DRIVERS TO WATCH THE CONTENDERS
A look at the front-runners for the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series title
Ron Beauchamp Jr. (60) and Don Thomson Jr. (4) are likely to be in contention for the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 championship.
BY GREG MACPHERSON W
ith two-time and reigning NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by
Mobil 1 champion Andrew Ranger not par- ticipating in the full schedule this season, several of his rivals are eager to replace him atop the points chase come September’s season finale at Kawartha Speedway. The driver and team who are ultimately successful will be the ones who do the best job of combining racing talent at varied fa- cilities, teamwork, car preparation and good luck.
DJ KENNINGTON DJ Kennington finished second in the
2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series points. Over the course of his career, the talented St. Thomas, Ontario racer has been the runner-up in the points more times than he would care to remember. As frustrating as it is to come up one spot short in one’s quest to be the series’
champion, it’s a lot better than finishing closer to the other end of the tally. Ken- nington has the skill, equipment and team to win it all. In fact, it’s quite amazing that he hasn’t won a championship before now on Canada’s top stock car circuit. Kennington won at Delaware and Kawartha in 2009, and opened up the 2010 campaign with another victory at Delaware Speedway. It’s been said before, but this could very well be the year that Kennington takes it all.
RON BEAUCHAMP JR. After a few tough years, Ron Beauchamp Jr. started to get things to- gether near the end of 2008. He built on that throughout 2009 and even though he didn’t win a race last season, the Mopar- powered driver from Windsor, Ontario made his presence known. He actually tied Kennington for the sec- ond-most points (behind Ranger) but DJ’s
PHOTO BY GREG MACPHERSON
two wins (to Beauchamp’s ‘none’) meant that Ron Jr. was scored third in the official final tally. Two pole positions in 2009 (SunValley
and Kawartha), three podium finishes (St- Eustache, Delaware and SunValley) and eight top-five finishes make Beauchamp a contender for the 2010 crown.
SCOTT STECKLY After his ‘career’ year in 2008, Scott
Steckly’s fourth-place points finish in 2009 seemed to be a bit of a letdown. Nonethe- less, the Milverton, Ontario driver was vic- torious at Autodrome St-Eustache and went from ‘back to front’ to win in the Canadian Tire Series’ inaugural appear- ance at Saskatoon’s Auto Clearing Motor Speedway. Steckly’s seven podium finishes in 2009 demonstrated that he was still a force, but tough road course results at Mosport, Trois-Rivières and Montreal ended his
Veteran Kerry Micks (02) and youngster Peter Shepherd (7). PHOTO BY JOE HAMILTON
20 • NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES
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