The results of the Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Mosport International Raceway revealed once more that even for professional race car drivers, car racing is like throwing a dice.
NASCAR racer Jason White finished 18th place on the second race of the season held June 13 near Bowmanville, Ont. He competed against 24 other cars on the course.
“We feel we would’ve been a top 10 car for sure if we didn’t have our mechanical problems, so we were majorly disappointed. The car’s in good shape, other than that,” said the Sun Peaks racer.
JR Fitzpatrick, a self-described “oval guy, not a race-course guy” overtook defending champion Andrew Ranger on the track to win first place.
This is the first of five road courses in the 2010 series.
White has competed on Mosport twice prior to this event. Last year, he finished in 15th place and was in 18th place in 2008.
“I was very excited about this race and qualifying, and really looking forward to advancing our position on the race,” said White. Unfortunately, mechanical woes became an issue early on in the 50-lap race.
“It’s been a pretty frustrating two weeks, that’s for sure.”
“It made for a really long day; every lap seemed like it was about an hour. When you’re going backward, people are passing you and you’re standing still, it’s not fun. But you gotta keep going, you gotta plug away for points.”
Despite not cinching their short-term goal, endurance is working well for the team in their long-term goals. White’s team is currently in 12th place in the overall standings of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
Pit stop problems put White on 15th place at the Key Light 200. The race was at the Delaware Speedway in Ontario with 23 racers in attendance.
Despite a great start, problems with a wheel stud on lap 130 eradicated White’s chance for a top five finish.
Ontario native DJ Kennington went home with first place and JR Fitzpatrick came in second.
With three weeks to go before the next race, White is optimistic that the tide will turn for the team.
“We have a few weeks to get the A&W Impala back on track and be back in competitive mode where we’ve been before. We just gotta get back to that state.”
“Racing brings luck—it’s either good or bad, period. You have to take them both in stride. We’ve had our bad luck now we just hope that now it’s gonna change and it’s gonna be our good luck.”
The next race is on July 3 on the St. Eustache Autodrome in Quebec.
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