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Canada’s premier stock car series in 1999 continued to be the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR).
The success of the East series and the National Super Series in 1999 continued - but there was a concern for the low car counts in the West.
The Western Division had nine-race weekends and the Eastern series eleven-events. The National Super Series consisted of four events two selected from the Eastern
and Western schedule.
The two big stories for 1999 were the sale of CASCAR and CASCAR at the Toronto Indy. Just prior to the 1999 season was the sale of
CASCAR to Windsor businessmen - Bill and Alan Darmon. The Darmon's did not make any big changes in their first year of ownership. They retained previous
owner, Tony Novotny, to act as Director of Operations. The highlight of the 1999 season was the Miller Lite 100 as part of the Toronto Indy. It allowed
the series to increase their exposure by competing at one of Canada's major race weekends.
The 1999 Canadian Auction Group 250 KM (64-laps) at the Mosport road course was one of the National Super Series events and
also counted towards the Eastern Series championship. Due to its status, it attracted a number of western Canadian competitors.
In 1999, there were a number of road course events – as mentioned Mosport, Toronto Indy and the Edmonton City Centre Airport.
This was the series second visit to Mosport in several years. The event proved popular and continued to become an annual stop on
the series schedule.
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Round nine of the Eastern series and the field streams into turn one led by Peter Gibbons in the No. 1 Monte Carlo. In close pursuit
was Pontiac Grand Prix of Robin Buck and Don Thomson in a Monte Carlo. The race had twenty-eight
starters with eleven cars finishing on the lead lap.
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A late race full course yellow allowed Peter Gibbons to close the gap between himself and race leader
D.J. Kennington. It became apparent that Gibbons' mid-race pit-stop to replace 4-tires gave him an advantage.
On the restart, it did not take long for Gibbons to pass Kennington. Gibbons held on to
win the race by a 2-second margin. This was quite a contrast to 1998 when Gibbons encountered problems and
finished twenty-eighth. He also won the 1999 Super Series National Championship.
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Don Thomson in the No. 4 Chevrolet Monte Carlo leads a group of cars through Moss corner.
Thomson completed the first lap in second place after Robin Buck slid off the course and on
the third lap took the lead from Gibbons. He and Gibbons had a tremendous battle but in the
end, he finished tenth. Despite this poor finish, Thomson was able to win the 1999 Eastern title.
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For the second year in a row, Robin Buck finished second. As he was the most experienced CASCAR
driver on the Mosport road course, he was the favourite for the win. A caution near the end of
the race allowed him to close the gap on D.J. Kennington and Gibbons. He was able to pass Kennington
for a second place finished but did not have the speed to catch Gibbons.
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D.J. Kennington and his Dodge Avenger dominated the middle portion of the race. This could be attributed to
a pit strategy that included only gas while many of the other contenders also changed four tires as well. But this
proved to be his undoing as Gibbons and Buck were on newer tires. This allowed them to pass Kennington and resulted
in his third place finish.
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Peter Vanderwyst in Chevrolet Monte Carlo qualified ninth and finished eighth. Vanderwyst completed in a number
of Canada GT Challenge Cup races. This allowed him to gain valuable road course experience at Mosport and
the series also had a healthy purse. In 1999, he finished second in the Eastern point standings and fourth in
National Super series - earning a win at Calgary.
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Best of the Ford drivers was Kerry Micks in a Taurus. He finished fourth after standing fifth. In 1999
the Chevrolet marque was dominating the series and at Mosport two Ford competitors and one Pontiac
driver protested the engines of Peter Gibbons, Don Thomson and John Fitzpatrick. Three days after the event the
three engines were deemed legal.
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The opening round of the 1999 Eastern Super Series took place at Delaware Speedway Park and was
won by Neil Fair racing a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Fair's season was also highlighted by a second
in the heat race at Edmonton road course and finishing fifth in the final. At Mosport, he started
twelfth and finished eleventh.
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Western competitor Kevin Dowler driving a Ford Taurus started Mosport at the rear of the field
in twenty-sixth and finished a very credible sixth. Dowler's season was a mixed bag - he broke his
shoulder blade during qualifying at Prince George but had wins at Saskatoon and Regina.
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Series veteran Al Turner started last in the field but made steady progress during the race.
After a series of pit-stops, the Dodge Avenger driver found himself in the lead. But this only
lasted until lap-48 when D.J. Kennington took the lead. Before the checkered flag fell Turner
was passed by Gibbons, Buck and Kerry Micks - he finished fifth.
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1998 National Super Series champion Dave Whitlock had a tough season. At the Mosport road
course, he finished seventh after starting eighth. Whitlock placed seventh in the final Eastern
and National standings.
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Ron Beauchamp Jr. was the 1998 Eastern Series Champion but like Dave Whitlock could not repeat his
success in 1999. A series of accidents and mechanical failures relegated him to an eighth in the
final standings for the Eastern Series standings. At Mosport, he started seventh in his Dodge Avenger but
finished twenty-first completing only 37-laps.
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| FINISH | START | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS |
| 1 | 1 | Peter Gibbons | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 64 |
| 2 | 2 | Robin Buck | Pontiac Grand Prix | 64 |
| 3 | 4 | D.J. Kennington | Dodge Avenger | 64 |
| 4 | 5 | Kerry Micks | Ford Taurus | 64 |
| 5 | 30 | Al Turner | Dodge Avenger | 64 |
| 6 | 26 | Kevin Dowler | Ford Taurus | 64 |
| 7 | 14 | Jim Lapcevich | Ford Taurus | 64 |
| 8 | 9 | Peter Vanderwyst | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 64 |
| 9 | 17 | John Fletcher | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 64 |
| 10 | 3 | Don Thomson Jr. | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 64 |
| 11 | 12 | Neil Fair | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 64 |
| 12 | 11 | Dave Whitlock | Ford Taurus | 63 |
| 13 | 22 | Al Long | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 60 |
| 14 | 13 | Daryl Harr | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 59 |
| 15 | 20 | Derrick Tiemersma | Pontiac Grand Prix | 59 |
| 16 | 15 | Kelly Williams | Ford Taurus | 58 |
| 17 | 8 | Wade Lee | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 57 |
| 18 | 28 | Joe Goncalves | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 54 |
| 19 | 10 | Mark Dilley | Ford Taurus | 52 |
| 20 | 23 | Howie Scannell Jr. | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 46 |
| 21 | 7 | Ron Beauchamp Jr. | Dodge Avenger | 37 |
| 22 | 16 | John Fitzpatrick | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 36 |
| 23 | 18 | Nik Lapcevich | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 33 |
| 24 | 21 | Brad Jacques | Chrysler | 28 |
| 25 | 6 | Carl Harr | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 24 |
| 26 | 27 | Andy Farr | Dodge Avenger | 13 |
| 27 | 24 | Dave Jacombs | Ford Taurus | 3 |
| 28 | 19 | Ron VanEvery | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | 2 |
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