entered the night just four points ahead of Barrie Ontario’s Anthony Simone for the first ever “Rookie Of The Year Title”. In 2007 all drivers were considered rookies by NASCAR in the series inaugural season, so 2008 would be the first for title contention.
As rain threatened the on track activity throughout the day , teams stayed patient and got in a practice session as well as qualifying for the 250 lap race. White was the first to qualify after the rain had soaked the track , and it was quite a ride. “We picked first out of the hat unfortunately , but someone had to be the unlucky one”, mused White. “ I just went out and laid down two laps that I am not proud of but to tell you the truth I was happy I brought the car back in one piece, it was like an ice rink out there”. As the cars continued to qualify the track heated up and the lap times got substantially faster. After the session was over White would start the race 24th in the 26 car field.
When the green flag dropped for the final time of the season , White wasted no time moving towards the front. At lap 25 he had moved all the way up to the 15th position and the car was looking like a top ten or even a top five contender. “I just could not believe how well the car was handling”, stated White. “My crew tried a new set up in the car and it really took to the track well”. By lap 100 White got the call from crew chief Brian Uptigrove that fellow rookie contender Anthony Simone had parked his ride for the night due to an on track altercation with another car. This meant Jason would take home the coveted freshmen honours, but there was still a race to be decided. “I really had to curb my emotions after hearing we had locked up the trophy “, remarked White. “My goal switched to getting a top five finish for my A&W team, and we had the cards in our hand to do it”. At lap 140 Jason had cruised into the top ten and had his sights set on his best finish ever, he even had thoughts of winning. “For the first time ever I actually thought we had potential to win a race”, white said. “We definitely were not the fastest car out there but in this series a lot happens with the front runners and they had been dropping out very quickly, I was just running as hard as I could”.
When lap 150 came up the caution flag flew for a wreck and Brian Uptigrove brought the A&W Monte Carlo in for fuel and tires. Unfortunately the crew had some problems with the jack and the Jason would drop from 9th to 14th for the restart. Then just before NASCAR restarted the race, the skies started to open up and the race was called due to the track being deemed unsafe to race on. So the teamed settled for 14th , but the big prize was in the bag. “ I think we finished off well for the season”, said Uptigrove. “ We have proved if the team can put a well set up car underneath Jason, he can race with the best in the business”.
So after 13 races from coast to coast, and a Rookie Title , the A&W team will enjoy some time off then start planning for next season, and the quest for a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Championship!!
In a sport where more sponsor dollars equals more speed, the RZ Racing Team is thankful for all of their marketing partners throughout this years NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Special thanks go out to: A&W, Diamond lils trucking, Zimmer Wheaton GMC, Powder Ventures Excavations, Douglas Lake Equipment, T.A Lubes (Sunoco), KAL TIRE, Praxair, Re/Max (Paul Toporowski), Peaks Media Inc., RTR Performance, Zimmer Autosport, Sleemans Brewery, Mackdaddys Nightclub,Canada boat trader, L'Cat Autographics and Thompson Valley Sand and Gravel.Race dates and results are posted on www.NASCAR.ca
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