ANTIGONISH, NS- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 veteran Mark Dilley earned his second top-5 finish of 2014 on August 16th, after a workmanlike performance in the Wilson Equipment 300 at Riverside International Speedway.
Dilley wasted little time recovering from a 10th place qualifying effort in time trials, working his way forward through the entirety of the 300-lap event.
“We had a much better car in race trim than we did in qualifying”, explained Dilley. “That’s 100-percent attributable to this team. They knew exactly what we needed to wake this car up, and they made it happen. This No. 02 Leland Industries/Johnsonville/Johnston’s Home Style Products Ford seemed to get better as the race wore on”
The Barrie, ON driver worked his way as high as 3rd, until a late-race pit stop forced the team to the tail of the field with less than 50-laps to go.
“We came in for fuel and adjustments early, around lap-80”, said Dilley, “and stopped again at lap-136 for left side tires. The initial strategy was to take our right side tires at lap-200, but the cautions didn’t fall our way. We ended up with a caution on lap-255 and took our right side tires, which put us deep in the running order and left us with a lot of ground to make up in a short amount of time”
Dilley displayed his resiliency on the ensuing restart, eventually battling his way to 5th place before running out of laps.
“Some nights you’d sooner be lucky than good”, offered Dilley post-race. “We had a great car, and a sound strategy, but the caution periods just didn’t fall our way tonight. This team has nothing to be ashamed of. A top-5 here is a great run, and gives us a lot of momentum heading into the last few events of the season”
Mark Dilley will return to competition with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 on September 6th at Barrie Speedway for the Wahta Springs 300.
Mark Dilley’s 2014 efforts are made possible thanks to the support of Johnsonville Sausage, Leland Industries, Dickies, Beyond Digital Imaging, Castrol Canada, Cathcart Trucking, Thor Motors, Sam Ester, Candy Tree Gourmet Lollipops and Seguin Marina.
About Johnsonville Sausage:
Since 1945 Johnsonville has been producing sausage with old world recipes from 19th- century Austria. Johnsonville is a proud supporter of Canadian Agriculture supporting farmers across Canada. Johnsonville produces several varieties of fresh Dinner and Breakfast sausage along with multiple flavours of Smoked Sausage available throughout Canada.
Visit Johnsonville.ca for product and recipe ideas.
About Leland Industries:
Leland Industries, a Canadian manufacturer, produces a complete offering of Bolts, Nuts, Screws for the Agricultural, Industrial and Commercial construction industry. In 2014, An addition of 50,000 sq. ft. to our Toronto manufacturing facility will bring our production capability up to ¾ X 6″ Bolts and 7/8″ Nuts. Leland services the industry through a network of eight Sales and Warehouse locations across North America. We take pride in stating, “North American steel, North American Labor”. We Do Not Import!!!
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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