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Scott Steckly celebrates winning the Cruisin’ The Dub 300 presented by A&W Saturday night at Motoplex Speedway. Roger Tepper/NASCAR

Steckly Gets Patient Win In Vernon

Takes the lead late en route to first win of 2010

By Shon Sbarra, NASCAR
August 1, 2010 - 1:48am

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VERNON, B.C., Canada – Scott Steckly played the patience game and won the Cruisin’ The Dub 300 presented by A&W in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 action Saturday night at Motoplex Speedway.

DJ Kennington dominated much of the race and led a race high 196 laps, but Steckly, out of Milverton, Ont., had the better car over the final 50 laps and earned his first win of the 2010 season and the eighth of his series career. It was also his first win at Motoplex Speedway where he had three times finished as the race runner-up.

“Early on, the Canadian Tire/MotoMaster Dodge was not as good as (Kennington). We were content to ride around in second,” said Steckly. “We made like four pit stops, before we ever took tires, just to try and get the car right.”

Steckly wrestled the lead away from the vise grip Kennington had on it for most of the night on Lap 236, but Kennington stayed right with the new leader. They battled door-to-door for several laps before the caution came out on Lap 251 for a spin by John Gaunt in Turn 2. On the subsequent restart, Steckly was able to hold off Kennington for the remainder of the race.

It was Steckly’s first trip to Victory Lane since July 29, 2009 when he took the checkered flag at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, Sask.

“It’s great to get the win for everyone at Canadian Tire,” Steckly said. “Wins are hard to come by in this series. It’s really good to win here after finishing second so many times. There’s really nothing wrong with seconds, but wins are better.”

Kennington, who hails from St. Thomas, Ont., looked to be on the way to his third win of the season, but he fought a loose race car in the closing stages of the event and had to settle for a third-place finish.

POS	CAR	DRIVER
1	22	Scott Steckly
2	3	Jason Hathaway
3	17	DJ Kennington
4	4	Don Thomson Jr.
5	9	Mark Dilley

He ran away from the field in the early going on a long green-flag run before the yellow flag waved on Lap 107 for debris. After pit stops, Kennington retained the lead, but the caution period allowed Scott Steckly to erase the big lead and give him another shot at Kennington. However, Kennington flexed his muscles and was able to scoot away again.

“The car was superb at the beginning, but in that last run it was pretty loose,” Kennington said. “I really like this new car and wanted it to stay undefeated on the ovals, but the Castrol Edge Dodge was a little too free there at the end to make a run at (Steckly).”

Jason Hathaway finished a season-best second after being a lap down in the early going and working past Kennington on a green-white-checkered finish in his Snap-on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge.

“It was great to be up front and battling with these guys,” said Hathaway, racing out of Appin, Ont. “We are just looking to build momentum. We finished sixth in Edmonton and second here. Now, we’ll move on to Saskatoon and hope to keep it going.”

Don Thomson Jr. and Mark Dilley crossed the line in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Anthony Simone, JR Fitzpatrick, John Gaunt, rookie Nathan Weenk and Ron Beauchamp Jr. rounded out the top 10.

Earlier in the day Kennington won his sixth career pole and set a track record in the process with a time of 18.168 seconds eclipsing the mark of 18.299 seconds Don Thomson Jr. established in 2007.

The race was slowed due to caution seven times for 66 laps. The race lead changed hands nine times between five drivers.

The Cruisin’ The Dub 300 presented by A&W recap show will be broadcast on TSN and TSN HD on Aug. 15 at 9 p.m. PT.

In the championship point standings, Fitzpatrick remains the leader, but Kennington closed to just seven points behind while Steckly is 55 points off the pace.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 is right back in action on Wednesday, Aug. 4 at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, Sask. for the 250-lap Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science to close out the three-race swing through Western Canada.

QUALIFYING: Kennington On Motoplex Pole | PRACTICE: Kennington Paces Vernon Practice