[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Gary Grant www.thegarageblog.com” align=”alignright” width=”261″]
[/media-credit]July 10, 2011. Ron Beauchamp Jr. had another solid effort in the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge during round five of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this past weekend on the streets of Toronto. The event was part of the Toronto Indy weekend and Beauchamp put on a strong display during the race and gained five positions during the race and finished just outside the top ten.
The early part of the weekend was a struggle for the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge team. The car simply wasn’t handling as hoped and Beauchamp brushed the wall during practice. “It was pretty loose and I was hanging on and just ran out of race track” explained the driver.
The practice troubles would relegate Beauchamp to the slower group of qualifiers which handicapped their qualifying performance. “We made a few changes before the qualifying session and we were the fastest car in our group, but being in the slower group just didn’t give us the chance to really show how good the car was” said Beauchamp.
When the race began Saturday afternoon Beauchamp immediately began moving forward in the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge. “We tightened the car up again after qualifying and it was even better” said the driver. Within only a few laps Beauchamp was running in the top ten.
Ron Jr. continued his push for positions the entire distance of the 100km event. A late caution set up a final two lap dash to the finish. Now inside the top ten Beauchamp looked to finish strong. “When the race restarted I got battling with the #8 car through corner two and it continued all the way around through three explained the driver. “After that we were side by side and the track gets narrow and I was forced to back out of the throttle when we were bumping and I lost a couple of spots”.
Though they didn’t get the top ten finished they’d earned, Beauchamp was pleased he had gained positions and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge performance on road courses is much improved. “Our road course program has really made some gains” said Beauchamp. “When we get to the last couple of races we’ll be very strong. Now I’m looking forward to a couple of good oval track outings” he added.
Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge Team will compete in all twelve races on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. The next event takes place July 23rd at Motoplex Speedway near Vernon, BC. Once again this year all events will be broadcast on TSN. Fans should check their local listings for times. For more information about the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries team log on to www.beauchampmotorsports.com and http://www.mopar.ca www.mopar.ca For series information check out http://www.nascar.ca www.nascar.ca.
