KAWARTHA, ONTARIO – The No. 22 Racing/Canadian Tire/Tow Truck in a Box Dodge Avenger of Scott Steckly was soundly in the top five of the Z-Line Designs 250 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario and Coca-Cola at Kawartha Speedway on Sunday afternoon when rain cut the event short on lap 204 of 250 laps.
“We were coming,” Steckly said of his fourth place finish. “My No. 22 Racing/Canadian Tire/Tow Truck in a Box Dodge Avenger – I think – was going to be the car to beat at the end. We were on the right pit strategy, and we were good on the long runs. The rain ended all that, but we’ll take a top five finish.”
Qualifying sixth on the grid for the Saturday night finale showed that Steckly had the pace to run at the front. With the postponement of the event until Sunday, Steckly was still confident in his ride. “I think we’ll still be at the front. It is the same for all of us, and I expect that our car will be good on the green track.”
Steckly was right as he started to move up the order then had a titanic battle with 2009 Champion Andrew Ranger for fourth place. “I tried and tried,” Steckly said “But he was really, really tough on the outside. We must have gone 10 laps door-to-door.” Finally, Steckly was able to dispose of Ranger and move forward onto the tail of the top 2 by halfway point.
Pit stops would have a determining factor in the race as some stopped on early cautions, but they would have to stop again. Steckly would be caught behind these drivers, and when the rain came, that sealed his fate.
“It was just that one quick shower, and that killed us,” Steckly said. “We had moved up well, and the No. 22 Racing/Canadian Tire/Tow Truck in a Box Dodge Avenger was well positioned for the run to the finish. Sadly, it was called because of rain just after lap 204 and that was that.”
It has been an exciting year for Steckly and he is looking forward to 2010 already. “I can’t wait for next year, but first, I have to thank Canadian Tire, Tow Truck in a Box, Exide, Motomaster, Mobil Super, Erb, Marks Work Warehouse and Reefer Sales. I also want to thank the #22 crew for a solid job all year, and thanks to all our #22 Racing Canadian Tire fans, especially those who stuck it out for two days here in the rain.”
Steckly finished 4th in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series points battle.
The 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series final event from Kawartha Speedway can be seen on TSN on Saturday October 17th at 2PM
From Linda Jones // Wide Open Motorsport Solutions
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