[media-credit name=”NASCAR Home Tracks” align=”alignright” width=”200″]
[/media-credit]June 4, 2010. Mirabel, Que. – Jarrad Whissell battled weather, an unfamiliar racetrack and collisions when he took his #44 SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford around the track for the first time at Circuit ICAR in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series ICAR Grand Prix.
Saturday’s practice was limited due to rain, and since it was Whissell’s first visit to this particular track, he had difficulty finding his way around in the inclement weather. Whissell was only able to log limited laps during practice, but spent the evening running several laps around the track in a golf cart to get a better idea of the racing line. Scattered showers over the track cancelled qualifying, so racers were given starting positions according to the NASCAR rule book. Whissell and his #44 SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford were assigned a 22nd starting position, but due to a wiring malfunction which forced a last minute repair was forced to start at the back of the field according to the rules..
On Sunday, Whissell headed into his rookie race on this particular track with a simple strategy – take it easy, stay back and collect positions later on in the race once more aggressive drivers burned out.
“It was absolute chaos out there,” Whissell said after the race. “I had a mostly successful day laying low and keeping the car out of trouble.”
But as much as Whissell tried, trouble still followed.
As the race continued, incidents on the track caused the race to be slowed four times for 10 laps. The race was eventually concluded under a green-white-checker finish, and on the last restart, Whissell decided to amp up his aggression in an attempt to move up in the rankings in the final laps. As they rounded the track three and four cars wide at times, Whissell was wedged in the middle – the meat in a car sandwich. His aggression paid off and #44 picked up about a half dozen spots in a lap and a half.
Unfortunately for Whissell, he quickly lost the ground he had gained heading into the hairpin turn when another competitor lost control slammed into Whissell spinning out the #44. The last lap crash resulted in a 20th place finish for Whissell..
This season Jarrad Whissell will participate in the five NASCAR Canadian Tire Series road course events plus the two western Canada stops at Motoplex Speedway near Vernon, BC & Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon, SK. Follow the progress of the team and help support the Children’s Miracle Network through the team website www.jarradwhissell.com You can also follow Jarrad on twitter, @JarradWhissell and also check out the team fan page on Facebook. Fans can watch all of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races again this year on TSN.
