Steckly Takes Crown Jewel 200 At Cayuga Motor Speedway
 
HAMILTON, Ont. (May 24, 2008) -- The 2008 season began just like the 2007
one ended -- with Scott Steckly (No. 22 Tow Truck In A Box/Erb Group Dodge)
in victory lane.
 
In the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Sirius Satellite Radio
season opener, Steckly was able to hold off a hard-charging Kerry Micks
(No. 02 Beyond Digital Imaging Ford), who used a different pit strategy
than the rest of the field, to win the Crown Jewel 200 at Cayuga Motor
Speedway.
 
Micks opted to pit for fresh tires nearly 30 laps later than everyone else
with the feeling that he would be able to work his way through the field
with enough time to contend for the win.
 
"I knew I would have enough time to get back to the front," said
Micks. "I
had to sacrifice a little there around lap 100 when everyone else stopped.
Honestly, I really didn't think that everyone would stop that time but they
did."
 
Meanwhile, Milverton, Ontario's Steckly was not aware of Micks' plan and
didn't really need to. He had the dominant car of the night by leading a
race-best 150 laps. Several cautions forced his concentration on re-starts.
Series rules mandate a double-file re-start with lead lap cars to the front
which leaves little room for error.
 
"I just concentrated each time on the re-start not to miss a shift or make
any mistake at all," said Steckly. "I had no idea when (Micks) pitted. No
one told me. My car was just unbelievable all night long. The credit goes
to the crew. Winning that last race last year just gave us a lot of
confidence. Hopefully we'll go on from here."
 
Third-place went to Ron Beauchamp Jr. (No. 60 Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge). He ran
just behind Steckly most of the night, but with his tires loosing grip on
the late re-starts, he fell a position at the very end.
 
"It's a great start to the season after the bad luck we had last year,"
said Beauchamp. "I knew it was going to be a good car after it got dark and
cooled off. I felt we were as good as (Steckly), but the tires just went
away."
 
Mark Dilley (No. 9 Dodge/Leland Industries Dodge) and Peter Gibbons (No. 1
Canadian Tire/Mobil Super Chevrolet) each had strong showings to start the
year by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
Derek Lynch, Dave Whitlock, Jason White, Kent Nuhn and Anthony Simone
rounded out the top 10.
 
Defending series champion Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide Ford) never
got the car quite right and spent much of the race in heavy traffic while
finishing 17th.
 
The Canadian Tire Series is back on the track next Saturday for it
first-ever visit to the Autodrome St-Eustache in Quebec for the Kodak 250.
 
##MMR 2.61#.  (copied MP MMR 2.61#, was  5-25-08 #AutoSportsNet: Stock Car
Racing - NASCAR, etc.#)


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