By TL Sports & Entertainment
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| Photo Credit: Todd Lewis |
May 11, 2011 - A rising young racing star from Western Canada is set to make his stock car racing debut in the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. After several successful years racing Karts and Formula cars, Eighteen year old Noel Dowler Jr. from Sherwood Park, Alberta will make the leap up to compete in select events this season in the #5 EMCO Dodge prepared by DJK Racing.
The primary sponsorship backing for this entry into the premiere stock car racing series in Canada comes from EMCO Corporation. The Dowler family has a long association with EMCO and is very pleased it will continue into the future with Noel Dowler at the wheel of the #5 EMCO Dodge.
Noel Dowler is the oldest son of Kevin Dowler the principal with Apollo Motorsports. Kevin Dowler was an extremely successful racer but stepped out of the driver’s seat in 2007 to hand the driving challenges to his sons. Each of Kevin’s three sons competes in various Karting series and now Noel Dowler is making the jump up to the NASCAR Canadian Tire series.
Noel Dowler took to the track at Kawartha Speedway last week for his ever first laps behind the wheel of the 2,800 pound NASCAR Canadian Tire series stock car and enjoyed the experience. “It was quite a thrill” said the young man afterwards. “The car is so different from what I’ve driven previously but I’m excited to be here and looking forward to the season” he said enthusiastically.
Dowler’s #5 EMCO Dodge will be another entry from the DJK Racing team headed by 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Champion DJ Kennington. While on the track for his test laps it was Kennington who was on the radio coaching Noel Dowler through each corner. “It was a very good first outing. He’s a talented young guy and I know he’ll be able to make the transition” said Kenning ton. “I’ve known his father Kevin for a long time, we used to race against each other and when he approached me about putting a car together for Noel I was thrilled to get involved” he added.
The 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule mapped out for Noel Dowler is to participate in the five events that take place on the Road and Street courses, along with the two oval track races at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, BC and Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon for a total of seven races. All of the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races will be broadcast on TSN. Check local listings for times in your area. For more information about Noel Dowler Jr. log onto www.apollomotorsports.com