Delaware, ON – Monday, September 25, 2023 – The 2023 APC United Racing Series presented by Castrol and Grisdale Racing Enterprises wrapped up another tremendous season as part of the Great Canadian Race Weekend at Delaware Speedway Saturday night. The title race saw a record seven drivers enter the 200 lap finale with a mathematical shot at hoisting the crown at the end of the night in a season that also saw a record tying seven different winners on the year to date, matching a 2021 mark.
Sophomore sensation Kyle Steckly held a slim five-point margin over Jo Lawrence, as 31 of the top Pro Late Models invaded the ½-mile. Jake Sheridan showed up 10 points behind, with J.R. Fitzpatrick 12 points behind.
There was also the matter of the brand-new NTN Triple Crown Series – the series within the series – and the Great Canadian 200 was the final leg of the championship, which included longer distance races earlier in the season at Sunset Speedway and Sauble Speedway. The standings for this title were even closer than the actual championship, as Steckly and Benedict were tied, with Fitzpatrick one point back, and the top-six drivers within three points.
Lawrence went out late in the time trial session and blistered a qualifying lap of 18.111 seconds to win the Epic pole and coming less than 2/10ths off the track record. Rookie Chase Pinnsonneault wound up second, with Sheridan, Steckly, and Stade rounding out the top five. Gemmel would start in the front row, with Stade alongside him. Fitzpatrick and Sheridan occupied row two, and Lawrence and Steckly were in row three.
Gemmel led the first few laps, but a lap seven yellow slowed the pace. Shortly after the restart, Steckly took control and picked up a bonus point for leading a lap. Fitzpatrick took over on lap 16 and led right until the second yellow on lap 47. The next few restarts looked much the same, as Steckly was able to grab the lead for a few laps only to watch Fitzpatrick cruise on by and start to walk away.
A few yellows would slow the first half of the race, and Fitzpatrick, Steckly, Gemmel, 2023 Delaware Late Model champion Connor Pritiko, and Jesse Kennedy were the top-five as the field rolled to pit road for the halfway fuel break.
The field would get back underway and run until a lap 140 yellow flag that would see a number of the leaders pit for fresh tires, and flip the field, as cars who had pitted in the first half of the event for their fresh tires filtered to the front.
Fitzpatrick restarted in 15th when the field went green and worked his way back up to the front, gaining his second career win in the Great Canadian race, and 12th career victory, good enough for second overall in series history.
With his early pit stop strategy Morneau was able to make up some track position and bring his ride home second when the checkers fell. Lawrence was strong throughout the night and battled inside the top-five for most of the evening, but just didn’t have enough speed to match the eventual winner. A bronze medal was all the championship contender could muster on the night, ending up three points short of Steckly in the championship chase. Sheridan wound up fourth, and finished fourth in the championship standings, while Steckly finished fifth taking home the championship in just his second year.
Steckly talked about the execution of his plan, “I kept track of where the #78 [Lawrence] was. I think in the first half of the race I had a car as good as J.R.’s. I was able to get him on a few restarts and then he got by me, but again, I wasn’t going to race anyone hard, because as the point leader we had so much to lose. In the second half of the race, it was a little tougher to be conservative, because we were back in traffic, but I was still keeping track of the #78 and keeping the car out of trouble. The crew gave me a great car, and this was a championship for our entire team, and to do something like this in my second season is pretty cool. I was a little nervous this week leading up to the race, but everything worked out tonight. I’ve had a great opportunity to race for wins and a championship – it’s pretty awesome.”
Fans can follow Kyle on Facebook at @KyleSteckly on Twitter at @KyleSteckly and on Instagram at @Kyle_Steckly.
*Courtesy of APC Racing Series website