Scott Steckly led from from pole but was unable to work his way back to the front after pitting for tires on a late yellow. (Photo-Matthew Murnaghan)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Scott Steckly driver of the Canadian Tire Dodge had the dominant car all day in the fifth event on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 tour at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
Practice started the day off on the right track. After a tight condition was reported by driver Steckly the crew made some changes and he went to the top of the time charts. Second practice saw the same results, position one was recorded by the scorers.
Steckly was gridded eleventh for time trials and when the twenty cars were done timing, the Canadian Tire Dodge was quickest with a new track record of 14.616 giving him the front row starting position.
Steckly would lead the first 78 laps of the race until the caution waved and he came to the attention of his crew for fuel. Upon restarting in fifth, the Canadian Tire Dodge driver would steadily make his way back towards the front and on lap 174 regained the lead after a lengthy battle with the #3 of Jason Hathaway. Steckly would have a full straight away lead on his remaining competitors when the caution flew at lap 240 of the 250 lap race. With laps winding down and the front runners all on older tires due to the long green flag run, Steckly and the other top five cars all elected to pit for right side tires.
The 22 Racing entry would line up on the inside of row two for the green, white checkered flag finish. Unfortunately he was not able to get back to the front in two laps and had to settle for a third place finish. "It's hard to accept third when you have had the dominant car all day," said a disappointed Steckly after the race. "We were in a tough position as all but two guys pitted and we could have been a sitting duck if we didn't come in and change tires. I can't thank my crew enough for all their hard work this week and for giving me such a great car today."
The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 from Auto Clearing Motor Speedway will air Sat. July 26th at 3 p.m. ET on TSN and Sun. Aug. 3rd at 5 p.m. on RDS2.
Next on the schedule is race number six at Autodrome St. Eustache on Saturday July 26th, where Steckly is again the defending race winner.
Scott Steckly is supported by the following companies: Canadian Tire Corporation, Osram Sylvania, Mobil 1, Erb Group of Companies, AW Millwrights, Reefer Sales and Metrocom Canada.
Fans can follow Scott Steckly through his website at 22racing.ca or on Twitter @ScottSteckly22 or you can Like the 22RacingTeam fan page on Facebook. For all at track updates during race weekends for Scott and the other 22 Racing Team entries follow us on Twitter @22RacingTeam.