Spa Grand Prix
The Spa Grand Prix is the most prestigious race on the Dash Cup schedule, held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The event is most famous from an event in 2010, where Justin Keith and Ben Atkins were battling on the last lap until Keith wrecked Atkins out of the lead and took the win. Historically, the event was the final race of the season, and since it is a over-capacity event, championship contenders had missed the race, and Atkins lost the championship. However, in 2012, the event was moved to the twelfth race of the season at the request of the Dash Cup sponsors.
1999[edit | edit source]
In 1999, Todd Benatar and Dean Thompson both made the event which 32 people had attempted, but only 16 had made. Benatar and Thompson had ten points between them, the advantage going Benatar's way, and Dean Thompson had to win while Benatar had to finish 2nd to secure the championship. Benatar was running 5th while Thompson was leading with 1 lap to go, but then rain came down on the track and Thompson slid off track and went back to third, where he finished. However, Benatar made advantage of this, as he was running intermediates, and was quicker in the wet conditions, and had passed Thompson while he was off, and finished 2nd, clinching the championship.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- American drivers had won four straight Spa GPs from 2012-2015, with Ashley Ambercroft and Jacob Eichholtz trading wins.
- Kellan Rogers-Ashby's win in 2016 was the first for a Canadian since 2010.
- Atlantic Motorsports (including its various incarnations) had won four of the last six events until Patrick O'Hannagan won in 2017.
Past Winners[edit | edit source]
Note: The 2011 running of the race was a non-points event as the Dash Cup championship was not contested that year due to sponsors dropping support of the series.