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  • Scott Steckly Wins Komatsu 300 at Riverside International Speedway, Extending Points Lead

    After a fierce battle, it’d be Scott Steckly coming out on top in the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway on Saturday to take the victory and extend his points lead.

    “It was the best day possible,” the driver of the No. 22 Canadian Tire/MotoMaster Dodge said. “We were the fastest car in practice, won the pole and won the race. I can’t ask for much more than that.”

    Steckly had a racecar driver’s dream day as he was the quickest car in practice and in qualifying.

    “Last year, we came in here and were fastest in practice and qualifying, but came up a little short in the race and finished second,” he stated. “We came here to win the race and my crew came up with a little different pit strategy than what we did last year and it worked out for the best.”

    The victory marks his third of the season and the 11th of his career as the 2008 series champion goes for his second championship. He now leads DJ Kennington by 94 points.

    “We didn’t come here looking to protect the points lead,” Steckly commented. “We wanted to leave here with as big of a lead as possible going into Kawartha. Earlier this year, we lost 80 points at Saskatoon, so we came into the race looking to expand the lead, not protect it.”

    The final 100 laps went green, which worked against Shepherd as he would’ve like to come down pit road for right-side tires.

    “It would have been nice to get a caution there toward the end to get new right sides, but you never know how that might have worked out,” Shepherd, who scored his third top-five of the year in six starts, said.. “With the way it worked out, I could catch (Steckly), but I was never going to get around him. There just wasn’t enough left.”

    Donald Chisholm would get a series best finish, racing on his home track, after passing Kennington for third.

    “Obviously, I wanted to get around (Kennington), but tapping him like that was not intentional,” Chisholm commented. That’s not how I had it planned. It was great, though, to turn in a good performance here at home.”

    Kennington would finish fourth with Kerry Micks in fifth. J.R. Fitzpatrick would get sixth, followed by Jason Hathaway, Ron Beauchamp Jr., Chris Raabe and Mark Dilley.

    The race was slowed due to caution just two times for 32 laps while the lead changed hands eight times among four drivers with Steckly leading a race-high 194 laps.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series closes out the 2011 season on Saturday, Sept. 24 in the Kawartha 250 at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, Ont.

  • No. 11 of Canadian Tire Series Schedule: Komatsu 300 at Riverside International Speedway

    No. 11 of Canadian Tire Series Schedule: Komatsu 300 at Riverside International Speedway

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    For race no. 11 of the 12 race schedule, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be heading to Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia for the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m. AT. This marks the series’ fifth visit to the 0.333 mile oval that has been designed based upon Bristol Motor Speedway’s configuration.

    In the past, weather has been a factor as the race has been postponed a day twice in the previous four events.

    Like last week at Barrie Speedway, everybody will have their eyes on the championship battle between Scott Steckly and DJ Kennington. Steckly, who won the championship in 2008, currently leads the points, 69 points over defending series champion Kennington after the Wild Wing 300 last Saturday.

    Steckly has ran decent on the 0.333-mile oval in the past, scoring a second place finish last year. Before that, he only had one other top-10 at Riverside, which came in 2007 with a sixth place finish. He has also led a total of 182 laps at Riverside.

    In contrast, Kennington won last year’s race and finished third in his track debt in 2007. He has led a total of 194 laps, also.

    Other drivers who have won at Riverside include Mark Dilley, Andrew Ranger and Don Thomson Jr.

    Coming off his third career win at Barrie Speedway, Dilley is looking for another solid weekend to possibly crack the top five in points. He won the inaugural series race at Riverside in 2007 and has since finished fourth, third and eighth.

    Thomson Jr. won at Riverside in 2008 while finishing third last year. Thomson is looking for his eighth series win and is hoping experience from leading 53 laps at Riverside over the years will help.

    Ranger, who has been running a limited schedule this year, is not scheduled to participate in this weekend’s action.

    While everybody will have their eyes on the point standings and the lead pack, another battle going on is the Rookie of the Year battle. Currently, L.P Dumoulin leads Isabelle Tremblay by two points, John Farano by seven and Steve Mathews by 13. According to the mathimatics of the award, all of these drivers have a possibility to still win it.

    The rookie points system is a simple one. The top-finishing rookie driver earns 10 points, the next collects nine points and so on down the line to one. Should there be more than 10 rookies in the field no driver earns less than a single point.

    Originally this year, Dumoulin was only going to run the road courses, though the rookie standings have him now running the final oval events of the year.

    “(Oval racing) is really different from road courses,” the Trois-Rivieres, Quebec native. “The driving style and car setups are nothing alike, but I enjoyed it. All of the teams have been really helpful with information. That was a big help.”

    Meanwhile for Tremblay, it has been something that’s been on her mind all year.

    “That was one of our goals from the beginning,” Tremblay, who scored her best career finish of eighth at Mosport earlier this year, said. “We’re in good position to win it with a little luck.”

  • NCAT: Frustrations Take Over Barrie Speedway, Penalties Handed Down

    NCAT: Frustrations Take Over Barrie Speedway, Penalties Handed Down

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    NASCAR announced that two NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers and three crew members have been penalized as a result of rules violated at Barrie Speedway on September 10thafter racing was over.

    J.R. Fitzpatrick and Kerry Micks were found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – aggressive driving and excessive speed on pit road after the race) of the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series rule book.  They are both on probation for the final two races of schedule and remain on probation till September 28, 2011. Both drivers sped down pit road after an on-track altercation on the final lap where Micks spun out Fitzpatrick due to earlier contact.

    Matt Vanderwal, crew chief for Don Thomson Jr. was found in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area) and 9-4 (the crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his team members). Vanderwal has been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.

    Josh Turner, crew member for No. 3 of Jason Hathaway, and Chad Turner, crew member for Don Thomson Jr., were both found in violation of Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock-car racing – involved in an altercation (fighting) in another competitor’s pit area). Both have been fined $500, suspended from the final two races and placed on probation until December 31, 2011.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the track this weekend for the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

  • NCTS: Mark Dilley Comes Out Victorious After Last Lap Incident in Wild Wing 300

    Short tracks always seem to bring close racing and the Wild Wing 300 presented by Independent Electric Saturday night at Barrie Speedway for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was no exception as there would be contact with the leaders in the final laps.

    On the green-white-checkered restart, Kerry Micks and JR Fitzpatrick would start side-by-side. With history being on their side with past incidents between them, the eventual contact of Micks spinning Fitzpatrick around was no surprise.

    Though amidst the smoke, Mark Dilley would find his way past both Mick sand Fitzpatrick to score his third career victory.

    “I just thought I’d stay as close as I could to everybody and that way by the time they went, I would go through,” he said. “They just tapped just going down in 1 there and I just seen smoke and I just turned left as hard as I could and floored it and we got lucky.”

    Dilley had qualified the car in the seventh position, though ended up starting at the back of the 22 car field to start the race. This mark’s Dilley’s first win since Cayuga Motor Speedway in 2008.

    “Its good to win in your hometown and all that,” he said in victory lane. “Barrie Speedway has been good to me obviously over the years with the racing. It was just a good race. The guys did a great job on the pit stops. We had to go to the back at the beginning and I just tried to keep my head and not knock the wheels off it and it just worked out good.

    “I can’t thank Rheem, PartSource, all the sponsors enough. They make it possible. They’ve been sticking with us through thick and thin so I mean this one’s all for them.”

    Jason Hathaway would grab second and Kerry Micks would end up third at the end of it all.

    “We started 12th and tried to be real calm coming through and I think we did a real good job there,” Micks said afterwards. “We got all the way up to the lead there without too much damage to anything or anybody. J.R. goes through my spotter and says, ‘Let’s just have a nice clean race here’ and I said, ‘Okay. That sounds good to me.’

    “And we go into the second corner and he puts me completely sideways and you know that’s just not right. When you got your man’s word to say something like that and I said okay, and just didn’t happen. He put me sideways and I said, ‘I’m not taking that’.

    “Then we’re going down the front straightaway and he puts me in the front wall. I’m passing him on the outside and he puts in the wall. I said, ‘What are you thinking?’

    “Anyways, I don’t want to race that and its just too bad, but I don’t take any…..”

    Don Thomson Jr. would come home fourth followed by Jeff Lapcevich, Brad Graham, DJ Kennington, Joey McColm, Fitzpatrick and Chris Raabe. Kennington would rally back to a seventh place finish after spinning to bring out the final caution of the evening.

    Meanwhile Kennington’s points rival and the pole sitter, Scott Steckly, would lead 147 laps before having a wheel issue, which caused him to finish 15th. Steckly now leads Kennington by 69 points with two races remaining.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be back in action next weekend on September 17th with the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway.

     

    Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
    1 7 9 Mark Dilley Rheem/Exide Dodge 310 185 5 Running
    2 11 3 Jason Hathaway Snap-on Tools/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge 310 175 5 Running
    3 12 02 Kerry Micks Dickies/Beyond Digital Imaging Ford 310 170 5 Running
    4 2 8 Don Thomson, Jr. Farmers Feed Families Dodge 310 160 Running
    5 8 23 Jeff Lapcevich Tim Hortons Dodge 310 155 Running
    6 6 19 Brad Graham Holmar Plumbing Dodge 310 150 Running
    7 5 17 D.J. Kennington Castrol Edge Dodge 310 146 Running
    8 14 50 Joey McColm Espar Dodge 310 142 Running
    9 9 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick Equipment Express Chevrolet 310 143 5 Running
    10 15 01 Chris Raabe * Canadian Tire/MotoMaster/Sylvania Dodge 309 134 Running
    11 18 07 Isabelle Tremblay * Groupe Beton Brunet/ADF Diesel Ford 307 130 Running
    12 17 55 Dexter Stacey Bully’s Truck Stop Dodge 302 127 Running
    13 19 47 L.P. Dumoulin * Maskimo/Somavrac Dodge 302 124 Running
    14 1 22 Scott Steckly Canadian Tire/MotoMaster Dodge 285 131 10 Running
    15 10 60 Ron Beauchamp, Jr. Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge 267 118 Running
    16 3 15 Steve Mathews * Bill Mathews Motors Ford 231 115 Accident
    17 20 5 Noel Dowler * EMCO/Whitemud Mechanical Dodge 218 112 Accident
    18 13 21 Jason White A&W Cruisin’ The Dub Dodge 205 109 Accident
    19 22 59 John Farano * Tower Motorsports Dodge 183 106 Accident
    20 16 00 Pierre Bourque Aaron’s Dodge 143 103 Steering
    21 4 7 Pete Shepherd, III Hy-Tech Drilling/Nat’l Exhaust Dodge 131 100 Engine
    22 21 97 Hugo Vannini * Vannini Motorsports Ford 250 97 Accident

  • Race No. 10 of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Schedule: Wild Wing 300 at Barrie Speedway

    For race no. 10 of the 12 race schedule, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be heading to Barrie Speedway for the Wild Wing 300. This marks the seventh event for the series at the venue.

    With only three races left on the schedule, the championship battle is coming to a close as Scott Steckly leads DJ Kennington by 84 points.

    Both have had success at Barrie as the pair of them have won five of the six races so far at the 0.333 mile tri-oval in Barrie, Ontario.

    Kennington, who has won three of those five races, has led a total of 323 laps at Barrie Speedway and is the defending series champion.

    Steckly, who has won two of those five, has led a series-high total of 511 laps and picked up his 10th series victory back in July at Motoplex Speedway, to tie Kennington second on the all-time win list.

    The only other driver who has won at Barrie Speedway besides the pair of them is Don Thomson Jr., who picked up a win in 2009 while finishing second last year. Thomson Jr. is another driver to expect up front at Barrie as he has led 409 laps and has never finished outside of the top five at the track.

    While eyes will be on the guys who have done well at Barrie in the past, it marks the return of Pete Shephard III to the series. Shephard III, who is only running a select group of races in 2011, won in his most recent start in Saskatoon with a bump-and-run on Kennington.

    “He’s gotten me twice this season,” Kennington said. “In Saskatoon, I guess anything goes on the last lap, but rest assured I’ve got my eye on him.”

    “(Kennington) is a great driver probably one of the best ever from Canada,” Shepherd said. “He hasn’t won all those races that he has by just riding around in circles. If the roles had been reversed that last time, he would have done the same as I did.”

    Shephard has only competed at Barrie Speedway two times before, finishing eighth in 2008 and third last year.

    “I like racing at Barrie,” he said. “It’s close quarters, but it’s always a lot of fun to get out there with a bunch of drivers who know what they’re doing.”

  • Race No. 9 of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Season: NAPA Autopro 100 in Montreal

    For race no. 9 of the 12 race schedule, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be heading to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the NAPA Autopro 100. This marks the fifth and final road course for the Canadian Tire Series drivers this year and fifth time they’ve been to this particular track in series history.

    In two of the races on the 2.709-mile road course, Andrew Ranger has two victories, including one last year that came as a result of a  controversial last lap wreck.

    On the last lap, Ranger and Jason Bowles went into turn 10 side-by-side, where contact forced Ranger outside of the racing groove. Then down in turns 13 and 14, contact was made sending Bowles into the wall.

    “I don’t talk a lot about it,” Bowles said recently. “I know what he did. He knows what he did and things like that come back to you at some point.”

    Bowles, a native of Ontario, California, is looking for his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victory after competiting in the NASCAR K&N West Series and winning four road courses as well as the 2009 championship. This weekend’s race will mark his fifth start in the Canadian Tire Series.

    Ranger, meanwhile, is looking for his 14th Canadian Tire Series victory and 11th road course win. He has one road course victory this year, which came at Toronto in July. The 2-time series champion is an accomplished road racer as to go with the wins in 2008 and last year, he finished second in 2007 and 2009 in Montreal.

    The only other two drivers to win at Circuit Gilles Villenueve are J.R. Fitzpatrick and Kerry Micks.

    Fitzpatrick, a native of Cambridge, Ontario, won the 2009 NAPA Autopro 100 while finishing 18th last season due to mechanical problems early in the race. He has led the most laps at Montreal (42) and five of his six career wins have come on road courses.

    Micks, a native of Mount Albert, Ontario, won the first race in Montreal in 2007 and has since scored a pair of thirds, along with a sixth last season. Micks has two road course victories.

    Though the driver to watch this reason is Robin Buck, who is a road course instructor. Earlier this season, he scored his first Canadian Tire Series victory at Circuit ICAR in June, followed by a win at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres on August 7th. He has had success at Montreal, too, as he finished third in both 2007 and 2010.

    As the seaosn draws to a close, everybody will also have their eyes on the championship as Scott Steckly comes into this weekend leading D.J. Kennington by 47 points.

    Steckly’s best finish at Montreal came in 2008 when he finished second, to go with the fifth in 2007 and fourth last year. The 2008 series champion has been on a roll as he has finished inside the top five in seven of the last eight starts.

    Meanwhile for Kennington, the defending series champion, he finished fourth in Montreal three consecutive times before finishing 28th in 2010.

  • Robin Buck Conquers GP3R 100 at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres in the rain

    Being a road course instructor has it perks as Robin Buck was able to use those skills on his way to dominating the GP3R 100 at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres on Sunday. This marks the second win of the season for the driver from Campbellville, Ontario.

    Buck quickly made his way to the front, passing L.P. Dumoulin on lap six and led the rest of the event on the 1.53-mile temporary street course. Dumoulin was able to take the lead early in the going on lap two when pole sitter Andrew Ranger made a pit stop due to not having good visibility. Ranger was able to work his way back through the field and finish in second after winning the three previous races at Trois-Rivieres.

    The event saw two cautions as the first was for J.R. Fitzpatrick and Dave Thorndyke making contact on lap 11, followed by a second caution at lap 35 for debris. The second caution set up a green-white-checkered finish in the 40 lap race, in which Buck was able to hold off Ranger.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly finished third after solidly running in the top 10 throughout the entire the race following a 20th place finish in Saskatoon. Jeff Lapcevich finished fourth, followed by Dumoulin, Jason White, Derek White, John Farano, DJ Kennington and Dave Connelly. With his finish of third, Steckly extended his points lead to 47 points over Kennington.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is in action next on Saturday, Aug. 20 for the NAPA Autopro 100 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

  • Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

    Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

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    After qualifying in the second position, everybody knew that Andrew Ranger would be strong so it was no surprise when he won the Streets of Toronto 100.

    Ranger took the lead on lap 12 after Jason Bowles, who started on pole and led the opening 11 laps, had a spark plug problem. The result was Ranger scoring his 18th NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win and second in a row in Toronto while Bowles got an 11th place finish.

    “I’m really happy to be on the podium again like that in first position,” he said. “We came here with the goal to win and its what happened. I really proud for Dave Jacob. He prepared me a really good car this weekend and to have PVH on board and Dodge to do those two events in Ontario and Quebec, I’m so happy just to be here on the podium first. It’s just something that’s unbelievable, but its always been a big goal.

    “I was trying to be patient and my plan was to be behind Jason the whole race and do something at the end, but I think Jason had something with his engine and I was able to pass him on the straightaway. Other than that, I tried to save my car all race long. A couple places where I slide a lot, I burned the rear tire and I was nervous because I knew at the end every time I came here, a caution came out with three laps to go. I was trying to be patient and save my rear tire and it happened again – the caution came out. I was nervous. I saw Scott right there, tried to do a little move on the outside.”

    Series points leader Scott Steckly stayed in the top five the entire race after starting third to finish second.

    “It was a definitely a good day for the Canadian Tire Dodge,” he said. “We ran in the top three all day; we were just patient. I was trying to save the car for the end of the day and we definitely still had a good car at the end. I was better than Andrew in a few spots and thought I might be able to get him there, but all in all, second is a good day.”

    Road course expert Robin Buck finished third, followed by Kerry Micks and D.J. Kennington

    “Well, it was pretty good,” he said. “I knew starting back in seventh I had to be patient. Typically here we get a lot of cautions and the cars go away quick, especially near the end, so my strategy this year has been pretty simple – just be really patient, as long as possible, and its been working out. The Quaker State Dodge did really well today. We passed a lot of cars at the end and a lot of breaks, just watching for other people’s weak spots on the track and making our moves when I had to. At the end, I think Micksy must’ve had a problem or something because he came in, just slowed up and was able to get by him.”

    After making the engine change yesterday before qualifying, Mark Dilley came home to a sixth place finish, followed by L.P. Dumoulin, Dom Thomson Jr., Peter Klutt and Brad Graham.

    Championship contender J.R. Fitzpatrick looked to finish second late in the going, however had to come to pit road under the final caution for a flat tire. As a result, he finished 19th, which has him now sitting third in points, 108 points behind Steckly. Kennington moved to second behind Steckly, now 80 points back.

    The race had three full course yellows, while having a bunch of minor incidents in between.

    The first full course yellow came out on lap three when Joey McColm made heavy contact with the turn five wall after contact with another car. Under this caution, Steve Mathews brought his car down pit road and parked it due to breaking an axle.

    The second full course yellow came out on lap 12 when Isabelle Tremblay and Dexter Stacey wrecked while battling for 14th. Tremblay was done for the day, while Stacey continued soildering on to a 12th place finish. Under this caution, the No. 3 team made a driver change as Kevin Dowler jumped in the ride, replacing Jason Hathaway, who broke his wrist a couple weeks ago. Hathaway was credited with a 20th place finish.

    The last full course caution came on lap 31 when Jason White stalled in turn eight and had to be pushed off of the track.

    The next race for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the A&W Crusin’ The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway and Event Park on July 23rd.

  • NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

    NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

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    Jason Bowles ready to go out and practice.

    Jason Bowles, the one lone non-Canadian driver in the 33 car field, won the Keystone Light Pole Award with a lap of 1 minute, 16.260 seconds to break Andrew Ranger’s track record.

    “It was a good lap,” he said. “When we first went out, there was a little bit of speedy dry on the track, so it was a little bit tricky to get through that section on the second lap. But the car’s pretty good. It’s good to have Fuel Doctor on board this week and get the pole for them, our first one of the year. My guys have brought me a great car. I think it’s going to be a great race. Andrew and Scott will be tough tomorrow. We’re going to go out and I think we’re ready.”

    The pole marks the first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole for the driver from Ontario, California. Bowles has been a successful road course racer as he has nine K&N Pro Series West wins on road courses.

    Ranger, who set the record at 1:16.659 last year, qualified second for this weekend’s race with a fast lap of 1:16.526.

    “Well, I think its been alright,” he said. “I think we have a really good car. Jason is a little bit quicker than us, but its going to be a good race tomorrow. It’s a long race, a lot of things can happen here in the streets in Toronto. But above that, I think we’ve got a really good car for tomorrow.”

    The pair, Bowles and Ranger, finished 1-2 in last year’s race with Ranger coming out the winner.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly, meanwhile, qualified third with a lap of 1:17.002.

    “It was just another qualifying run,” he said afterwards. “Toronto isn’t one of our best tracks, that’s for sure. We put a lot of extra resources in it trying to get better here and car’s been good here so far so we’re just happy to be starting upfront.”

    Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr. rounded out the top five. Defending series champion D.J. Kennington qualified sixth, followed by Robin Buck, Peter Klutt, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jeff Lapcevich. Louis-Phillippe Dumoulin was the highest rookie in 11th.

    After crashing during practice, John Farano, Noel Dowler and Ray Courtemanche Jr. did not  attempt to qualify as they were still repairing their cars.  Hugo Vannini and Kennington were also involved in wrecks, however both made a qualifying attempts with Kennington ending up 6th and Vannini in 30th. Kennington’s team continued repairs after qualifying, which could see Kennington starting at the rear as a result of unapproved changes.

    Many teams experienced mechanical difficulties during practice as Micks stalled during practice, Mark Dilley made an engine change although he qualified 14th and Jason White changed a drive train before qualifying 18th. None of the above will have to drop the rear as their changes were made before qualifying and therefore don’t fall under the Canadian Tire Series Impound procedure.

    The race is set for 2pm EST on Saturday, with it being shown on TSN on July 17th.

  • NCAT: Steve Mathews Look To Carry Early Season Success Into Toronto

    NCAT: Steve Mathews Look To Carry Early Season Success Into Toronto

    [media-credit name=”Mathews Motorsports” align=”alignleft” width=”225″][/media-credit]If you look at the season so far, a lot of people are pointing towards Steve Mathews as being the surprise as he has been running well at each track so far this year.

    “This season has been full of success and bad fortune,” he said. “We show speed almost everywhere we go, and are a car to contend with at the front of the field, but like anything else every little detail has to go as planned or flawless in order to succeed. I am happy with my showings on the oval tracks, but I admit there is work to be done on the road circuits. I haven’t really reflected on the season too much as of yet as it is still busy and ongoing, the main thing is that it all happens so fast, so you need to be prepared and ready well in advance.”

    Despite the lack of success on the road courses, Mathews says he is welcome to the challenge and looks to improve on them.

    “I do like the split of ovals and road course races, but as you can tell by my results I seem to like the ovals better,” he said. “The road courses are a new challenge, and in don’t mind having something new to try and master, especially with the racing being so fun on road courses. To be a good driver you need to be diverse, and that means successful on any course or terrain. With my ultimate goal of one day being in the Sprint Cup Series, where there is only 2 road course races, I wish we had more ovals in the Ontario region on the schedule to prepare myself, but it is what it is.”

    The New Liskeard, Ontario native got his start in racing at the age of eight in go-karts, though he says the passion was there even before that.

    “Ever since I was a little baby I would watch NASCAR with my dad,” he said.”One day we were outside at the beach and it started to rain so we went inside, with our luck the NASCAR race was under rain delay as well. With the rain delay, the television coverage switched to a kart race, and as soon as I saw driver’s helmets coming off and realizing they were kids, I wanted to race. I bugged my dad every summer to race, and he had researched the sport of go-karting and the summer I was turning 8 he put a go-kart magazine in my Christmas stocking and said lets go racing! So began the passion and disease of motorsports racing.”

    Through moving up the ranks, there have been certainly a lot of moments to remember, though not one stands out as according to the young driver.

    “I have no one moment I can pinpoint as my most memorable racing moment, I remember every moment,” the 20-year-old said. “I have very strong memories in racing from when I started, to my present time, to everything in-between. Every win, and every race is memorable for a certain reason and I intend on having many more memorable moments, including my first NCATS win.”

    The experience has also brought forth a bunch of lessons, which Mathews has carried forward with him to work up the racing ladder and work on to become better.

    “You learn many lessons in racing, such as: you can’t win the race on the first lap, gain respect from competitors, and patience,” he said. “The latter of the three is what I have been trying to work on, with no shortage of aggressiveness, I am learning to become more patient for the long races. Racing is full of lessons within the sport, as well as in every day life.”

    This weekend’s Honda Indy in Toronto marks the 11th start of the Mathew’s young Canadian Tire Series career, though his first at Toronto after running a limited schedule the past two years.

    “Heading into the Toronto Indy I am very excited and anticipate and eventful race for the fans,” he said. “Being downtown Toronto is always exciting in its own way, but going speeds of 175mph along the lakeshore is amazing. Heading into Toronto there was plenty of work to be done on the #15 Ford Fusion as it was unfortunately involved in a crash at Mosport causing heavy damage. Therefore, I would like to thank the crew and Bill Mathews Motors/Jack Mathews Body Shop for all the hard work enabling me to have a car to contend this weekend. The track looks fast and tricky, and I believe will will have a car to contend with in the tough NASCAR Canadian tire Series field.”

    The Honda Indy Toronto also brings a bit of added pressure as the series will be racing along side of the IZOD IndyCar Series, though Mathews says he doesn’t let it bug him.

    “I do not let the added pressure get to me though, once I am in the car there are no other factors that can affect me,” he said. “You need to perform at your best every event no matter how publicized or important it is, because you never know who is watching and what can happen.”

    With the success so far, including a top five at Delawere, Mathews knows the first win is coming for the No. 15 Ford Fusion.

    “I feel like my first NASCAR win is right in-front of me, and that with hard work and some lady luck I will stumble upon it in no time,” he said. “For a win to happen, all the pieces of the puzzle must fit together, we have been oh so close and I am confident I can secure a win for Mathews Motorsports in the very near future.”

    For more information on Steve Mathews, check out , search Mathews Motorsports on Facebook and Youtube and follow Mathews’ on twitter @15Mathews.