nalyzing The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 At Auto Clearing Motor Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 14, 2015) – The 2015 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 will conclude its annual western swing with the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 on Wednesday at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series and selected drivers at the track:
Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 Setup:
- With his win last Saturday at Edmonton International Raceway in the first leg of the annual western swing, Scott Steckly now has victories in eight of the nine seasons of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 competition. It also gave him sole possession of the series’ record for career oval victories with 17.
- Previous drivers to complete a sweep of western swing events include: J.R. Fitzpatrick (2007), D.J. Kennington (`12-three races) and Steckly (`13).
- Each of the first five races this year has produced a different winner. None of the previous eight seasons in series history has featured six unique winners across the first six events.
At Auto Clearing Motor Speedway:
- Opened in 2006.
- Has played host to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 each year since 2009.
- That 2009 inaugural event was the first appearance for the series in the province of Saskatchewan.
- Scott Steckly won the inaugural 2009 race, and was victorious again there in 2013.
- The previous six events have produced four different pole winners and race victors.
- Mark Dilley, Jason Hathaway, D.J. Kennington and Scott Steckly have participated in all six previous events, and all four are expected to extend the streak this week.
- Dodge has been the winning manufacturer in all six previous events.
Auto Clearing Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 6 of 11
Track Layout: .333-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: progressive from 5-11 degrees
Race Length: 250 laps (83.25 miles)
TV Coverage: TSN – July 25, 12:30 p.m. ET; RDS2 – Aug. 8, 2 p.m. ET
Qualifying/Race Data
2014 Race Winner: L.P. Dumoulin
2014 Pole Winner: Scott Steckly
Qualifying Record: Scott Steckly, Dodge, 82.020 mph, 14.616 secs., July 16, 2014
Active Category Leaders at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway:Wins
- D.J. Kennington … 2
Scott Steckly … 2
- L.P. Dumoulin … 1
Poles
- D.J. Kennington … 2
- Scott Steckly … 1
Top Fives
- D.J. Kennington … 5
Scott Steckly … 5
- Mark Dilley … 3
Jason Hathaway … 3
Top 10s
- D.J. Kennington … 6
- Jason Hathaway … 5
Scott Steckly … 5
Laps Led
- D.J. Kennington … 336
- Scott Steckly … 323
- Jason Hathaway … 130
Laps Completed
- D.J. Kennington … 1,500 (all)
- Scott Steckly … 1,470
- Mark Dilley … 1,446
Select Driver Highlights:
Mark Dilley (No. 02 Johnsonville/Leland/Dickies Ford)
- Has three wins, three poles, 30 top fives and 49 top 10s in 87 career NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 starts.
- All of his wins and poles have come on ovals, where he has 39 top 10s and an average finish of ninth in 64 starts.
- Has participated in all six previous events at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway, where he’s posted four top 10s, an average finish of seventh and a best result of second in both 2012 and 2013.
L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)
- The 2014 NCATS Champion and 2011 Rookie of the Year has four wins, a pole, 20 top fives and 33 top 10s in 53 career starts.
- Is one of just two drivers with top-10 finishes in all five races this year and ranks fourth in points.
- Has a win (ACMS, 2014), 17 top 10s and an average finish of 10th in 28 career oval starts. Maintains a streak of 10-consecutive top-10 finishes on ovals.
- Has an average finish of seventh in three ACMS appearances, highlighted by his first career oval win last year.
Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet)
- Has six wins and 63 top 10s in 103 career starts. Is one of three drivers to compete in every race in NCATS history.
- Is the points leader on the strength of a win (Autodrome Chaudiere) and four top 10s in five starts.
- All six of his wins have come on ovals, where he has posted 46 top 10s and an average finish of eighth in 66 starts.
- Has five top 10s, an average finish of seventh and a best result of second (2014) in the six previous ACMS events.
D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge)
- The 2010 and 2012 NCATS champion. Maintains series record for career wins (tied-19), top fives (70) and top 10s (86), and is one of three drivers to start each of the 103 all-time events.Also ranks second in series history in laps led (2,754) and fifth in poles (10).
- Has a streak of 66-consecutive races without at DNF. Last DNF came at Riverside International Speedway in 2009.
- Sits fifth in points after five races with four top 10s and a best finish of third at Chaudiere.
- Sixteen of his wins and all 10 of his career poles have been earned on ovals. He has an average finish of sixth with 42 races led and 56 top 10s in 66 career oval events.
- Has two wins (2010, `12), two poles (`10, `11) and an average finish of third at ACMS, where he’s the only driver to finish top-10 in all six previous events held there.
Gary Klutt (No. 59 CLT Corp./Trailcon Leasing Dodge)
- Has a win, two poles and eight top 10s in 11 career NCATS starts.
- Ranks third in points and is one of two drivers with top-10 finishes in all five races this year.
- Has a pole (Sunset Speedway, 2015), three top 10s and an average finish of 11th in four career oval appearances.
- This will be his first start at ACMS.
Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge)
- The 2007 and 2009 champion is tied for the series’ all-time wins lead (19) and ranks second in poles (15). Has 45 top fives and 64 top 10s in 77 career starts.
- Is sixth in points after five events with four top 10s and a best finish of second at Circuit ICAR.
- Has four wins, 15 races led, 33 top 10s and an average finish of seventh in 44 career oval starts.
- In three appearances at ACMS he’s registered finishes of eighth, sixth and fourth.
Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge)
- Has a series-leading three championships (2008, `11, `13) through the first eight years of NCATS competition.
- Owner of 17 wins, 14 poles, 63 top fives and 76 top 10s. His top fives and top 10s totals rank second all-time while his wins and poles sit third in the record book. Is the all-time leader in laps led at 4,253 and is one of three drivers to start each of the 103 all-time events.
- Has a series record 17 wins on ovals, where he’s posted 42 top fives, 49 top 10s, 46 races led and an average finish of sixth in 66 events.
- Has two wins (2009, `13), a pole (`14), five top fives an average finish of 5.5 across the six previous ACMS events.
Alex Tagliani (No. 18 EpiPen/CGI/CanTorque Chevrolet)
- Has two wins, six poles and 13 top 10s in 29 career NCATS starts.
- Ranks eighth in points despite missing the season opener to qualify for the Indy 500. Has top-five finishes in three of his four starts.
- Has a win (Sunset, 2015) a pole (Edmonton, 2014), six top 10s and an average finish of 12th in 14 oval starts.
- Finished fifth in his first career appearance at ACMS a year ago.
Other Driver Notes
- Joey McColm finished sixth at ACMS last year, tied for his career-best result.
- Erica Thiering recorded the first of her two career top-10 finishes in this event last year.
- James Van Domselaar recorded his best finish in 20 career starts last week at Edmonton International Raceway when he crossed the finish line ninth.
- Marc-Antoine Camirand posted his first oval top-five last week at Edmonton, and the second in his career overall.
Up To Speed:
- The 2015 season is the ninth for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1.
- The 2015 schedule features 11 races at 10 different tracks across five provinces.
- Rookie Gary Klutt won the season-opening Pinty’s presents the Clarington 200 from the pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 17.
- Jason Hathaway reached Budweiser 300 Victory Lane for the second year in a row at Autodrome Chaudiere on June 13.
- Alex Tagliani earned his first NCATS oval victory on June 20 when he won the inaugural Sunset Speedway event.
- Kevin Lacroix reached Victory Lane in just his second NCATS appearance when he won at Circuit ICAR on July 5.
- The western swing began on July 11 at Edmonton International Raceway with Scott Steckly winning in wire-to-wire fashion, a series first in an oval event.
- Following the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250, the series will return to Quebec on July 25 for the Lucas Oil National 250 at Autodrome St-Eustache.
