EDMONTON, AB. – After seven hard fought years, Kevin Wheeler can finally say he has won a Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series Feature race in Edmonton. The defending season champion held off a late race charge by his brother Wayne Wheeler to claim victory at the 2013 NPP Series season opener Friday night. “I’d never hear the end of it if my brother won in Edmonton before I did,” laughs Wheeler, “we nailed the setup in every race. Wow, what a great night!” After a third place finish in his Qualifying Heat, Wheeler won the ‘A’ Dash race securing the pole position for the Feature. Wheeler navigated the dry slick track conditions at Castrol Raceway flawlessly to claim his fourth career NPP Series Feature win.

“We’ve been trying so hard here [in Edmonton]. We’ve lead a lot of laps but always came up a little short.” With his victory, the driver of the KW Mechanical/Bill Weins Trucking #3 Dodge takes over the early season points lead in the NPP Series Championship standings. Wheeler, who made his debut in Edmonton on July 14, 2006, has managed an impressive average Feature finish of 3.5 in his last 17 appearances in Edmonton dating back to the 2009 season. Wayne Wheeler made NPP Series history Friday night with his second place finish. Wheeler set a new NPP Series record becoming the highest finishing rookie at a Season Opening race. The previous rookie record was a third place finish held by three drivers; Brent Broughton (2003), Darrell Midgley (2004) and Tim Beausoliel (2005). The former motocross racer surprised a lot of people with his performance at the season opener. “The car handled good tonight,” exclaims Wayne Wheeler, “the best part was chasing my brother in the main. Good times!”

Travis Day finished third in the Feature making it a Whitecourt, Alberta sweep of the podium which is also a first for the NPP Late Model Series. “My crew worked really hard,” says the driver of the Trappers Auto Parts #10 Chevrolet, “we had lots of luck on our side. We had a really good day.” Days last appearance in Edmonton was 2011 where he finished 5th in the Feature. “Missed it alot!” Altario, Alberta’s Kevin Clark and Sidney, British Columbia’s Darrell Midgley won Friday nights Qualifying Heats. Midgley would bow out of the Feature early with mechanical problems. Clark finished in eighth after a late race spin.

What was supposed to be a two-night Gold Cup race weekend in Edmonton unfortunately was cut short by mother nature. NPP Series teams had just taken to the race track for the first Saturday night Qualifying Heat when a torrential downpour turned the Oval track into a soupy mess. Track officials immediately cancelled the remainder of the evening. This was the sixth NPP Series race event to be affected by the weather in 2013.

The next scheduled event for the Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series is a rare mid-week race night. Wednesday night, July 31st is the Race of Champions in Edmonton featuring Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney. Gates will open at 5:00pm with pre-race ceremonies at 6:30 and racing starting at 7:00pm.