NELLES CORNERS -- The Dodge Canada Day Shootout started out being about Kenny, Sterling and Geoff. It ended up being a great battle of the Petes.
Peter Gibbons of Stouffville led all but 12 of 200 laps to win the CASCAR Super Series race last night before 7,000 people at Cayuga Speedway.
Pete Vanderwyst of St. Thomas, who hadn't raced since May 18 in the Mopar 300 at Delaware, shook off the cobwebs to finish second.
Kerry Micks of Mount Albert was third, D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas fourth, Steve Robblee of Dorchester fifth, Brad Graham of Glencoe sixth and Dave Whitlock of Wyoming seventh.
NASCAR Winston Cup drivers Kenny Wallace, Sterling Marlin and Geoff Bodine finished 18th, 23rd and 32nd respectively in the 37-car field.
Last year, NASCAR's Matt Kenseth drove around CASCAR champion Don Thomson Jr. of Hamilton with two laps remaining to win the inaugural Canada Day Shootout.
Vanderwyst, running a limited schedule this year after losing his sponsor, finished second to Whitlock in the first 50-lap qualifier earlier in the day.
Vanderwyst's finish in the feature was much closer as he almost got under Gibbons coming out of turn 4 in their dash for the finish line.
Gibbons wanted to pit for a new tire with 50 laps left, feeling he didn't have the car to beat Vanderwyst, but crew chief Dave Hernden talked Gibbons into staying out on the track.
"I gave it every stick of glue I had in my tires," Vanderwyst said of his battle with Gibbons, that began on lap 95.
"I think we gave them a good show the last three laps. I rubbed him quite a bit, but I wasn't going to wreck him. Gib always runs me good."
Vanderwyst was forced to miss a Super Series race June 7 at Peterborough after his appendix ruptured.
"I kept talking to my buddies like Mark Dilley, D.J., Gibbons and Whitlock every week to see how they were running," Vanderwyst said of how he kept up his spirits for the day he was back on the track.
"We hadn't been in the car for a few weeks. We just had to get back in the groove."
Vanderwyst will be at the Toronto Molson Indy on July 12.
Whitlock was running third in last night's feature until a tire went flat with 30 laps left. He pitted under a timely caution and did a nice piece of driving to get back to seventh.
Whitlock had bided his time to win the first 50-lapper in which Gibbons started on the pole, led the first 19 laps, but then pitted with a flat.
'We were patient at first because we knew Gib (Gibbons) and Donnie (Thomson) would go at it fairly hard," Whitlock said of running third in the early going of the 50-lapper.
Wallace started last in that 19-car field and passed 12, nudging a few out of his way, to finish seventh.
"We just had to move 'em out of the way a little bit and get on with the program. I'm glad nobody got spun," he said.
"These are great race car drivers up here. You just can't come in and whoop 'em."
Kennington won the second 50-lapper, with Graham second.
Kennington inherited the lead from Micks when he slowed, then pitted with five laps left.
"It's actually a little bit embarrassing -- we ran out of gas," Micks said. "We were low after qualifying (time trials) and I guessed wrong by six or seven laps."
Marlin finished fifth in the second 50-lapper. He's one of only three people to win back-to-back Daytona 500s (1994 and 1995). The others are Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Richard Petty (1973-74).
Marlin was the Winston Cup points leader last year through the first 25 races, then crashed twice and suffered injuries that sidelined him the rest of the season.
Bodine wasn't happy with the car he was provided. He didn't finish the second 50-lapper.
"Hopefully the crew got it all glued back together," he said before the 200.
Adding to his embarrassment was the car stalled on the front straightaway before the feature.
CASCAR rookie Sean Stafford, 17, of Aylmer, finished 25th, while another rookie, 16-year-old Petey Shepherd III of Brampton, was 30th.
