Vernon, BC - (July 16, 2007) – The Gibbons Motorsports Team celebrated
on the podium, for the second time this season. Driver Peter Gibbons qualified
7th for the BC Dodge Dealers Dodge Avenger 300 and finished in third after
contending for the win.
When Gibbons strapped into his Monroe Brakes/Mastercraft Monte Carlo he was
confident that it would be a good night, a long and hot one too. The
temperature at Sun Valley Speedway soared to nearly 40 degrees, making it
extremely hot in the cockpit of the race car.
At the drop of the green the #1 driver immediately moved up to the top
five, setting the fast time of the race in the process. Gibbons was running in 3rd
when a caution came out. He made his first pit stop on lap 102 returning to the
race track in 2nd. It was only laps later when he passed Kerry Micks for the lead.
Gibbons led for the next 20 laps before he slipped back to 5th at the halfway
mark.
The handling was starting to go away on the Monroe Brakes/Mastercraft Chevy
and Gibbons’ crew was waiting for the next caution to make the necessary
changes, including 4 tires. That caution flag flew on lap 183 and Gibbons came
down pit road on lap 186 for his right side tires and then on the next lap for his
left side tires.
With 4 fresh tires Gibbons lined up 10th at the restart and quickly climbed to 5th
by lap 200. He was sitting in 4th place when the first of two red flags were
thrown. When racing resumed Gibbons continued battling towards the front and
was comfortable in 3rd position until an on track incident involving Mark Dilley
brought out the second red flag. The race resumed with a green, white,
checkered flag finish and Gibbons battled hard coming home in third, behind
winner #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick and second place # 22 Scott Steckley.
This finish moves Gibbons back into second, 12 points behind Andrew Ranger in
the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship points.
“This was the best our car has been so far this year, but I couldn’t do anything
with Steckley and Fitzpatrick in front of me at the end. They were side by side
for those last few laps, so I just stayed with them waiting to see if they slipped
up,” remarked Gibbons. “This was a great night for the Monroe
Brakes/Mastercraft Team. Everyone on the team has been working really hard
and tonight it paid off.”
The next event for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Sirius Radio is
Saturday, July 21, 2007 at the Edmonton Grand Prix.
Lisa Gibson Denise Gibbons
Canadian Tire Gibbons Motorsports
416-544-7655 905-640-2209
lgibson@cantire.com dgibbons1@msn.com