Erb Stuff - Erb Racing
Scott Steckly 2008 Year in Review
Scott Steckly capped his most successful season in racing by capturing the 2008 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Championship. Steckly opened the year off looking nearly unbeatable by winning three of the first four races on the schedule. Although Scott did cool down from his torrid pace, the fast start was all he would need to capture the championship. By the time the season was over Steckly had won four races, finished as the runner-up in another four and had one other top-five finish in the 13 race NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule. Steckly is looking forward to defending Championship next year by saying “we know the competition will be gunning for us even more next year to take the Championship away from us. But we have shown this year that we are more than capable of rising to the challenge and hope the 2009 season will be just as successful.
Here is a review of all 13 races run by Scott this season:
May 24, Cayuga Motor Speedway Steckly started the year off the way he finished off the 2007 season. The No. 22 Tow Truck in a Box/ Erb Group Dodge Avenger dominated the field at Cayuga by leading 150 of the 200 laps in the event. Steckly posted the fastest lap in practice and followed that up by qualifying in the fifth position. The win was the third of Scott’s career. Following the Steckly said “the car was like a rocket, I have never driven a car that fast before”
June 15, Mosport International Raceway Steckly continued to roll in the first road course race of the season. Scott managed to put the Tow Truck in a Box/ Erb Group Avenger on the pole for the first time in his career and in the process setting a track record for the fastest lap completed. Under rainy skies the cars took the green flag, Steckly quickly settled into the second position which is where he would remain for much of the race. Once the rain began coming down harder the team elected to pit for rain tires. However, when attempting to pit for rain tires, Steckly spun his car out putting him back to ninth place. He would pass five in the final two laps of the race to finish fourth.
June 28, Barrie Speedway The Erb Group- Drivers Wanted/ Tow Truck in a Box Dodge would start on the outside pole position for this event and would jump out to the lead immediately. On this night, Steckly clearly had the car to beat again by leading on five different occasions for a total of 133 laps.
July 5, Autodrome St. Eustache The 22 Racing team made it a perfect 4 for 4 on oval tracks dating back to the final race of the 2007 season by winning the rescheduled race in St. Eustache. Scott qualified the car in seventh, but during the autograph session the team discovered an oil leak and was able to fix this while under the warm up laps to start the race. The bottom of the field starting position did not bother Steckly. By lap 188 of 250 an incident on the racetrack handed Steckly the lead and he would not look back, winning his third race of the season. “We did it the hard way tonight,” stated a happy Steckly. “That problem at the start could have ruined our whole night but I have to thank my team, they remained focused and got the job done. Our pit stops have been terrific as well so I have a lot to thank my crew for.”
July 19, Sun Valley Speedway Steckly would move down a rung at Sun Valley by finishing the race in a solid second position. After qualifying fifth the IRL International Dodge settled in a patiently waited for the race to unfold. Following a pit stop with just over 100 laps remain Steckly was in sixth place. One by one Steckly began picking the cars off. Finally with 75 laps remaining Scott would take the lead. However, this would not be Steckly’s night to shine as he was passed by Don Thomson Jr. with 8 laps to go. Scott said after the race “ Don Thomson just had a little better car than we did on the final few laps and I couldn’t hold him off any longer but all in all we can't complain about a second”.
July 26, Rexall Edmonton Indy Priorto the race it was announced that Tow Truck in Box would be the primary sponsor for the 22 Racing team for the remainder of the season Steckly would not disappoint at the road course in Edmonton by qualifying fifth. But he was not completely happy with the car and the crew made many changes to the car before taking the green flag. It quickly became apparent that the changes helped the car. After two laps he was up to third spot. For the remainder of the race Steckly would work hard to get by Andrew Ranger and he finally got by him with 15 laps to go. From there he and Alex Tagliani opened up a commanding lead on the rest of the cars, with Steckly finishing in second.
August 2, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Scott brought a strong car to Montreal for the race held in conjunction with the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He qualified fourth and waited for misfortune to strike his other competitors. He moved up two spots following spins and finished as the runner-up for the third race in a row. To date on the season, Scott has finished no worse than fourth in any of the seven races held to this point. Scott also ran in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday. After qualifying 36 th, Steckly was forced to retire after only 2 laps do to a transmission problem. He finished the race in 41 st position.
August 10, Mosport Speedway Thestrong first half of the season by the 22 Racing team hit a bit of a road block during this race. Scott would start on the pole because qualifying was rained out and clearly had the most dominating car and would lead the first 126 laps. While under caution the motor in the car expired and the Tow Truck in a Box No. 22 Dodge would not be able to finish the race. Despite the finish he still holds on to the Championship lead by a wide margin.
August 17, Grand Prix Trois-Rivieres Steckly was hungry to finish the final road course race of the season off with a win. Scott qualified the car in fifth place and carefully passed one car at time. On lap 28 he took advantage of a miscue by JR Fitzpatrick to take the lead. From there the No. 22 Tow Truck in a Box Dodge opened up a five second lead in the rest of the field. A green-white-checkered finish would see the field reset and on the final turn and overly aggressive Fitzpatrick would hit Steckly which was enough to slow Steckly’s Dodge down and he was passed by Andrew Ranger for the lead. Scott was able to hang on to his car and come home in second for the fourth time on the year.
August 30, Cayuga Motor Speedway Steckly qualified his car in second position to start the race. He was able to lead some laps, but off a restart he was caught going three-wide and was spun into the grass in turn one. Scott was able to save his car and continue racing in 12th place. Not to be deterred, Steckly starting marching his way back to the front and was back up to eighth when the oil pump belt came off the motor, ending the No. 22 Tow Truck in a Box Dodge’s night. The team would finish in 18th.
September 6, Barrie Speedway Steckly continued his dominance at Barrie Speedway once again by winning the third time in his career at the track. Steckly would start on the outside of the second row and would take the lead at lap 112. Shortly after the team made two pit stops for tires and they were set for the rest of the race. Steckly would inherit the lead for the final time with 50 laps to go and no other competitors were able to come close to challenging him. At one point he was within four seconds of lapping the entire field. This was Scott’s fourth win of the season, setting a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series record.
September 20, Riverside Speedway The teams went out east to the beautiful Riverside Speedway for the next to last race in the schedule. Practice would show Steckly having the second fastest time. But he qualified a disappointing 12th. That would not matter as Scott would head to the front. While leading the engine developed a miss and he began to be passed by other cars. With 8 laps remaining the engine blew up, causing Scott to finish in 13th place. He went into the final race of the season with a 67 point lead over Don Thomson Jr.
September 27, Kawartha Speedway Steckly would win the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race with by finishing in 17 th at the rain shortened race at Kawartha. Scott of qualify on the outside pole, beside his nearest competitor in Thomson. By lap 43 Steckly would take the lead over the ailing car of Thomson. Later on in the race Steckly would be spun out by John Gaunt causing the Tow Truck in a Box car some handling damage. The pit crew worked on the car during every caution to fix the situation. The light rain eventually turned into a heavy rain and the race was call after 174 laps, with Steckly being declared the 2008 Champion, beating Thomson by 24 points. "There are no real words to describe how it feels," stated Steckly after the race. "To win at the highest level of stock car racing in Canada is unbelievable. But so much of the credit goes to my crew who just work so hard week in and week out and our sponsors. A.W. Millwrights has been with me for 15 years, Erb Group, 8 years and Tow Truck in a Box who came on this year and helped us more as the season went on. You can’t forget about Dodge who has always been supportive of not only us but all the Dodge teams in the series for many years. Last but not least I have to thank my family who have stood behind me and allowed me to chase my dream of winning this championship."
Top 10 Driver Points: Scott Steckly 2070, Don Thomson, Jr. 2046, DJ Kennington 1972, Andrew Ranger 1853, Kerry Micks 1828, Mark Dilley 1819, JR Fitzpatrick 1813, Peter Gibbons 1770, Jason Hathaway 1736, Brad Graham 1720
Scott Steckly would like to thank all of his associate and product sponsors who each had a part in winning this championship including, Tow Truck in a Box, Erb Group of Companies , A. W. Millwrights, D. H. Jutzi Ltd., Wilride Transportation, Reefer Sales, Mr. Transmission (Guelph), Milverton Garage, Groeneveld, Classy Collectables, Generation 2 Filtration, Twin City Graphics, Motorsport Design, Glasvan Great Dane Trailer Sales Inc., Wix Filters, Chris Root Precision Machine, Camions International West Island Inc., IRL International, Wilcan Electronics Canada Ltd, Royal Distributing and Schick.
Contact kyle_erb@hotmail.com for more information on the 22 Racing team or visit www.nascar.ca for the latest information on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
 
<< Back to Erb Racing Home Page
|
