Erb Stuff - Erb Racing
Eighth Top 6 Finish for Steckly at Delaware

Parade Lap prior to start of the Great Canadian 300 at Delaware Sunday Sept 5^th

Komoka, ON. The Great Canadian 300 went off Sunday Sept. 5th at Delaware Speedway. The weather was hot and the crowd was one the largest in recent memory. The weekend got underway Saturday with time trials where Scott Steckly and the #22 Erb Group Pontiac posted the 4th fastest time of 19.578 seconds around the 1/2 mile track. Upon post qualifying tech inspection the #1 car of Peter Gibbons was found to be too low and was penalized to start at the back of the field of 35 cars for the start of the race on Sunday. Gibbons misfortune moved Steckly to the 3rd starting position for Sunday’s race.

It didn’t take long for the first caution on Sunday as race leader and current point’s leader Don Thomson Jr. spun out on turn #3 of the first lap. When the race resumed Steckly ran a strong 3rd until the caution came out again at lap #61. Crew Chief Ken Gropp made the call for a right rear tire, gas and a round of wedge. Only 3 lead lap cars chose to pit and as a result the #22 car returned to the track in 14th position. Steckly was still in 14th when the #23 of Jeff Lapcevich spun out in turn #3 on lap 93. Scott pitted again, this time for a left rear tire. Again Scott returned to the track in 14th position. By lap 137 Scott had worked his way up to 7th when the caution flag flew again. Many of the leaders who had not yet pitted came in to pit while Scott stayed out and on the re-start the #22 was in 4th position. For the next 100 laps the race went incident free and Steckly was as high as 3rd place early on but the car was getting loose and Scott began dropping positions. CASCAR rules only allow you to change 2 tires under caution one time during a race. In addition the 2 tire stop cannot be done with 50 or less laps remaining. Crew Chief Ken Gropp’s strategy of saving his 2 tire stop was almost in jeopardy until the #11 car of rookie Ron VanEs looped his car on lap #242. Prior to the caution Scott was in 9th place and in danger of being lapped. On the final pit stop the #22 pit crew was able to change 2 right side tires, add gas and gained a position, getting Scott out in 8th position. The race went green for the last 50 laps and Steckly was able to get by the #25 of Jim Lapcevich on lap #275 and the #7 of Sean Dupis on lap #289. The race ended with Scott all over the rear bumper of the #60 of Ron Beauchamp Jr., but Steckly had to settle for 6th place, his eighth top 6 in 11 races this year.

After the race Steckly commented “If we would have had a late caution we may have had something for the leaders at the end, but we’re happy with a 6th on a hot day like this.” The race was won by #1 Peter Gibbons who started last, second went to Dave Whitlock and the third podium spot went to Don Thomson Jr. who recovered from his early spin. Going into the final race the #22 car of Scott Steckly is sitting in sixth place in the season points. The standing are extremely tight as Scott is only 59 points out of 4th, but also only 3 points ahead of Mark Dilley for 7th position in the overall standings.

This week on Friday Sept. 10th the #22 Pontiac will be on display at Erb Transport’s terminal in Baden ON as The Erb Group of Companies celebrate their 45th anniversary with a BBQ beginning at 11:00 AM. Also on display will be Vernon Erb’s collection of antique International trucks and Farmall tractors. Please drop in for a visit.

In the drive for the 2004 CASCAR Super Series Championship, Scott Steckly and 22 Racing are supported by: The Erb Group of Companies, Thermo King of Eastern Canada, AW Millwrights, Jutzi Fuels, CPL Systems, Mr. Transmission (Guelph), Commercial Babcock, TB Woods, Stratford Motor Products, Classy Collectables, PCL Graphics, Duplicolour, Guyons Performance, Filtakleen, and Holloway Automotive.

The final race of the 2004 CASCAR Super Series goes Sunday Sept. 19th at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, ON. For more information contact kyle_erb@sympatico.ca. For more information on CASCAR, Kawartha Speedway, contact: www.cascar.ca, or www.kawarthaspeedway.com

RESULTS: APC / CANUSA GREAT CANADIAN 300
Round #11 // September 5, 2004 // Delaware Speedway
London, ON // 300 Laps // 1/2-Mile, Banked Oval

R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender

TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.004 seconds // CAUTIONS: 7 for a total of 47 laps // LAP LEADERS: #39 Dave Whitlock (1-74), #02 Kerry Micks (75-95), #52 Ron Sheridan (96-135), #4 Don Thomson Jr. (136-141), #19 Brad Graham (142-159), #25 Jim Lapcevich (160-185), #4 Thomson Jr. (186-245), #52 Sheridan (246-251), #4 Thomson Jr. (252-255), #1 Peter Gibbons (256-300)

CASCAR SUPER SERIES POINTS (UNOFFICIAL TOP 15) AS OF SEPT. 5, 2004: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Chevrolet / 1886); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (Chevrolet / 1869); 3. #39 Dave Whitlock (Dodge / 1829); 4. #23 Jeff Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1708); 5. #02 Kerry Micks (Ford / 1654); 6. #22 Scott Steckly (Pontiac / 1649); 7. #64 Mark Dilley (Dodge / 1646); 8. #17 DJ Kennington (Dodge / 1631); 9. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Dodge / 1608); 10. #19 Brad Graham (Pontiac / 1544); 11. #50 Pete Shepherd III (Dodge / 1533); 12. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Chevrolet / 1513); 13. #25 Jim Lapcevich (Chevrolet / 1468); 14. #55 Rob Graham (Chevrolet / 1445); 15. #88 Dave Jacombs (Ford / 1422)

Autograph session

Parade Lap

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