September 11, 2011. Sherwood Park, Alberta’s Noel Dowler and the #5 EMCO Dodge team keep on making improvements with each event in the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season. At round number ten on the challenging one third mile track at Barrie Speedway Dowler showed again the great strides he’s making this year.
During the afternoon practice session Dowler quickly got comfortable with the tight track layout and his lap times in the #5 EMCO Dodge improved throughout the one hour practice. “It’s a difficult track but I like that it challenges you each time around” said Dowler. “I’m finding that I get into a nice rhythm on the oval tracks” he added.
For the race the plan for the #5 EMCO Dodge team was simple. Survive 300 grueling laps on a track that has only one racing line. In the early going Dowler proceeded cautiously and tried to give all competitors plenty of racing room. “Our approach was the same for this race as the others, be cautious early and as things settle down and I get more comfortable in the car we start looking for opportunities to move up” said Dowler.
One of the difficulties with establishing a rhythm was the rough racing that resulted in numerous yellow flag caution periods. “When we were racing it was great, it was like running around a kart track” Dowler stated.
Dowler continued his persistent effort to keep the #5 EMCO Dodge moving forward. “We had a few ups and downs no doubt about it” said the driver. “When we passed the halfway point we were still in pretty good shape. We’d made a stop for adjustments and I just continued to try and move forward.
Dowler would run out of good fortune as the #5 EMCO Dodge was collected in another incident on the track. It didn’t appear as though it was too hard a hit; however the contact damaged the radiator ending their night. “It’s a shame because we were in position for another good finish and could have gained more ground in the rookie of the year race” said Dowler
The next race takes place at Riverside Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia on Saturday September 17th. 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.ca
Attached Photo: The #5 EMCO Dodge at Barrie Speedway.
Photo Credit: Todd Lewis
This release prepared by, TL Sports & Entertainment, todd@tlsportsent.com