Barrie, ON. After failing to win a CASCAR Super Series race in his first seven years in the series, Scott Steckly of Milverton, ON has finally done it. The driver of the Erb Group sponsored Dodge Charger won the season opening race at Barrie Speedway. Steckly had a handful of second place finishes but he was unable to breakthrough until last Monday. The race was also Steckly’s first in a Dodge Charger. Scott carried momentum into the first race of the year, after posting some of the quickest times during Mopar Day a few weeks back.
Photo by G. MacPherson / Inside Track
The race at Barrie Speedway was scheduled to be run on Sunday, May 21 but because of some very cold and rainy weather it was postponed to Monday. Qualifying for the opening race was set for Saturday and that followed by twin- 50 lap races. Scott had the 10th fastest time, around the tight 1/3 mile tri-oval track of Barrie Speedway. After qualifying the field was split in half and the cars would race 50 laps and their finishing position in the heat race would determine where they would start in the 250 lap feature race. Scott started the heat race in fifth position and would pass #9 Mark Dilley early on to move into fourth. Following a caution later in the race Steckly was unable to shift his car into fourth gear off the restart. As a result he was rear ended by Dilley causing significant fiberglass damage to the bumper of the car. The Erb Group pit crew was able to fix the bumper by using a lot of duct tape, making it look just like new. Steckly wound up finishing the race in 5th place, meaning he would start the feature in 10th.
The race got underway on Monday, under very cold conditions. Barrie Speedway is a very hard track to pass at, so any position gained is well earned. Scott was able to bide his time in the top-10 until lap 50 when he was finally able to pass #39 Dave Whitlock, to move into ninth. However, during a caution on lap 75, #22 crew chief Greg Gibson made a race winning decision to pit earlier than all of the other cars on the lead lap. The move caused the team to fall back to into 11th but Steckly quickly made up those positions. During the pit stop the team changed two right side tires and added fuel to the car. The Erb Group Charger was able to pass a few cars during the green flag run and was up to seventh by the time a caution hit on lap 138. However, all of the cars that were ahead of Steckly had yet to pit, and during this caution they all chose to come in. Steckly assumed the lead at this time. It was a lead which he would never relinquish. The #22 Erb Group race car was so dominate on this day that Scott quickly opened up a 5 second lead on the entire field, nearly lapping half of the cars. That was until a caution on lap 181. But, once the green flag dropped Scott got right back on the gas and opened up a big lead again. In the closing laps there were several cautions. First, during a green flag/ white flag restart, the second place car of Mark Dilley spun out, which meant there would be another green/ white restart. This time, Steckly had five-time series champion Don Thomson Jr. on his bumper. However, on this day Thomson was no match for Steckly as he won his first race in dominating fashion, by leading the final 122 laps.
Following the race Steckly was thrilled about winning his first race saying “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." He also added that “what a fantastic way to start off the year in my new Dodge Charger”.
The next race in the CASCAR Super Series is June 10 at the Autodrome St-Eustache, in St-Eustache, Quebec.
In the drive for the 2006 CASCAR Super Series Championship, of which Scott presently sits in 2nd place, the 22 Race team is proudly sponsored by: Erb Group of Companies, AW Millwrights, International Dealers: ALTRUCK International, Diamond International (Edmonton, AB), Lewis Motors Sales, D.H. Jutzi Limited, CPL Systems, Thermo King of Eastern Canada, Twin City Graphics, Chris Root Precision Machine, Stratford Motor Products, Filtakleen, Mr. Transmission (Guelph), Commercial Babcock, and Classy Collectibles, Glasvan Great Dane, and Motorsport Design.
Go to CASCAR.ca for information on the racing series and on Scott Steckly’s first career win. Contact kyle_erb@sympatico.ca for information about Scott Steckly and the entire race team.
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