Cayuga II: Race notes

Dilley Hangs On For Coke Zero 200 Victory

HAMILTON, Ontario -- Mark Dilley won the Coke Zero 200 presented by Sicard Holiday Campers at Cayuga Motor Speedway by holding off Andrew Ranger and Derek Lynch on a green-white-checkered finish.

It took longer than it should have due to a malfunction of the lighting system at the track, but the trip to Victory Lane was just as sweet for Dilley (No. 9 Dodge/Leland Industries Dodge) who picked up his first win of the season and the second of his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Sirius Satellite Radio career.

"We weren't very good in practice today and the crew changed just about everything," said Dilley. "Going into qualifying, we weren't sure if this thing would turn. I'm amazed at how good it was."

Ranger (No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide), coming off a win at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres two weeks ago, crossed the line .737 seconds behind Dilley. Lynch (No. 77 Allied Steel Buildings/Canadian Shield Dodge) followed closely for third place.

Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Snap-on Tools/Super 8 Dodge) logged his second consecutive top-five finish by coming home in fourth. The fifth-place car was that of Ron Beauchamp Jr. (No. 60 Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge).

Jim Lapcevich, Don Thomson Jr., Dave Whitlock, Peter Gibbons and DJ Kennington rounded out the top 10.

Championship point standings leader Scott Steckly (No. 22 Tow Truck in a Box/Erb Group Dodge) avoided disaster in the early going when he was turned completely sideways heading into Turn 1 on a Lap 13 restart. He was able to gather the car and move to the inside allowing the heavy traffic to move past. However, it proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Steckly battled an ill-handling car and went laps down on a pit stop to try and improve the car which was compounded by a penalty for speeding on pit road. He eventually finished 22nd, 10 laps off the pace.

On Lap 83, several banks of lights went out around the track forcing NASCAR to red flag the race while track officials diagnosed the problem. Action on the track was delayed 68 minutes due to the power outage. Not all of the lights came back on, but NASCAR consulted with drivers and the lighting was deemed sufficient.

Pete Shepherd III drove the No. 7 Wal-Mart/Ubisoft Ford normally occupied by Alex Tagliani, who was called away to fill in for an Indy Car Series team for their Sunday event. Shepherd, out of Brampton, Ontario, ran four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events in 2007.

Unofficially in the championship point standings, Steckly saw his lead shrink to 68 points over Ranger and 88 points over Kennington.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is back in action next Saturday at Barrie (Ont.) Speedway for the Pizza Pizza 300.

-credit: nascar