CASCAR champ lands Busch ride.......Is Dean a little slow here? I thought this is old news now. Or am i the only one that has already heard the great news about J.R. running in the Busch races.
By Dean McNulty, Toronto Sun JANUARY 13, 2007
The 2006 CASCAR Super Series champion, 18-year-old J.R. Fitzpatrick, will jump to the NASCAR Busch Series for a minimum of three races in 2007, according to his longtime crew chief.
The Cambridge high-schooler became the youngest driver in history to win Canada's top stock-car racing series crown on the final race ever for CASCAR -- the series will morph into the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2007 -- Sept. 18 at Kawartha Speedway.
But the Fitzpatrick Motorsports team has its sights firmly set on the Busch series for J.R. -- particularly the inaugural race at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on July 22.
"John Fitzpatrick (J.R.'s dad) and I were down in North Carolina a few weeks ago and we made a deal for a Busch car," Don Thomson Jr., a five-time CASCAR champion and Fitzpatrick Motorsports crew chief, said yesterday.
"I have a pretty good idea -- although I can't announce it officially -- that we'll be in Montreal and we are also looking at Watkins Glen."
The team will also target one of the Busch series' short-track races -- likely Martinsville or Bristol -- which would allow J.R. to show off his skills.
"We are kind of waiting to figure out our schedule before we firm up our plans," Thomson said.
The CASACR veteran said he is convinced the youngster is ready to move up the stock-car racing ladder.
"Definitely," Thomson said. "Or else we wouldn't be putting this deal together."
Fitzpatrick finished every race on the 2006 Super Series schedule and only once finished outside the top 10.
He also earned his first CASCAR win in his sophomore season, at Barrie Speedway.
Fitzpatrick will be joining a throng of Canadians, including Toronto's Ron Fellows and Quebec's Patrick Carpentier, who are expected to attempt to qualify for the Montreal Busch race.
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