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.”
