Saskatoon: Series race notes

Steckly Overcomes Adversity In Saskatoon, Wins Inaugural Velocity Prairie Thunder

SASKATOON, Sask. -- Scott Steckly charged from the rear of the field and won the Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science on Wednesday night at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 action.

Racing out of Milverton, Ont., Steckly lost a engine in practice and was not able to make repairs prior to qualifying forcing him to start in the 18th position. However, on Lap 128 he was able to move past Don Thomson Jr. to take the race lead.

Waging a spirited battle all race long, Steckly led the final 37 laps beat Thomson to the line by 3.311 seconds.

Kennington finished third followed by Jason Hathaway, who finished a season-best fourth. Anthony Simone continues a strong sophomore season with a fifth-place finish.

Dave Whitlock, Ron Beauchamp Jr., Andrew Ranger, Jason White and Kerry Micks rounded out the top 10.

It was a historic night as the track hosted the first NASCAR-sanctioned event in the province of Saskatchewan as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series made its debut at the .333-mile oval.

The race was slowed five times by caution for a total of 40 laps. There were 12 lead changes involving four drivers.

With six races remaining in the season, unofficially in the championship point standings, Ranger is in first place, but his lead over Steckly is just 31 points. Beauchamp holds down the third-place spot.

Earlier in the evening, Thomson won his first pole of the 2009 season. He is the series' all-time leader in pole awards with 10.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 is in action next on Aug. 8 at Mosport Speedway in Bowmanville, Ont., for the Mosport 200.

-credit: nascar