2008 Coke Zero 200


The 2008 Coke Zero 200 Pres. by Sicard Holiday Campers, the second running of the Coke Zero 200, was a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racing event that was held on August 30, 2008, at Cayuga Speedway in Haldimand County's community of Nelles Corners.
This race is not related to the 2008 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing event; which took place on July 5, 2008, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Background

Cayuga Speedway was opened in 1966 as a dirt track but was paved the following year when the vehicles started to become too dangerous fast for the dirt tracks. It was considered to be one of Canada's premier racing facilities. It is a ⅝-mile oval similar in size to Martinsville Speedway. The track has held a variety of different racing groups including CASCAR, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the American-Canadian Tour, NASCAR Busch North, Hooters Pro-Cup, USAC, ISMA Supermodifieds, DIRT Modifieds and the ARCA RE/MAX Series to have a race at Cayuga Speedway. Instead, the race went to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve due to its larger population and recognition in the international community. Cooper Construction of Oakville was announced as the vendor to re-build the track. Cayuga Speedway hosted the first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race in series history on May 26, 2007.

Race report

Qualifying

would clinch the pole position for this race by driving up to during the same-day qualifying sessions. Time trials began at 5:15 PM and they were finished just before the green flag start at 7:35 PM.
John Fletcher would be the slowest driver during qualifying; making a lap in over 22 seconds. Jason Hathaway would qualify on a provisional. Lap times of approximately 20-21 seconds were considered to be standard qualifying times for the drivers.
GridDriverManufacturerOwner
14Don Thomson, Jr.Chevrolet107.64520.902John Fitzpatrick
222Scott StecklyDodge107.12821.003Scott Steckly
317D.J. KenningtonDodge107.01521.025Doug Kennington
41Peter GibbonsChevrolet106.97521.033Peter Gibbons
502Kerry MicksFord106.80221.067Susan Micks
684J.R. FitzpatrickChevrolet106.77221.073John Fitzpatrick
760Ron Beauchamp, Jr.Dodge106.45321.136Ron Beauchamp, Sr.
89Mark DilleyDodge106.37821.151Dave Dilley
977Derek LynchDodge106.17221.192Harvey Ambrose
1027Andrew RangerFord105.63921.299Dave Jacombs

Prior to the race, a pre-race invocation was given which was followed by the singing of the American and Canadian national anthems.

Race

There were 22 drivers on the grid; all of them were born in Canada. Out of this 203-lap event, about 23% of this event was held under a caution flag while the average green flag run was 20 laps. Anthony Simone would be credited as the last-place finisher due to problems with his suspension on the fourth lap. He would commit a false start violation and be black flagged. However, Thomson, Jr. was not disqualified and went on to continue the race. Whitlock was black flagged for dumping Nuhn; causing people who were in attendance at the race to doubt the professionalism of both the drivers and the NASCAR officials who were in charge of the race. Steckly suffered mechanical issues after getting spun by Kennington while battling for the lead early on. This would cause him to finish well behind John Fletcher in 18th place, even though he had still had commanding lead for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship after the race.
The average speed of the race was and the event lasted for one hour and forty-nine minutes; not counting the 165-minute delay that occurred due to the instability of the racing lights. Mark Dilley would defeat Andrew Ranger by nearly three-quarters of a second in front of an undisclosed number of spectators. A problem with their electricity generator caused a 10-lap caution with all the cars forced to stop where they were. At the end of the race, 12 cars made up the lead lap. Most of the field were driving vehicles that were affiliated with either the Chevrolet or Dodge manufacturer.
Notable crew chiefs for this race were Thatcher Krupp, Ted McAlister, Scott Fletcher, Warren Jones, Bill Burns, Greg Gibson, Brian Uptigrove, Mike Knott, Hugh Nunh, David Wight, Don Jacobson, Kelly Hallett, Rino Montanari, Alex Nagy, Sandy Hamilton, Guijio Montanari, Terry Wilson, and David Hernen.
Major sponsors for the drivers on the starting grid include Wal-Mart, Tim Hortons, Home Hardware, Interstate Batteries, and Ubisoft. Individual driver winnings for this event ranged from $8,200 for the winner all the way to a meager $980 for the last-place finisher. Due to the small qualifying grid typically found at NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racing events, everyone qualified for this racing event. Although the price of gas was recorded at nearly $1.30/litre just prior to race day for some of the busier gas stations, those who could afford to go to the race greatly appreciated the race prior to the lengthy blackout.
Due to the mostly regional atmosphere of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, this race was never aired in any other country besides Canada.

Finishing order

Timeline

Section reference: