June 5, 2011. Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge team looked to build on their successes at the road racing events from 2010 at round number two of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series this past weekend at Circuit ICAR north of Montreal, Quebec. But it turned into a weekend of difficulty for Team Mopar.
When practice began on the difficult 2.11 mile fifteen turn road circuit set on the runways and taxiways of Mirabel airport Beauchamp went out looking to get the feel of the course. Unfortunately after running just a little wide the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge caught the rumble stripes at the edge of the track and was pulled into the guard rail. The repairs would occupy most of the practice time allotted and set the team back in their schedule. "That really hurt us" said Beauchamp. "We didn't get much time in practice and the car wasn't to our liking in qualifying so we made some big changes for the race" he added.
Beauchamp would qualify the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge in the nineteenth spot for the Sunday afternoon race. When the green flag dropped as always Ron Jr. looked for opportunities to gain positions. "With it being such a tight course and starting mid pack it was really hard to make much progress" explained Beauchamp. "But as the race went on we picked up some spots and our day was looking pretty good" he added.
That outlook changed in the closing laps. When a late race caution set up a green, white, checker finish Beauchamp had maneuvered the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge forward to where a top-ten finish looked like a positive end to what started as a difficult weekend. However the team's fortune changed in those closing laps. "When they waved that last green things got pretty wild" said the driver. "When one car came flying up the inside with a move that didn't work it sent a bunch of us all over the track" he said. We were set up for a top-ten finish but that went away on the last lap" he concluded.
Beauchamp would be classified fourteenth at the finish. "It was a frustrating weekend for us, but we also learned a lot" said the driver. "We'll have a better set up starting out for the rest of the road course events" 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 June 11 at Delaware Speedway near London, Ontario. 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 www.mopar.ca. For series information check out www.nascar.ca.
June 5, 2011. Ron Beauchamp Jr. and the #60 Mopar Parts/Mobil 1/Exide Batteries Dodge team looked to build on their successes at the road racing events from 2010 at round number two of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series this past weekend at Circuit ICAR north of Montreal, Quebec. But it turned into a weekend of difficulty for Team Mopar.
