Statistical Advance: Analyzing The Wilson Equipment 300 Supporting Red Cross Disaster Relief At Riverside International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 13, 2013) – The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 makes its annual trek eastward to the Canadian Maritimes for a date at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, N.S., for the Wilson Equipment 300 Supporting Red Cross Disaster Relief on Saturday, Aug. 17. Below is a statistical look at the recent performance of selected drivers at Antigonish, as well as some other statistical trends:

Antigonish Race Setup

·         Each of the last four Riverside race winners – Andrew Ranger (2009), D.J. Kennington (2010 and 2012) and Scott Steckly (2011) – have gone on to win the series championship.

·         Kennington is the only repeat winner on the high-banked Nova Scotia track.

·         Mark Dilley is the only series driver to log a top-10 finish in all six races at the Antigonish track.

·         Ron Beauchamp Jr. has four top-five finishes in his last five Riverside starts and five consecutive top 10s.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series At Riverside International Speedway

·         This is the series’ seventh visit to the track that is a .333-mile scale version of the legendary Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

·         The Wilson Equipment 300 will premiere on TSN at 1 p.m. ET on Sun. Aug. 25 and on RDS2 at 7 p.m. ET on Fri., Sept. 13.

·         Each of the competing series manufacturers – Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford – has reached Victory Lane with Dodge leading the way at four.

·         The 2007 and 2009 events were postponed a day due to inclement weather.

·         There has been an average of 5.8 caution periods for an average of 47.2 laps in the six prior races in Antigonish, with the earliest coming on Lap 1 in 2007 and the latest at Lap 289 in 2008.

·         The lead has changed hands an average of 10 times in Riverside races with a high of 15 in the 2010 race.

·         The average starting position of the winner is 3.2, while the pole sitter has an average finish of 7.0.

·         The closest margin of victory is .202 seconds by Don Thomson Jr. in 2008 and the largest belongs to Andrew Ranger in 2009 at 9.159 seconds which holds the all-time series record for any track.

·         None of the previous Riverside events have been extended past the advertised 300-lap distance.

Riverside Data

Race: #11 of 12 (9/15/12)

Track Layout: .333-mile paved high-banked oval

Race Length: 300 laps (99.99 miles)

Records

1-Lap Qualifying: Scott Steckly, Dodge, 14.488 seconds, 82.973 mph, Sept. 18, 2010

300-Lap Race: Andrew Ranger, Ford, 1 hr., 30 min., 40 sec., 66.110 mph, Sept. 20, 2009

Race Winners

D.J. Kennington…………………………… 2

Mark Dilley………………………………….. 1

Andrew Ranger…………………………….. 1

Scott Steckly……………………………… 1

Don Thomson Jr. …………………………. 1

Pole Winners

J.R. Fitzpatrick ……………………………. 2

Scott Steckly ……………………………… 2

Peter Gibbons……………………………… 1

D.J. Kennington…………………………… 1

Manufacturer Wins

Dodge………………………………………. 4

Chevrolet……………………………………. 1

Ford………………………………………….. 1

Laps Led

D.J. Kennington………………………… 443

Scott Steckly……………………………. 376

J.R. Fitzpatrick………………………….. 261

Selected Driver Information:

Ron Beauchamp Jr. (No. 60 Mopar/Exide/Pennzoil Dodge)

·         Finished fifth last season at Riverside.

·         Best track finish in six starts was third in 2008.

·         Has led 65 laps at the Nova Scotia track.

·         Has top-10 finishes in three of his last four series starts.

·         One of four drivers to start all 83 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races.

Donald Chisholm (No. 89 Keltic Ford/Nova Construction Ford)

·         Placed sixth last year on his home track.

·         Finished a series career-best third last season in the 2011 Wilson Equipment 300.

·         Logged a fifth-place Riverside finish in 2009.

·         Has top 10s in three of his last four Antigonish starts in the series.

Mark Dilley (No. 02 Leland/BDI Ford)

·         Logged a third-place finish in last year’s Wilson Equipment 300.

·         Won the series’ inaugural visit to the Nova Scotia track in 2007.

·         Has four top-five finishes in six tries on the high-banked .333-mile oval.

·         Is the owner of three career Canadian Tire Series victories.

Noel Dowler (No. 5 EMCO/Praxair/Safety Kleen Dodge)

·         Posted a ninth-place effort last season at Riverside.

·         Scored an 11th-place finish in his 2011 track debut.

·         Has a top-10 finish in two of his last three series starts.

Louis-Philipe Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)

·         Finished 11th a season ago in the Wilson Equipment 300.

·         Scored a 17th-place finish in his track debut in 2011.

·         Registered his first Canadian Tire Series victory in the season opener on May 19 on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

·         Scored his first career pole win last season at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

·         Was the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Rookie of the Year.

·         Made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on Aug. 20, 2012 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

J.R. Fitzpatrick (No. 84 Equipment Express Chevrolet)

·         Finished as the runner-up to D.J. Kennington last year at Riverside after leading 101 laps.

·         Also scored second-place finishes in the 2007 and 2008 Antigonish events.

·         Started from the pole position at Riverside in 2008 and 2012.

·         Has led 261 laps in five starts at the high-banked oval.

·         Is the series’ all-time leader in poles with 14.

·         Seven of his eight career series wins have come on road courses – CTMP (3), Edmonton (2) and Montreal (2); his oval track win came in July 2007 at Motoplex Speedway.

Alex Guenette (No. 39 Motos Illimitées/DLGL Dodge)

·         Making track debut this season.

·         Scored a season-best finish of second in last start on July 27 at St. Eustache, Que.

·         Trails Ryley Seibert atop the series’ rookie-of-the-year standings by just one point.

Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Snap-on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge)

·         Recorded a 17th-place finish in last year’s Antigonish event.

·         Best track finish was fifth in 2010 covering six starts at the track.

·         Has top-10 finishes in four of his six Riverside starts.

·         One of four drivers to start all 83 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races.

D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge)

·         Is the defending race winner at Riverside International Speedway.

·         Also won the 2010 Antigonish event.

·         Has four top-five finishes in six starts on the Nova Scotia track.

·         Has led a series-high 443 laps at Antigonish.

·         Tops the all-time Canadian Tire Series wins list with 19.

·         Won 2010 and 2012 series championships.

·         Scored a single-season series record of seven wins in 2012.

·         One of four drivers to start all 83 NCATS races.

Martin Roy (No. 90 Batteries Expert/Veloce/Gamache Dodge)

·         Registered an eighth-place finish last year in his Antigonish debut.

·         Has a top-10 finish in five of his last seven series starts.

·         Won 2012 series Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Ryley Seibert (No. 09 Lake Excavating/Emco Waterworks Dodge)

·         Making track debut in this year’s Wilson Equipment 300.

·         Scored a season-best finish of eighth on July 13 at his home track – Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, B.C.

·         Leads Alex Guenette in series’ Rookie-of-the-Year standings this season by one point.

Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge)

·         Finished fourth last year at the Nova Scotia track.

·         Won the 2011 Antigonish event.

·         Has three straight top-five finishes at Riverside.

·         Has a slim four-point advantage over Kennington in the championship standings.

·         His 14 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victories rank third on the all-time list.

·         Won 2008 and 2011 series championships.

·         One of four drivers to start all 83 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races.

Hugo Vannini (No. 97 VTI Motorsports Ford)

·         Registered a 16th-place finish a year ago at Riverside.

·         Best finish in three Nova Scotia starts was 12th in 2009 track debut.

·         Scored a series career-best finish of eighth at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway on June 15.

Jason White (No. 21 Bowers&Wilkins/Cathcart Trucking Dodge)

·         Recorded a track-best finish of seventh last year in Antigonish.

·         Scored a season-best finish of fifth on July 27 at St. Eustache, Que.

·         Was the 2008 series rookie of the year.