2000 Toronto - Cascar

The Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR), founded in 1981, continues to be Canada’s premier stock car series. The success of the series created the need for three championships –East, West and the National Super Series which are contested at fifteen racetracks across Canada. The Eastern and Western Division schedules were made up of ten-race weekends. The National Super Series consisted of four events two selected from the Eastern and Western calendar.

Some changes for 2000 included:

Introduction of the Dodge Intrepid
Changes to the body styles of the Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Technical improvements to the chassis and engine oiling system
Introduction of a new nine-inch Goodyear tire
For the first time a CASCAR race would be broadcast live – ‘The Exide 99 Street Fight’ in Toronto

The series cars were constructed to specifications and rules common to most stock car series. The chassis was a tube frame covered with fiberglass body which was required to weigh no less than 2850-lbs. Body styles eligible for the CASCAR series included the Dodge Intrepid, Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix. Engine type and displacement were dictated by the make and model of the vehicle – motors produced approximately 400 – 420-horsepower. The carburetor was an aftermarket Holley 390 cfm, 4-barrel but the fuel pump had to be a stock mechanical unit. Brakes were limited to factory calipers and rotors. The cars rolled on fifteen-inch diameter steel wheels with nine-inch Goodyear Eagle Racing Tires.

The CASCAR Super Series race in Toronto was the seventh of ten races on the Eastern Series schedule. The event titled, The Exide 99 Street Fight would be broadcast live. Competitors raced around the eleven-turn 1.721-mile temporary street circuit for a purse totaling $75,000.

The pole-sitter for ‘The Exide 99 Street Fight’ at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, Peter Gibbons leads a field of forty-one starters into the first corner. Immediately behind Gibbons is the third fastest qualifier, Pete Vanderwyst in the No. 77 Loctite sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Beside Vanderwyst is the Ford Taurus of the other front row starter, Kevin Dowler. Dowler made the trek from Sherwood Park, Alberta to compete at Toronto.

On the first lap, there was mayhem as competitors exited the first corner. Overaggressive driving contributed to an incident involving several cars. With a number of vehicles, severely damaged officials decided to red flag the event. After an extended period to clean the track, racing resumed. However, the cars of Daryl Harr, Jason McLellan, John Restemeyer and Damon Sharpe were unable to take the green flag for the restart.

Kevin Dowler driving the Ford Quality Care Service sponsored Ford Taurus became the first western Canadian driver to win a CASCAR Eastern Series event. Dowler started the race on the outside of the front row and passed the leader, Peter Gibbons on lap-4. He was in first place for the next twelve-circuits before Gibbons was back in front. A spin by Gibbons allowed Dowler to move back into the lead and take the victory.

Entering the Toronto round, Pete Vanderwyst was twelfth in the Eastern Championship standings. His best result to date was a seventh at Autodrome St. Eustache. In addition to CASCAR, Vanderwyst participated part-time in the Canada GT Challenge series which held events on road courses such as Mosport. The road racing experience he gained must have paid off as Vanderwyst qualified third and captured a runner-up finish.

The 1999 CASCAR Super Series Champion, Peter Gibbons, put the No. 1 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the pole. This was an opportunity for Gibbons to redeem himself. In last year’s event, he finished thirty-second in the thirty-five car field. Gibbons led the first three-laps until; he was passed by Kevin Dowler. He retook the top spot on the sixteenth circuit but a spin in turn three dropped him to fourth. Gibbons fought back and finished third.

The highlight of Neil Fair’s season was a third-place finish in round three at the Mosport oval. The driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with backing from Skoal qualified thirtieth in the forty-one car field. At the start, Fair avoided most of the carnage during the opening lap melee. A great drive moved him up the race order and at the end of thirty-laps; he had gained eighteen positions to grab a twelfth place finish.

The fourth quickest qualifier was Jim Lapcevich driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Unfortunately for Lapcevich, series rules require competitors to participate in eighty-percent of the Eastern Series events before Toronto to be eligible to start in the top-ten. As a result, he was gridded eleventh. Lapcevich charged through the field and caught the leader, Kevin Dowler but a late race spin dropped him to fourth.

Al Turner was one of the drivers entered in the new Dodge Intrepid. Turner was having a great season, he came to Toronto with victories at Delaware, Cayuga and New Brunswick. At Exhibition Place, the Blue Streak sponsored driver qualified third. During the race, Turner ran with the leaders. Unfortunately, on lap-12, an attempted pass on Peter Gibbons resulted in contact. Turner hit the turn barriers which took him out of contention.

FINISH	START	NO.	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	2	35	Kevin Dowler	Ford Taurus	30
2	4	77	Peter Vanderwyst	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
3	1	1	Peter Gibbons	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
4	11	25	Jim Lapcevich	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
5	5	02	Kerry Micks	Ford Taurus	30
6	9	57	Joe Goncalves	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
7	8	4	Don Thomson Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
8	15	60	Ron Beauchamp Jr.	Dodge Intrepid	30
9	17	88	Dave Jacombs	Ford Taurus	30
10	38	17	D.J. Kennington	Dodge Intrepid	30
11	16	64	Mark Dilley	Ford Taurus	30
12	30	33	Neil Fair	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
13	26	22	Scott Steckly	Pontiac Grand Prix	30
14	31	14	John Fitzpatrick	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	30
15	19	98	Dave Whitlock	Ford Taurus	29
16	7	99	Brad Jacques	Dodge Intrepid	29
17	14	0	Howie Scannell Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	29
18	28	67	Derrick Tiemersma	Pontiac Grand Prix	29
19	24	41	John Tsoumaris	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	28
20	25	51	Al Long	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	28
21	36	28	Steve Robblee	Ford Taurus	28
22	12	97	Rob Neely	Dodge Intrepid	28
23	6	2	Carl Harr	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	27
24	39	29	Kevin Trevellin	Ford Taurus	27
25	37	04	Andy Farr	Dodge Intrepid	26
26	34	66	Robin Buck	Pontiac Grand Prix	16
27	13	23	Jeff Lapcevich	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	14
28	29	56	John Fletcher	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	14
29	3	76	Al Turner	Dodge Intrepid	12
30	27	75	Steve Smith	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	10
31	18	31	Kelly Williams	Ford Taurus	8
32	21	3	Chris Fowler	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	8
33	33	94	Mark Graham	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	7
34	41	43	Bob Merrifield	Dodge Intrepid	7
35	35	80	Donald Theetge	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	6
36	40	69	Scott Watkins	Pontiac Grand Prix	5
37	32	86	Kenny Forth	Ford Taurus	3
38	10	71	Daryl Harr	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	0
39	20	03	Jason McLellan	Dodge Intrepid	0
40	22	27	John Restemeyer	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	0
41	23	21	Damon Sharpe	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	0