2001 Trois Rivieres

The Canadian Association for Stock Car Racing (CASCAR) was established in 1981 by Tony Novotny. Novotny moved stock car racing in Canada from loosely structured club level regional activities to a national organization. CASCAR is now recognized as the governing body for amateur and professional stock car racing in Canada. The sanctioning body has grown since its inception. In 1999 CASCAR was purchased by brothers Bill and Alan Darmon. The Darmons continue to push CASCAR into the future and position it as the only national stock car racing program in Canada.

The premier division of CASCAR is the twelve race National Super Series sponsored by Castrol. This championship kicks-off at Delaware Speedway on the Victoria Day long weekend. A week later, the teams travel to Peterborough Speedway for round two. The next two events are held on the oval and road course at Mosport. Mosport is followed by race five at Kawartha Raceway. Toronto’s Exhibition Place is the location for the series most high-profile event. Drivers will compete on the temporary street circuit before an audience of over 100,000 fans. Then the series travels to Quebec for a race on the oval at Autodrome St-Eustache and the streets of Trois-Rivieres. In early August, drivers compete in round nine at Cayuga Speedway. The teams make the west coast swing for events at Race City Motorsport Park in Calgary and the Molson Indy Vancouver. The season ends where it started – Delaware Speedway.

The cars competing in the CASCAR are constructed to specifications and rules similar to most stock car series. The minimum weight for the vehicles without the driver is 2,850-lbs. and they must have a minimum ground clearance of four-inches. The tube-frame chassis is constructed of 1.75-inch diameter steel tubing with a wall thickness of 0.095-inches and is fitted with a fiberglass body – representing automotive manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Dodge, Pontiac and Ford.

Engines eligible for the series include the 350-cu.in. Chevrolet, 351-cu.in. Ford and 360-cu.in. Dodge. The motors are equipped with a four-barrel Holley 390-CFM carburetor and produce 400 to 420-horsepower. The driveline is fitted with an OEM four-speed transmission.

Safety equipment includes a 5-point safety harness and an aluminum safety seat with a padded headrest. Drivers are required to wear full coverage Nomex or Nomex, P.B.I., Kevlar Blend fire suits. Fire Retardant gloves and socks are mandatory. A window net is required on the driver's side. Also, an on-board fire extinguisher is needed with two outlets. These must be accessible to safety crews.

Race number eight of the 2001 Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) series was held on the streets of Trois-Rivières a 10-turn 2.43-km track located near the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. This would be the series inaugural event at this venue. Racing on a street circuit would not be new to the competitors as a previous round was held at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. But they would still be required to manage their equipment especially the brakes.

Attendance was estimated at over 40,000 race fans for the 42-lap feature that took place Saturday afternoon.

Twenty-three starters line-up on the pace lap – they about to enter Trois-Rivières' very tight turn-eight – which is called 'Ryan' corner. On the front row was series point’s leader Don Thomson Jr. in the black Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo and next to him, also in a Monte Carlo, is Peter Gibbons driving with support from Canadian Tire.

Don Thomson sprinted into the lead and maintained a comfortable margin until lap-35. A full-course caution allowed the field to bunch-up. At the end of the yellow flag period, Thomson was again able to pull away until the final lap. He was heading into the hairpin turn for the last time when the clutch broke. The car was unable to go any further and he finished tenth – 1-lap behind the leaders.

It was Peter Gibbons who benefited the most from Thomson’s misfortune. He ran second to Thomson but was never close enough to pose a serious threat. But with Thomson’s retirement, he took the win. Just a week before, Gibbons was victorious at Montreal’s Autodrome St-Eustache. In 2001, he would become the series’ first two-time race winner.

Ford Taurus driver Kerry Micks finished third in the race after fighting his way through the entire field. Although Micks qualified fifteenth, he pitted before the green flag to have his front wheels torqued and was relegated to the rear of the twenty-three car pack for the start of the race. Advancing twenty positions was a huge accomplishment.

There were two females entered at Trois-Rivieres – Kelly Williams and Teri MacDonald-Cadieux. Williams drove the No. 31 Pontiac Grand Prix. She began her racing career in 1989 and in 1994 joined the CASCAR series where she earned the 'Rookie of the Year' title. At the Trois-Rivères event, she qualified seventeenth and finished fifth.

The second female driver in the race was Teri MacDonald-Cadieux. She drove the No. 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. MacDonald-Cadieux was a CASCAR rookie but her racing resume was extensive having competed in road racing series from 1990-1998. She had also been a member of CART’s PPG Pace Car team. MacDonald-Cadieux finished behind Kelly Williams after starting twentieth.

The No. 88 Ford Taurus was driven by veteran Dave Jacombs. Jacombs began racing in 1978 at Flamboro Speedway. Prior to joining the CASCAR series in 1994, he drove in NASCAR’s Pro Modified division. At Trois-Rivières he qualified towards the back of the field in nineteenth but finished fourth – just missing the podium.

D.J. Kennington was quick in practice and was fourth fastest in qualifying. At the start, Kennington showed patience after being shuffled back to sixth at the start. He slowly worked his way towards the front, climbing to fourth by the halfway mark and into third by lap-30. Entering the last corner on the final lap he passed Don Thomson’s broken car and finished second.

Road racing veteran Robin Buck was included on the list of favourites to win the Trois-Rivières event. In 2001, the driver of the No. 66 Pontiac Grand Prix driver concentrated his racing program on the series four road course races. This appeared to be a good strategy as Buck won the Toronto event. At Trois Rivieres, he was off the pace qualifying seventh and finished a lap down to the leaders in sixteenth.

Initially, Kevin Dowler was best known to Canadian race fans for his success in the Players/GM Motorsports series. In 1991 and 1992 the Alberta driver finished second in the championship. When the Players/GM series ended, he began racing with CASCAR. In his second year of the CASCAR series, he won the Western title. Dowler started ninth at Trois-Rivières and finished tenth.

FINISH	START	NO.	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	2	1	Peter Gibbons	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	42
2	4	17	D.J. Kennington	Dodge Intrepid	42
3	15	02	Kerry Micks	Ford Taurus	42
4	19	88	Dave Jacombs	Ford Taurus	42
5	17	31	Kelly Williams	Pontiac Grand Prix	42
6	20	8	Teri MacDonald-Cadieux	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	42
7	3	22	Scott Steckly	Pontiac Grand Prix	42
8	11	99	Peter Vanderwyst	Pontiac Grand Prix	42
9	10	35	Kevin Dowler	Ford Taurus	42
10	1	4	Don Thomson Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	41
11	18	60	Ron Beauchamp Jr.	Dodge Intrepid	41
12	8	98	Dave Whitlock	Ford Taurus	41
13	23	04	Andy Farr	Dodge Intrepid	41
14	22	82	Dave Connelly	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	41
15	9	14	John Fitzpatrick	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	41
16	7	66	Robin Buck	Pontiac Grand Prix	41
17	12	80	Donald Theetge	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	39
18	21	9	Robbie Thompson	Dodge Intrepid	36
19	13	76	Al Turner	Dodge Intrepid	32
20	5	23	Jeff Lapcevich	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	24
21	16	33	Neil Fair	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	8
22	14	3	Chris Fowler	Chevrolet Monte Carlo	5
23	6	64	Mark Dilley	Ford Taurus	2

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.