The 2006 CASCAR Super Series champion, 18-year-old J.R. Fitzpatrick, will jump to the Busch Series for a minimum of three races in 2007, his long-time crew chief hinted yesterday. The Cambridge, Ontario, 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 – that would allow J.R. to show off his skills.(24 Hours Vancouver)(12-14-2006)
