September 9, 2012. Barrie, Ont. – Despite running a smart and effective strategy throughout the course of the Wahta Springs 300 on Sunday, Ron Beauchamp Jr. fell victim to another vehicle and lost a chance at a top 5 finish.
Beauchamp and his crew had a solid test session at the Barrie Speedway and learned some things they believed would help them. They had a good practice, only making some minor adjustments to the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge in preparation for qualifying. The crew made the right adjustments, and #60 earned a strong 2nd place starting position.
Once the race kicked off, #60 upheld the strategy: pit for fuel early and then tires. The team ended up taking their last two tires later than the rest of the front-runners. Their game plan was successful; Beauchamp ran in and around the top 5 for most of the 307-lap race.
“Our plan was working really well,” Beauchamp said afterwards. “We got our tires later than the other guys, we had a really strong car and were coming for the leaders.”
#60 continued to run strong, marching steadily towards the front and running fourth, when Beauchamp was suddenly struck by the #3 car.
Once Beauchamp regrouped from the collision, he couldn’t recover the lost ground and ended up closing out the green-white-checker finish in 7th place.
“I definitely think we had a podium-finishing car today,” he said. “Instead we had a better finish taken from us and that’s disappointing.”
After today, Beauchamp is ranked 5th overall with 350 points and a solid 20-point lead over 6th-ranked Jason Hathaway.
Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge team will be back in action this coming Saturday September 15th at Riverside Speedway near Antigonish, NS. For more information about the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries team log on towww.beauchampmotorsports.com and www.mopar.ca
