May 20, 2012. Bowmanville, Ont. – Ron Beauchamp Jr. and his team made big off-season adjustments to his #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge and their efforts proved successful at this past weekend’s NASCAR Canadian Tire Series opener.
The team made significant suspension and handling changes to the car over the winter, and were quick through both practice sessions on Saturday. The re-vamped vehicle had a great inaugural weekend of the 2012 season, backing up their successful practice by qualifying 5th for Sunday’s race – Beauchamp’s career-best qualifying effort at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
“Our team worked really hard during the off-season,” said Beauchamp. “New Crew Chief Deon Deneau has us really well prepared for a strong season.”
Beauchamp kicked off the race cruising comfortably with the lead group and easily maintaining his 5th place position. The #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge took center stage during laps 17 through 20, leading the pack while front-runners made pit stops, only surrendering the lead for scheduled stops for fuel and fresh tires.
However, as the end of the race neared, Beauchamp’s #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge suffered handling issues that the driver battled through the final laps. Beauchamp slipped to 7th and eventually crossed the finish line in 11th place – just narrowly missing the top ten.
After the race, triage of the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge showed a flat tire was the cause of the handling troubles throughout the tail end of the contest.
“It’s kind of frustrating to have such a great race car and not get the finish we were expecting,” Beauchamp said after the race. “But we know that we have a great race car for the road course events.”
Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge team return to action June 3rd at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, QC. For more information about the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries team log on to www.beauchampmotorsports.com and www.mopar.ca
Photo: The #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge on track this past weekend
Photo Credit: Todd Lewis
