CASCAR - N#1 - Barrie Summary & Results
CASCAR Super Series veteran Scott Steckly makes first career trip to
victory lane with a win at Barrie Speedway
TORONTO, ON – It was a day of happy ‘firsts’ for CASCAR racer Scott
Steckly. The veteran stock car driver won his first-ever Super Series race,
in his inaugural outing in his new Dodge Charger. The Milverton, ON
resident lined up 10th in the field of 22 who took the green flag in
Monday’s GO-RACING.CA 300 at Barrie Speedway, and employed clever pit
strategy and superb driving to break through to victory lane.
After running in ninth-place for the first third of the
season-opening event, Steckly pitted relatively early for two tires and
fuel during the race’s second of 11 cautions, on lap 75. The move paid off
as it left him well-positioned when the remainder of the front-runners
eventually made their stops, with just over 100 laps remaining.
By the time everyone had pitted, Steckly was in front of the
field, with a multi-car buffer zone of slower cars separating him from the
pack of contenders. With 70 laps to go, Steckly enjoyed a healthy lead over
Dodge Charger drivers Mark Dilley (Dodge-sponsored) and DJ Kennington
(Castrol).
Misfortune struck for Dilley and Kennington, however, as both
saw top-three finishes slip away in the closing laps. Kennington was sent
spinning after contact with another racer with just over 20 laps remaining,
while Dilley saw second-place disappear on a lap 247 restart when he and
several others slid on fluid and parts from a car that had lost its axel
assembly.
Dilley’s bad luck cleared the way for Fitzpatrick Motorsports
teammates Don Thomson Jr. and J.R. Fitzpatrick to slip into second and
third, respectively, behind Steckly. At the checkered flag, Steckly
finished .326 seconds ahead of the polesitter Thomson, with Fitzpatrick
close behind. Brantford, ON racer Doug Brown recorded his best-ever Super
Series finish when he came home in fourth, while Dilley recovered from his
spin to take fifth.
In victory lane, Steckly was ecstatic to have registered his
first victory in eight years on Canada’s top racing tour. “It’s just
awesome. I want to thank everyone on the crew who helped us out, plus Dodge
and MOPAR. I want to thank ERB Transport, too. The car was just hooked up.
We made a lot of adjustments after the 50 lap heat race [on Saturday] and
we planned to pit early and get track position. We knew the car would be
there to the end.”
For his part, Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy) was pleased to
finish second, although he was upset at having hit fluid during the
late-race restart, which resulted in Dilley’s spin. J.R. Fitzpatrick’s
first outing for his new sponsor, Milwaukee Tools, resulted in a podium
position.
Following the first race event of the season, which awarded
points for qualifying, the heat races and the feature event, Don Thomson
leads the standings in his quest for a sixth-consecutive CASCAR Super
Series National Championship. The CASCAR Super Series resumes June 10 at
Montreal’s Autodrome St-Eustache.
SUPER SERIES POINT STANDINGS: Top 15 after 1 event. Unofficial as of May
22, 2006: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (249 pts.); 2. #22 Scott Steckly (238); 3.
#10 Doug Brown (230); 4. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (228); 5. #02 Kerry Micks
(223); 6. #9 Mark Dilley (218); 7. #19 Brad Graham (214); 8. #39 Dave
Whitlock (208); 8. #17 DJ Kennington (208); 10. #1 Peter Gibbons (204); 11.
#88 Dave Jacombs (201); 12. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (200); 13. #14 John
Fitzpatrick (197); 14. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (194); 15. #11 Ron VanEs (189).
PHOTO: (racers l to r) J.R. Fitzpatrick (3rd), Scott Steckly (1st) and Don
Thomson Jr. (2nd) were the podium finishers in the season-opening
GO-RACING.CA 300 CASCAR Super Series race at Barrie Speedway on Monday.
CREDIT: G. MacPherson / Inside Track
CASCAR ON TV: Catch the GO-RACING.CA 300 CASCAR Super Series season opener
from Barrie Speedway on June 10 on SPORTSNET. For information regarding
initial airings and replays of Super Series races, please check your local
listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
CASCAR Super Series
RESULTS: GO-RACING.CA 300
Round #1 // May 22, 2006 // Barrie Speedway
Barrie, Ontario // 250 Laps // 1/3-mile tri-oval
FIN. ST. # DRIVER
(HOMETOWN) SPONSOR(S) /
MAKE
LAPS
1 10 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton,
ON) ERB / AW Millwrights Dodge
Charger 265
2 1 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton,
ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 265
3 5 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr,
ON) Milwaukee Tools Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 265
4 2 10 Doug Brown (Brantford,
ON) NAPA / AUTOPRO Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 265
5 8 9 Mark Dilley (Barrie,
ON) Dodge / Mobil 1 / Exide / Leland / Avenue
M.W. / CRS Dodge Charger 265
6 4 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert,
ON) Two-Tyme Recycling & Disposal Ford
Taurus 265
7 11 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville,
ON) Canadian Tire Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 265
8 6 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe,
ON) Challenger Motor Frt. / Logel’s Dodge
Charger 264
9 9 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming,
ON) NTN Bower / NMT Dodge
Charger 264
10 13 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope,
ON) Lou's BBQ / CPS Flooring Ford
Taurus 264
11 3 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas,
ON) Castrol Dodge
Charger
264
12 14 14 John Fitzpatrick (Ayr,
ON) Cambridge Rigging Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 263
13 7 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor,
ON) MOPAR / Mobil1 / Exide / Chrysler Jeep Dodge Service Dodge
Charger 263
14 12 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre,
ON) Tim Hortons / EMCEA Transport Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 262
15 17 11 Ron VanEs (Smithville,
ON) Star Van Systems Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 262
16 20 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton,
ON) EMCEA Transport / Tim Hortons Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 262
17 19 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord,
ON) Bolt-On Performance / Pro-Spray Chevrolet Monte
Carlo 261
18 22 18 Shawn McGlynn (Petersburg,
ON) McGlynn Motorsports Ford
Taurus
252
19 16 3 Jason Hathaway (Appin, ON)
® Snap-On Tools / Arctic Cat / Super 8 Dodge
Charger 233
20 18 77 Derek Lynch (Warkworth,
ON) Berms-R-Us / JJ Stewart Motors Dodge
Charger 217
21 15 09 Kent Nuhn (Williamsford, ON)
® Nuhn Motorsports Pontiac Grand
Prix 209
22 21 95 Ron Lethbridge (Barrie,
ON) Canada Cash Advance / Fuel Genie Dodge
Charger 188
23 23 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough,
ON) Mid-America Motorsports Chevrolet Monte
Carlo DNS
24 24 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River,
ON) Re/Max Preferred Team Dodge
Charger DNS
25 25 12 Richard Durivage (Montreal,
QC) MIAPOXY Chevrolet Monte
Carlo DNS
® after the hometown denotes Rookie contender.
POLESITTER: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (14.313 seconds) // TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 39
minutes and 14 seconds // AVERAGE SPEED: 48.064 mph // MARGIN OF VICTORY:
0.326 seconds // CAUTIONS: 11 for a total of 92 // LAP LEADERS: #4 Don
Thomson Jr. (1-142) and #22 Scott Steckly (143-250) // GOODYEAR BELTS &
HOSES FASTEST LAP: #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (14.288 seconds) // HARD CHARGER:
#22 Scott Steckly (Advanced 9 Positions)
RACE NOTES: Under CASCAR rules, the final five laps must be run under green
conditions. A total of 15 additional laps were run, under caution, during
the final five laps of the GO-RACING.CA 300. Competitors Bryan Cathcart,
Bob Merrifield and Richard Durivage qualified for the race on Saturday, but
were unable to be at Barrie Speedway for Monday, following the cancellation
of Sunday’s program. Shawn McGlynn drove for his brother Chad McGlynn in
Monday’s race.
Contact CASCAR’s Toronto Office at (416) 531-4714 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416)
561-2320 (cell).
Comments regarding additions to – or deletions from – this mailing list
should be sent to: greg@insidetracknews.com
