Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100
[/media-credit]After qualifying in the second position, everybody knew that Andrew Ranger would be strong so it was no surprise when he won the Streets of Toronto 100.
Ranger took the lead on lap 12 after Jason Bowles, who started on pole and led the opening 11 laps, had a spark plug problem. The result was Ranger scoring his 18th NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win and second in a row in Toronto while Bowles got an 11th place finish.
“I’m really happy to be on the podium again like that in first position,” he said. “We came here with the goal to win and its what happened. I really proud for Dave Jacob. He prepared me a really good car this weekend and to have PVH on board and Dodge to do those two events in Ontario and Quebec, I’m so happy just to be here on the podium first. It’s just something that’s unbelievable, but its always been a big goal.
“I was trying to be patient and my plan was to be behind Jason the whole race and do something at the end, but I think Jason had something with his engine and I was able to pass him on the straightaway. Other than that, I tried to save my car all race long. A couple places where I slide a lot, I burned the rear tire and I was nervous because I knew at the end every time I came here, a caution came out with three laps to go. I was trying to be patient and save my rear tire and it happened again – the caution came out. I was nervous. I saw Scott right there, tried to do a little move on the outside.”
Series points leader Scott Steckly stayed in the top five the entire race after starting third to finish second.
“It was a definitely a good day for the Canadian Tire Dodge,” he said. “We ran in the top three all day; we were just patient. I was trying to save the car for the end of the day and we definitely still had a good car at the end. I was better than Andrew in a few spots and thought I might be able to get him there, but all in all, second is a good day.”
Road course expert Robin Buck finished third, followed by Kerry Micks and D.J. Kennington
“Well, it was pretty good,” he said. “I knew starting back in seventh I had to be patient. Typically here we get a lot of cautions and the cars go away quick, especially near the end, so my strategy this year has been pretty simple – just be really patient, as long as possible, and its been working out. The Quaker State Dodge did really well today. We passed a lot of cars at the end and a lot of breaks, just watching for other people’s weak spots on the track and making our moves when I had to. At the end, I think Micksy must’ve had a problem or something because he came in, just slowed up and was able to get by him.”
After making the engine change yesterday before qualifying, Mark Dilley came home to a sixth place finish, followed by L.P. Dumoulin, Dom Thomson Jr., Peter Klutt and Brad Graham.
Championship contender J.R. Fitzpatrick looked to finish second late in the going, however had to come to pit road under the final caution for a flat tire. As a result, he finished 19th, which has him now sitting third in points, 108 points behind Steckly. Kennington moved to second behind Steckly, now 80 points back.
The race had three full course yellows, while having a bunch of minor incidents in between.
The first full course yellow came out on lap three when Joey McColm made heavy contact with the turn five wall after contact with another car. Under this caution, Steve Mathews brought his car down pit road and parked it due to breaking an axle.
The second full course yellow came out on lap 12 when Isabelle Tremblay and Dexter Stacey wrecked while battling for 14th. Tremblay was done for the day, while Stacey continued soildering on to a 12th place finish. Under this caution, the No. 3 team made a driver change as Kevin Dowler jumped in the ride, replacing Jason Hathaway, who broke his wrist a couple weeks ago. Hathaway was credited with a 20th place finish.
The last full course caution came on lap 31 when Jason White stalled in turn eight and had to be pushed off of the track.
The next race for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the A&W Crusin’ The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway and Event Park on July 23rd.
Will Power Scores Eighth Pole in a Row in Toronto; Dixon second
Last year, Will Power won the Honda Indy Toronto and in beginning the quest to go back-to-back, Power won the PEAK Performance Pole Award at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Power’s lap of 59.5771 seconds gives him his fifth road course pole award of the season and eighth in a row over the past two seasons.
“I think it’s impossible to get a good balance around this place with so many different surfaces and the bumps,” he said. “So you got to make the most of it.
“It seems impossible to put a perfect lap together, too. You gain somewhere on one lap and you lose it somewhere else. It’s such a fun track because you absolutely ring the car’s neck in every possible way, under brakes, on power, everywhere. It’s always fun.
“I don’t think qualifying is a big deal because I really think you can come from the back and win this race. It’s just that sort of track. Plenty of passing, lots of mayhem.”
Scott Dixon qualified second to start on the front row for the second time this season with a lap of 59.6646 seconds.
“It was pretty tough,” he said. “As I said yesterday, I think the track’s very demanding, more so this year with the bumps, just where you got to try to get the speed out of the car.
“Qualifying was pretty smooth for us for the first two groups. I think the big question for most people today was how much you’re actually going to gain on the reds. Maybe some speculation they weren’t going to be much quicker at all. Turned out they were. So, you know, pretty decent. Little disappointed with Q3. We might adjust. Had enough in it. I’m sure Will didn’t get the most out of his lap as well. At least we’ve made improvements. The cars are quicker and obviously quicker to the No. 12 that’s been dominating on the road courses. Pretty happy all in all. Pretty confident both Target cars will be strong in the race.”
IZOD IndyCar Series Points Leader Dario Franchitti qualified third (59.900), followed by Mike Conway (59.9330) and Graham Rahal.
“I thought that my car was good,” he said. “That last Fast Six, I didn’t get the most out of it. I kept screwing up one corner and eventually got it halfway right, by which point was about lap five. Probably the best of the tire had gone. That was totally my fault. I didn’t get into rhythm quick enough. So ended up third.
“I felt we probably had enough to get close to these guys, maybe not ahead. But P3 is all right. I think I’m happy with the way that the Target car is on black and red tires. We’ll see what we’ve got tomorrow.”
Franchitti set the track record at the beginning of the session in the first round of qualifying with a lap of 59.3535 seconds, however it was Power who had the quickest lap during the Firestone Fast Six Qualifying round.
