iN SeARCH of ‘NuMbeR 3’ Scott Steckly is looking to become the Canadian Tire Series’ first three-time champ
Speedway (due to a punctured radiator) and a 14th at Barrie Speedway (broken rear hub) were the only hiccups in Steckly’s season. But he quickly rebounded from these set- backs with a podium result at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières before claiming his third win of the year, at Nova Scotia’s Riverside Inter- national Speedway. Steckly closed out the 2011 schedule by chasing points rival DJ Kennington to the checkered flag and secur- ing the title with a second-place result in the season finale at Kawartha Speedway. “I wanted a fourth win to match our 2008 record, but we came up one spot shy. But we sure made DJ (Kennington) work for that win,” laughed Steckly. With his name in the NASCAR record books for a second time, Steckly immediately began making plans to become the first, three-time Canadian Tire Series champion. “Andrew (Ranger) and I each have two
championships. I want to be the first driver to get three. Wins and championships are the reason we race, that’s why we work the hours we do.” To that end, over the past off season, Steckly built a new road course car. But other than adding a new teammate, in Louis-Phillip Dumoulin, his racing program has remained virtually unchanged. “We made some small changes to our oval
car; just little things that we thought might be weak spots. But there was nothing drastic to be done.”
Greg MacPherson
By J. Wally NesBitt Photos By G. MacPhersoN
I
n the five previous NASCAR Canadian Tire Series campaigns, each of the championship-winning drivers – Scott
Steckly, Andrew Ranger and DJ Kennington – has enjoyed what can only be described as ‘dream’ seasons. In 2011, Steckly continued that tradition of
excellence as he rode a record of three race victories and nine top-five finishes (in 12 starts) to claim the title; his second Canadian Tire Series championship in four years. “Few drivers ever win one championship at this level, to earn two is extremely reward- ing and makes all the effort worthwhile,” said Steckly.
Setting the tone early in 2011, the Milver- ton, Ontario resident piloted his No. 22 Canadian Tire / Motomaster Dodge to victory
20 NASCAR CANAdiAN TiRe SeRieS
in the season opener at the Speedway at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mo- sport Speedway). He followed up that win- ning performance with a trio of runner-up results (ICAR / Delaware / Toronto), a fifth- place finish on the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Race- way) road course, and another victory (on the half-mile oval in Vernon, BC) over the next half-dozen events. “We were actually a little late getting the cars built,” continued Steckly, “but our team has been together for so long, everybody knows their jobs and we were ready to race once we unloaded. The preparation at the shop, knowing what needed to be done and having it done, was the secret to our early success.”
A disappointing 20th place finish at Saska- toon, Saskatchewan’s Auto Clearing Motor
Coming back to Canadian Tire Series com- petition with a familiar crew and a proven race package should give the reigning cham- pion a solid and well-sorted start to the 2012 season. With a long list of talented rivals, Steckly realizes that he will need to have consistent “top-three finishes,” while “staying out of trouble and avoiding DNFs,” if he hopes to score his career championship three-peat. “You just can’t afford a DNF on any track,
but especially on the road courses where there are so many cars. With the new scoring system, if you drop way down in the points, you won’t be able to catch back up. You al- ways want to go for the win, but the bonus points for a win and for leading laps will be essential this year. But if you know that you have a third or fourth place car, you don’t throw away those points by trying too hard to get to the front.”
While Steckly is confident of his champi-
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