I NEWS
APC UNITED LATE MODEL SERIES
Steckly, Lawrence and Fitzpatrick Earn Wins at Sauble and Sunset Speedways By Bryce Turner with files from Ashley McCubbin he second half of the APC Series season began with the late models visiting Sauble Speedway, on August 5. Junior Farrelly started on pole, following the re-draw, and held the top spot in the early running. On a Lap 19 restart, Kyle Steckly took the lead. Steckly controlled the point until the final third of the 150-lap race, when Josh Stade made the pass on a restart. Stade stayed ahead for 14 laps before Steckly returned to the lead. The battle went down to the wire, where Stade stayed side-by-side on a late restart before settling into second; contact with Danny Benedict then sent him spinning, collecting others. The race was ultimately shortened, due to track curfew, with Steckly winning; J.R. Fitzpatrick, Andrew Gresel, Chase Pinsonneault, and Shawn Chenoweth rounded out the top-five. Steckly’s first victory at Sauble
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made him the first driver with multiple wins this season. “We had a really good car that night,” said Steckly. “It’s a tight little bullring, it creates some really great racing…it’s hard to pass there so it creates some aggressive racing but I think it puts on a great show for the fans.” The Milverton, ON driver followed his win with a pair of third-place finishes, coming at Sunset and Sauble speedways. As the only driver with a top-five finish in each of the last three races, Steckly is finding momentum at the right time. “The crew’s been great, we’ve been really consistent, which was a big struggle for us last year, in our rookie season, we were really up and down,” said Steckly. “I’m proud of our team bringing a fast car to every track we go to and a lot of solid results. We’ve been kind of starting to points race here, getting closer to the end of the year.”
The Sauble swing is a place where the championship battle comes into focus, with the track hosting two of the final four races. Last season, a penalty against Steckly in the penultimate race helped increase the lead of eventual champion Fitzpatrick. This season, the Sauble races helped give Steckly the points advantage. “Last year, in the second-last race, we were really close to J.R. and I ended up getting sent to the back with about 20 to go in the race and it hurt my points battle a lot,” said Steckly. “Anything could happen and every point matters for sure…a lot more comfortable this year, being in the lead instead of chasing, so we can be a bit smarter and not take as many risks.” Steckly holds a slim five-point advantage over Jo Lawrence entering the finale at Delaware Speedway, with Jake Sheridan (-10), Fitzpatrick (-12), and Stade (-16) close behind.
