July 15, 2012. Sherwood Park, Alberta’s Noel Dowler registered his third consecutive top ten finish in the #5 EMCO Dodge Saturday night during round number five of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at MotoPlex Speedway near Vernon, BC. Once again the 19 year old showed he is now ready to take the next step in his racing career.
During the afternoon practice session the #5 EMCO Dodge driver worked on race set up for the grueling 300 lap event. The crew had done their homework and Dowler felt he had a strong car for the race. “I got more comfortable with each lap” said Dowler. “I never had to push the car to put up good lap times” he added.
Dowler would line up 16th for the start of the race after a disappointing qualifying run. “That’s an area I still have to work on” said Dowler. “It’s a real skill getting the most out of a car to get that one fast lap” he stated.
When the race began Dowler quickly moved the #5 EMCO Dodge forward in the field and it wasn’t long before he was inside the top ten. He continued his progress and showed his improving racing skill running with the best racers in the series. “Once we caught the leaders I didn’t have any trouble staying with them” explained Dowler. “We just started a little behind and needed some time to catch up”.
Continuing to run strong Dowler marched forward and soon found himself in fifth position. “The car was running great and I was being patient looking for openings to get around them” he stated.
After his scheduled pit stops for fuel and tires Dowler looked to maintain his consistent pace through the second half of the event. Regrettably contact with another competitor would turn his #5 EMCO Dodge around, in a cloud of smoke Dowler battled to straighten the car out and return to battle. “We lost some positions but that spin really cooked the tires” said Dowler.
For the remainder of the race Dowler worked to maintain a solid finishing position. Though he lost a few spots following a late race restart the young man did collect a tenth place finish. “We had a better car than tenth place but when we got collected and spun that put us back” said Dowler. “We feel this team is a minimum top ten team every weekend and now we’re looking to take that next step” he added.
The 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is back in action next weekend in Edmonton as part of the Indy weekend. The series features 12 events from coast to coast including races during the Edmonton Indy weekend and the NASCAR Nationwide event in Montreal. For more information about Noel Dowler Jr. log onto www.apollomotorsports.ca and follow him on twitter, @noeldowler.
