The road suits Fitzpatrick's style

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Although he has yet to make his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series debut this year, the 2009 race season has already been an eventful one for JR Fitzpatrick.
 
The 21-year-old driver out of Cambridge, Ont., began the season by leading 17 laps and a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway for TRG Motorsports. He went on to make three more starts for that team, but decided to part ways shortly thereafter.
 
In late May, Kevin Harvick Inc. announced that it had signed Fitzpatrick to a developmental contract to include both NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events. He made his KHI debut in the No. 4 Equipment Express Chevrolet on May 30 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and brought it home with an 11th-place finish.
 
"I'm so excited to be with KHI. Everybody there is helpful and great to work with,” said Fitzpatrick. “I really want to take full advantage of this opportunity and if I keep sending it back to the shop in one piece, I'll get some more chances.”
 
On Sunday, he will return to his homeland to make his first start in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series for the 2009 season at Mosport International Raceway—a 200-kilometer race on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course.
 
Despite cutting his teeth on the oval tracks of Canada, Fitzpatrick has become an accomplished road-course racer. In eight NASCAR Canadian Tire Series starts on road tracks, he has two wins, five top fives and six top 10s.
 
“It's kind of weird. I grew up on short tracks,” he said. “Road courses really suit my driving style, though. They're better to over drive and if you mess up, most of the time there's room to get it corrected.”
 
With aggressiveness on the track already of long suit, fellow competitors on Sunday will see an even more hard-driving Fitzpatrick looking to defend his Dickies 200 title. Points are of no consequence to him—winning is the sole focus. If a win is in store, he will have to come from the back to do it. He will start the race from the back due to missing Saturday's qualifying session while at Michigan International Speedway competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. Series veteran Jim Lapcevich will practice and qualify the No. 84 Fitzpatrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
 
While a good handling car is a must at any road course, Fitzpatrick points to horsepower as the key to success at Mosport due to the long Mario Andretti Straightaway that virtually runs the entire length of the track.
 
“Obviously, the car has to handle in the turns, but so much ground can be lost on the long  straightaway, you need a strong motor for any chance at all.”