NPP ‘VISITOR’ HAS NEAR PERFECT WEEKEND IN OKOTOKS
OKOTOKS, AB (Aug 3) – A familiar name returned to the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series for the first time since September 2006. Leduc Alberta's Trevor Emond was filling in for regular NPP Series driver Kevin Clark at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park Saturday and Sunday night. It was a near perfect weekend for the three time NPP Series champion (2003, 04, 05). Emond drove the Clark Construction #5 Dodge to back to back Feature event wins and never finished worse than second in the Qualifying heats and ‘A’ Dash races. (won Heat Saturday and won ‘A’ Dash Sunday). The last time Emond competed in an NPP Series race was September 9th 2006. “It was good to be back racing with these guys again,” says Emond, “I have missed it. This brought back a lot of good memories running here this weekend.” Emond left the NPP Series at the end of the 2006 season to spend more time with his family. Emond has since returned to the racing scene running the 2008 ARCA West Pavement Late Model Series where he currently sits number one in points.
Emond wins back to back features at RMRP
“Had to adjust our driving style a little bit coming back over to the dirt from the pavement but we managed well.” Emond remains the all time Feature win leader in the NPP Late Model Series. His weekend sweep gives him 29 NPP Feature wins, four more than two time NPP Series champion Dwight Kennedy. Both Saturday and Sunday’s race events were action packed. What was expected to be a carnage filled weekend on the tight ¼ mile Southern Alberta race track never materialized. There were a few crumpled fenders and banged up bumpers but no major incidents. Saturday night’s Feature had only 4 yellow flags fly in 30 laps. Sunday saw 8 cautions fly. Edson Alberta’s Ken Clark and Whitecourt Alberta’s Rod Wilde swept their Qualifying heats both nights. Stony Plain Alberta’s Mike Tom and Trevor Emond were the other qualifying heat race winners. Brian McCaughan and Trevor Emond won the weekend ‘A’ Dash events. ‘B’ Dash wins went to Kevin Wheeler and Sean Moskal. After four consecutive weekends (6 race events) teams of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model series get a much need two week break. Next race action is the biggest Oval event of the season at Edmonton Alberta’s Castrol Raceway. Two racing Series team up for two big nights. The Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series and the World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series compete at the 2nd annual Boston Pizza Oil City Cup which runs Friday and Saturday, August 22nd and 23rd.
NPP PIT BITS
-Trevor Emond has won the last four NPP Features he’s competed in. (Okotoks weekend plus Aug 26th/Sept 9th, 2006 in Edmonton)
-Brian McCaughan is the fourth different NPP Series point leader this season.
-Mike Tom won three out of the four Qualifying heats he ran at Okotoks this season. The Stony Plain driver also moved from 6th to 4th in NPP standings on the weekend with a fifth and a second in the Features.
-after a fourth place finish in the Feature Saturday night, Campbell River BC’s Chris Beaulieu spun twice in the Feature. Two yellow flag rule forced Beaulieu to park the car for the rest of the Feature.
ROOKIE DRIVER GRABS NPP SERIES POINT LEAD ON HOME TRACK
OKOTOKS, AB (Aug 3) – Race fans at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park witnessed history on the weekend. Local driver Brian McCaughan's second place finish in the Feature Saturday night gave him the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series point lead. It's the first time in the 8 year history of the NPP Series that a rookie driver has led the points chase. McCaughan took the point lead away from Edson Alberta’s Dwight Kennedy who has been number one in Series points since the beginning of June. At first the Okotoks Alberta driver did not know if he was even going to be able to race.
McCaughans car on the hoist at the RMRP garage.
"Starting up the car to head out for hot laps Saturday night, the oil pressure gauge said zero. Several crew members from other NPP teams came rushing over to help diagnose the problem. It turned out that a brand new oil filter we installed was defective. No flow.” McCaughan would have pole position for Saturday nights Feature but gave up the lead near the halfway point of the feature. "Trevor ran a great race," says McCaughan, “he got me on the outside. I was hoping for some lapped traffic (to get spot back) but that didn't happen.” Sunday’s race at RMRP would see McCaughan defend his newly acquired Series point lead for the first time. “I kinda like it up here,” smiles the driver of the #42 avenuebuilt.com/Lucas Oil Chevrolet, “it’s a different kind of pressure that’s for sure.” Tense moments returned late in the Feature Sunday evening when McCaughan was forced to pit with a flat tire with just five laps to go. The flat tire came just as a caution flag was waving for an on track spin. If the flat tire would have occurred under green flag conditions McCaughan would have had no chance for a top 10 finish. McCaughan finished the feature in eighth and has a 13 point lead over Edson, Alberta’s Dwight Kennedy heading into the next NPP Series event in Edmonton August 22nd and 23rd.
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EMOND GRABS WIN, ROOKIE McCAUGHAN NEW POINT LEADER
OKOTOKS, AB - A familiar name returned to the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series for the first time since September 2006. Leduc Alberta's Trevor Emond was filling in for regular NPP Series competitor Kevin Clark at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park Saturday night. It was almost a perfect night for the three time NPP Series champion (2003, 04, 05). Emond, drove the Clark Construction #5 Dodge to a Qualifying Heat win, a second place in the 'A' Dash and a Feature event win. "I had fun tonight (Saturday)," says Emond, "it good to be back racing with these guys again." The last time Emond competed in an NPP Series race was September 9th 2006 in Edmonton (Heat win/Feature win). Emond is currently the point leader in the ARCA West Pavement Late Model Series. Along with Emonds return to the Series, racefans at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park witnessed history Saturday night. Local driver Brian McCaughan's second place finish on his home track gave him the NPP Series point lead. It's the
first time in the 8 year history of the NPP Series that a rookie driver has lead the points chase. "Trevor ran a great race," says the driver of the #42 avenuebuilt.com/Lucas Oil Chevrolet, "he got me on the outside. I was hoping for some lapped traffic (to get spot back) but that didn't happen." Kevin Wheeler started the Feature in the 13th position but moved through the field and finished third in his KW Mechanical sponsored #3 Dodge. "We had to run the 'B' Dash again tonight," sighs the Whitecourt, Alberta driver, "thats three in a row for us now. We have to get to the 'A'. Starting from near the back of the pack in the Feature is getting old." The podium finish moved Wheeler from 10th to 9th in NPP points chase. Dwight Kennedy, who slipped from number one to third in NPP points had one of his most frustrating nights of the season. "We had carburator problems all night," says the driver of the Lucas Oil #81 Dodge, "no power on a track where we needed it." For the fifth consecutive race, the Edson, Alberta driver ran the 'B' Dash event. "We managed to finish 8th. The only way we could
have finished higher is if there were mistakes made by the other drivers." That did not happen. Just 4 caution flags flew in the 30 lap Feature. Rounding out the top 5. Coming off his third place finish in Rimbey last Saturday night (July 26th), Campbell River BC's Chris Beaulieu finished fourth in the #46 All Weather Window's Dodge. Chris Beaulieu was once again filling in for his father, defending season champion Jason Beaulieu, who was racing his Dirt Modified in Elma, Washington. Despite an ill handling race car, Stony Plain, Alberta's placed 5th in his Hinton Oilfield Serice #55 Chevrolet. Tom moved up one spot to 4th in the NPP Points chase. Day two of the NPP Shootout weekend at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park just south of Okotoks goes Sunday afternoon. Racing starts at 4PM.
NPP PIT BITS
- #42 Brian McCaughan had a bit of a scare Saturday night when he was preparing to head out onto the track
for hot laps. Zero oil pressure. Brand new oil filter installed turned out to be defective.
- # 8 Pat Fines lost a tire during hot laps. Missed his Qualifying heat to repair damage.
-#78 Ken Clark has had his best finishes of the 2008 season at RMRP. Clark finished 6th Saturday night.
He had a third and an eighth place finish in May.
-#88 Crystal Kennedy has run back to back 'A' Dash races after running 5 consecutive 'B' Dashes.
-several NPP regulars decided to take the long holiday weekend off. 5 NPP cars had 'Fill in' drivers
behind the wheel:
#01 Sean Moskal (regular driver: Dan Stewart)
# 4 Rod Wilde (Corry MacDougall)
# 5 Trevor Emond (Kevin Clark)
#14 Brad Purdey (Darrell Midgley)