CASCAR: BARRIE SUMMARY & RESULTS

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).

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) 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 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)

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.

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).