NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Dilley Drives No. 9 Dodge to Win in Coke Zero 200

Hamilton, ON, Monday Sept. 1, 2008:   Saturday’s running of the Coke Zero 200 at Cayuga Speedway Park just outside of  Hamilton Ontario was won by Mark Dilley driver of the No. 9  Dodge Avenger.  After leading the most laps and waiting out delay of over an hour at lap 88 for track lighting to be fixed, Dilley took the lead for the final time on lap 192 and cruised to his first victory of the season and his second in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Dilley’s car was not up to his expectations at practice so the team went to work prior to qualifying and made wholesale changes to the car.  “I didn’t know what it was going to do in qualifying,” stated Dilley, “but we just threw a bunch of changes at it and it worked.”

The No. 9 Avenger would start the Coke Zero 200 from the eighth position but Dilley didn’t stay there long.  By lap 20 he was up to fourth and on lap 70 he took the lead for the first time, a position he would maintain for the next 67 circuits.  On lap 161 the caution flew and the No. 9 driver brought his Avenger to the attention of his crew for tires and fuel.  When all the pit stops had cycled through Dilley restarted from the third position.

He would make the pass for the lead again on lap 183 but the ensuing caution flag would wipe it out as NASCAR goes back to the last completed lap running order when the caution waves.  When racing resumed, Dilley would again move his No. 9 Dodge past the 60 Mopar Dodge of Ron Beauchamp Jr. and after another late race caution that would see a green, white, checkered finish, Dilley cruised to victory.  “We just nailed the setup tonight,” said Dilley.  “My team did an awesome job all day today to get this Dodge Avenger to victory lane.”

Andrew Ranger held on for second place, while Derek Lynch crossed the line third.  Jason Hathaway and Ron Beauchamp Jr. rounded out the top five. As a result of the win and leading the most laps, Dilley’s No. 9 Dodge Avenger is now being shown unofficially in sixth in the Championship standings with three events remaining.

The Coke Zero 200 from Cayuga Speedway will be aired on TSN on Saturday Sept. 6th at 11 a.m. EST. Mark Dilley is supported by a group of associate sponsors including, Leland Industries, Maple Lodge Farms, Exide, Mobil 1, Wild Wing, Reefer Sales, Mopar and CRS Trucking.

For more information on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series please visit www.nascar.ca. // For more information on Mark Dilley please visit www.whitlockmotorsports.com

From Linda Jones // Wide Open Motorsport Solutions