Scott Dixon hoping to repeat last year’s success at the Honda Indy Toronto
Last year when Scott Dixon headed into the Honda Indy Toronto, he was set at trying to get himself back into the championship picture. The New Zealand native did just that, as he was able to claim the victory in both races as part of the double header weekend.
“Last year, we were having a bit of an average season to this point and then right before this race, we won the Pocono 400 and then came here to Toronto. We didn’t qualify too well, but managed to pass the other cars and come away with the victory,” Dixon recalled. “It’s kind of strange with a double header to dominate both days with how competitive it is, and how you a figure a wreck or strategy will take you out of one of them. But the next day, we grabbed the pole and went on to win the second race. It was pretty cool and it gave us an interesting distinction of winning three races in seven days. That definitely built up towards the championship in beating Helio. It was definitely a crazy season with highs and lows in the road to the championship.”
After pulling together some more wins and strong finishes for the rest of the year, Scott Dixon called himself champion at the end of the 2013 season, scoring his third career championship. While it was huge in the way of the comeback, it doesn’t mark the biggest title of his career.
“The first championship I was really young, 23 years old, naive and my life was pretty crazy in getting married, winning the 500 in May and then the championship,” Dixon said. “Now, I don’t think I can top that because my wife (Emma) wouldn’t be happy if I said otherwise.”
The beginning of this year didn’t start out how Dixon would’ve hoped as Chip Ganassi Racing seemed to off compared to their competition. However, a recent string of success has Dixon heading into Toronto with momentum on his side as he looks for another victory.
“It’s a great race for us,” Dixon commented on Toronto. “The fan support is huge. It’s great for our sponsors as it helped our sponsor, Target, kick off their launch into Canada (last year) as well. I think the circuit layout is perhaps one of the best street courses that we go to, and creates some of the craziest and best racing that we have all season because of the layout of the track. I think making it a double header for the fans is totally a great idea and makes for a great city. It’s a big city, part of the common wealth and I think that’s nice. I think the people here help make it great as they love our racing.”
Of course, one of the unique items about the event is the fact that it is a double header, which IndyCar implemented last year to add dates for the schedule – without adding more travel time for the teams. While it may seem simple in theory, Dixon notes that it makes for a lot of work for the crew guys between the two events.
“With expanding to a four-car team now, we travel with probably close to a 100, 120 people. They work through the night, especially with the double headers,” he explained. “The engine stays in the car, but everything else changes. The gear box, the uprights, the suspension down to everything. The race ends about 5 pm and mechanics work till 2 in the morning so we can qualify on the track the next day early in the morning. So it’s a lot of work to make it work.”
As Dixon continues to add to his accomplishments on the track, he also knows that he has his family behind him to support him, in the form of his wife Emma and their two daughters. Traveling right now is easy with them both being young, however Dixon notes that may change shortly with his oldest daughter Poppy turning five recently and starting school next month.
Though even with the tough days that he may have on the track and the stresses that may come in the future with traveling and a family, there’s one thing that remains true – Dixon is thankful to be in his current position.
“Even if I have a bad day, I still wake up and feel that I am very lucky to do what I do,” he commented. “It’s a very short list of people that are able to do this in their lifetime and I wake up thinking about racing, I think about racing when I’m training – racing is always on my mind. I’m thankful for being able to do it, and have my wife and kids with me along the way.”
L.P. Dumoulin breaks through for first oval victory in Saskatoon
He had won on a road course, however it was an oval victory that the Quebec native craved. Now, the wait is over as L.P. Dumoulin was able to score the victory on Wednesday night in the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 at Auto Clearing Speedway.
“Well, we had a great time out here,” Dumoulin commented post-race. “The car wasn’t the way we wanted it to be at the beginning of the race, but the WeatherTech Canada/BelleMare car ended up being really good near the end of the race because my team did a really good strategy. We opted to pit earlier to put new tires on and ended up babysitting the car the whole race. I mean, fortunately, there was no cautions for a long time so nobody could put tires on and at the end, we ended up a green-white-checkered. Some people just pitted to get tires and I ended up being second.
“From then on, I was just going all out for two laps and we ended up winning this race with the WeatherTech car.”
When a caution came out with under 10 laps to go, Dumoulin was one of the two drivers that elected to stay out while the rest of the lead lap drivers pitted before the green-white-checkered. His team made the right call as Dumoulin was able to clear Joey McColm on the restart and hold off a late race charge from Jason Hathaway to claim the victory.
“I was really happy about it,” Dumoulin said. “I guess my car looked like a little rabbit with all those wolves trying to catch up. They had new tires, but three laps is not enough. We ended up being lucky enough to put everything down and win the race. It’s awesome.”
It marks the third career NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 victory for the driver of the No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/BelleMare Dodge and his first victory of the 2014 season. With the victory, Dumoulin also takes over the points lead, 10 points ahead of J.R. Fitzpatrick.
Jason Hathaway would finish second for his second-straight runner-up finish after finishing second to Andrew Ranger on Friday night in Edmonton.
“It was a great race,” Hathaway commented afterwards. “Really battled hard with Scott and all the guys early on and got some good track position, and ended up finishing right where we were with some new right-side tires. I was happy with finishing second. Coming out of here with a third in Edmonton and a second here, we’ll go home and regroup and get ready for St. Eustache. We always run well there, too.”
Pole sitter and defending race winner Scott Steckly would finish third after leading a race-high 153 laps.
“It’s definately frustrating to end up third with the car that we had tonight. It was pretty dominant,” Steckly expressed post-race. “We were just biding our time hanging out there and I thought with 50 to go there’d be caution, but we kept going and going so I knew there’d be one sometime soon. L.P. made a really good choice in putting the tires on early, which left us no choice but to put our tires on late in the race. I just have to thank all the fans for coming out and all my sponsors.”
Ranger and Alex Tagliani rounded out the top-five. McColm’s gamble to not take tires along with Dumoulin would hand him a sixth place finish, with Fitzpatrick, D.J. Kennington, Noel Dowler and Erica Thiering rounding out the top-10. Only seven drivers would finish on the lead lap as many drivers fell a lap down during the long green-flag run during the middle stretch of the event.
After qualifying second, Steve Mathews wouldn’t have the night that he wanted as he would finish 15th after being involved in an incident with Mark Dilley and James Van Domselaar at lap 103.
The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 can be seen on TSN on Saturday, July 26 at 3 p.m. The next race for the Canadian Tire Series is on Saturday, July 26 at Autodrome St. Eustache (Quebec) with the National 250.
Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 Results
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin | WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge | 251 | 47 | 4 | Running |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | Jason Hathaway | Pro Point/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet | 251 | 43 | 1 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | 22 | Scott Steckly | Canadian Tire Jumpstart Dodge | 251 | 43 | 2 | Running |
| 4 | 3 | 27 | Andrew Ranger | Mopar/Exide Dodge | 251 | 41 | 1 | Running |
| 5 | 6 | 18 | Alex Tagliani | EpiPen/Dicom Express Dodge | 251 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 8 | 25 | Joey McColm | Canada’s Best Store Fixtures Dodge | 251 | 39 | 1 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | 84 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | Autism Speaks/Equipment Express Chevrolet | 251 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 11 | 17 | D.J. Kennington | Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge | 250 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 7 | 5 | Noel Dowler | EMCO/MFP/Praxair Dodge | 250 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 17 | 72 | Erica Thiering * | Travel Alberta Dodge | 250 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 15 | 24 | Stefan Rzadzinski * | Goldmark Diesel/Christenson Dvlpmts. Dodge | 249 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 14 | 51 | Nick Jewell | Prairie Dodge Dealers Dodge | 248 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 13 | 56 | Larry Jackson | AVMIC/Stratafax/B&B Decals Dodge | 237 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 10 | 2 | Mark Dilley | Johnsonville/Leland/BDI Ford | 199 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 2 | 48 | Steve Mathews | MidWest Combustion/ Bill Mathews Chevrolet | 157 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 18 | 57 | Dennis LaForce * | LaForce Construction Chevrolet | 124 | 28 | Fan Belt | |
| 17 | 16 | 28 | Ian Admiraal * | Alberta Cancer Foundation Dodge | 113 | 27 | Electrical | |
| 18 | 9 | 14 | James Van Domselaar | Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet | 103 | 26 | Drive Shaft | |
| 19 | 19 | 97 | Jason Hankewich * | Paririe Storm Const/Get A Grip/Direct Buy Chevrolet | 0 | 25 | Did Not Start |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Scott Steckly, Time: 14.616 Seconds, Speed: 82.020 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 22 mins, 23 secs Average Speed: 60.874 mph Margin of Victory: .154 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 19-22 (Car 57 spin in turn #3[Freepass] [none]); 34-38 (Car 51 spin in turn #4 [none]); 40-46 (Car 5 spin in turn #2 [57]); 77-84 (Cars 72 & 28 spin in turn #3 [none]); 104-112 (Contact between cars 14 & 02 [72]); 116-120 (Car 28 slow on track [51]); 241-248 (Car 56 slow on track [84]). 7 for 46 laps.
Lap Leaders: Scott Steckly 1-79, Joey McColm 80-112, Andrew Ranger 113-127, Jason Hathaway 128-170, Scott Steckly 171-172, Jason Hathaway 173, Scott Steckly 174-245, Joey McColm 246-249, L.P. Dumoulin 250-251. Total
Laps Led: Scott Steckly 153, Jason Hathaway 44, Joey McColm 37, Andrew Ranger 15, L.P. Dumoulin 2. 8 changes involving 5 drivers.
Scott Steckly scores pole award for Velocity Prairie Thunder 250
After dominating last year’s event at Auto Clearing Speedway, it doesn’t look like Scott Steckly has slowed down at all as he would win the pole for the Velocity Prairie Thunder 250. Steckly posted a lap of 14.616 seconds (82.020 mph) to set a new track record on the 0.33-mile progressively banked oval. J.R. Fitzpatrick previously held the record with his lap of 14.665 in 2012.
It marks Steckly’s first pole of the season and his 13th career pole as he tries to bounce back in search of a fourth series championship following some early season bad luck.
Steve Mathews would qualify second as he looks to back up his podium finish at Autodrome Chaudiere earlier this year. Andrew Ranger, who is searching for his third straight series victory, would qualify third. L.P. Dumoulin and Jason Hathaway rounded out the top five.
Alex Tagliani’s misfortunes following his wreck at Edmonton would continue as he was involved in a wreck during practice. However, the Quebec native bounced back with a sixth place qualifying effort. Noel Dowler, Joey McColm, James Van Domselaaar and Mark Dilley rounded out the top five.
The Velocity Prairie Thunder 250 is set to go green at 7:30 p.m. MT.
| Pos | No. | Name | Sponsor | Best Tm | Best Speed | In Lap | Laps | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Scott Steckly | Canadian Tire/Jumpstart | 14.616 | 82.020 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | 48 | Steve Mathews | MidWest Combustion/Bill Mathews Motors | 14.765 | 81.192 | 2 | 2 | 0.149 |
| 3 | 27 | Andrew Ranger | Mopar/Exide/Magneti-Marelli | 14.774 | 81.143 | 2 | 2 | 0.158 |
| 4 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin | WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare | 14.807 | 80.962 | 1 | 2 | 0.191 |
| 5 | 3 | Jason Hathaway | Pro Point/Rockstar Energy Drink | 14.820 | 80.891 | 2 | 2 | 0.204 |
| 6 | 18 | Alex Tagliani | EpiPen/Dicom Express | 14.843 | 80.765 | 2 | 2 | 0.227 |
| 7 | 5 | Noel Dowler | EMCO/Rheem/MFP/Praxair | 14.894 | 80.489 | 2 | 2 | 0.278 |
| 8 | 25 | Joey McColm | Canadas Best Store Fixtures | 14.931 | 80.289 | 2 | 2 | 0.315 |
| 9 | 14 | James Van Domselaar | Steel-Craft Door Products/Elton | 14.946 | 80.209 | 2 | 2 | 0.330 |
| 10 | 02 | Mark Dilley | Johnsonville/Leland/BDI | 14.950 | 80.187 | 1 | 2 | 0.334 |
| 11 | 17 | D.J. Kennington | Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors | 14.973 | 80.064 | 2 | 2 | 0.357 |
| 12 | 84 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | Equipment Express | 14.982 | 80.016 | 2 | 2 | 0.366 |
| 13 | 56 | Larry Jackson | OMVIC/Stratafax/B&B Decals | 15.104 | 79.370 | 2 | 2 | 0.488 |
| 14 | 51 | Nick Jewell | Prairie Dodge Dealers | 15.120 | 79.286 | 2 | 2 | 0.504 |
| 15 | 24 | Stefan Rzadzinski * | Goldmark Diesel/CPL Homes | 15.150 | 79.129 | 2 | 2 | 0.534 |
| 16 | 28 | Ian Admiraal * | Alberta Cancer Foundation/Western Camp Service | 15.167 | 79.040 | 2 | 2 | 0.551 |
| 17 | 72 | Erica Thiering * | Edmonton Int’l Raceway/Travel Alberta | 15.436 | 77.663 | 2 | 2 | 0.820 |
| 18 | 57 | Dennis LaForce * | LaForce Construction | 15.864 | 75.567 | 1 | 2 | 1.248 |
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: New Hampshire
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski dominated the Nationwide race on Saturday and duplicated that feat on Sunday, leading 138 of 301 laps to win at New Hampshire.
“Once again,” Keselowski said, “It’s time for the celebratory champagne. But there’s a big difference in breaking out the champagne and breaking open the champagne.
“The No. 2 Penske Ford featured the Redd’s Apple Ale paint scheme. So, at least for one race, I bleed ‘Redd.’”
2. Jeff Gordon: Gordon led late at New Hampshire but ran out of gas, settling for a 26th. He remains on top of the Sprint Cup points standings with a 12-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“This win really solidified Brad Keselowski’s status as a title contender,” Gordon said. “Of course, that was also evident at Kentucky a few weeks back, where Brad sliced his hand open before declaring his readiness for the playoffs by saying, ‘Let’s cut to the Chase.’”
3. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson suffered two flat tires early in the Camping World RV Sales 301, the last of which sent him into the wall, ending his day after just 11 laps. He finished 42nd and is now fifth in the points standings, 72 behind Jeff Gordon.
“Goodyear says we had our tires underinflated,” Johnson said. “I say Goodyear has their egos overinflated.
“Obviously, there were a lot of tire changes in Sunday’s race. But nobody needs to ‘re-tire’ more than Morgan Shepherd.”
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt placed 10th at New Hampshire in a race dominated by Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in the top 10, and is now second in the Sprint Cup points standings, 12 behind Jeff Gordon.
“Brad Keselowski was awarded a New England lobster for the win,” Earnhardt said. “What has claws, a tail, and horns? Teresa Earnhardt.”
5. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished 13th at New Hampshire as Roush Fenway teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took ninth. Edwards is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 96 out of first.
“You’ve probably heard about the formation of the Race Team Alliance,” Edwards said. “For heaven’s sake, don’t call it a ‘union.’ If you dare say ‘union’ at most NASCAR events, you may find yourself choked by a Confederate flag.”
6. Matt Kenseth: Still in search of his first win this season, Kenseth took fourth at New Hampshire, leading 12 laps. He is fourth in the points standings, 49 out of first.
“After Hendrick Motorsports won four straight races,” Kenseth said, “Ford has now won the last four. Toyota hasn’t won a race since Talladega back in May. I’m not sure what Toyota’s are searching more for, speed, or answers.”
7. Joey Logano: Logano was running second with less than 100 laps to go when 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd made contact with Logan’s No. 22 Penske Chevy. Logano finished 40th, 90 laps down, while Shepherd took 39th.
“I don’t think Shepherd even knew I was there,” Logano said. “Heck, I’m not sure he even knows where he is. That must be why they call him the ‘Ageless Wander.’
“Shepherd is old enough to be my grandfather, and dumb enough to be my father.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch started on the pole, setting a Loudon track record of 138.130 miles per hour in Friday’s qualifying. He was fast on Sunday as well, finishing second behind Brad Keselowski. Busch is eighth in the points standings, 103 out of first.
“I finished as runner-up to Brad Keselowski twice at New Hampshire,” Busch said. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. Let me put that into perspective by quoting my brother Kurt when I say, “It’s okay to be second-best.”
9. Ryan Newman: Newman posted his second top-five finish of the year with a fifth at New Hampshire. He is seventh in the points standings, 97 behind Jeff Gordon.
“I’m not so sure about the formation of this ‘RTA’ deal,” Newman said. “I’ll say the same thing about that as I did to Rusty Wallace when I begrudgingly became his teammate: ‘I want no part of this race team alliance.’”
10. Kyle Larson: Larson came home third in the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire, posting his fourth top-five result of the year.
“Some say Morgan Shepherd is too old to be racing,” Larson said. “I think I’m in agreement. Shepherd made his Sprint Cup debut back in 1970, and although his age has increased, his speed hasn’t. So, when Shepherd takes to the track in 2014, it’s just like ‘old times.’”
