Samet Ozkan picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Tim Hortons Candian Series career in the Thurday's EMCO 200 at the Delaware Speedway when his #67 LubeSource / Thorsons EVT Chevrolet completed all 30 laps under power.
The finish came in his 14th career series start. In the SCRL Tim Hortons Candian Series, it's the 1st for car #67 and the 10th for running at the finish. Across all the series in the SCRL, it's the 5th for the #67 and the 323rd for running at the finish.
Ozkan is a veteran in the SCRL, having competed for several years and has picked up a total of six career wins in various SCRL series, but has yet to find his first ever championship. Ozkan has previously completed in the Tim Hortons Candian Series, racing in Season 2 as he would pick up a career best of 2nd place in his first ever start at CTMP, before going on to score two more Top 5's and would finish a worst of 26th at Montreal and Riverside, and would place 8th overall in the point standings.
Coming back for redemption, Ozkan would look to finish one spot better then he did in Season 2 at CTMP, qualifying 32nd, he would find it hard to gain any track position and would finish where he started, just two car lengths ahead of his first last-place finish.
The entry list for the first time this season would be only the full-time drivers, twenty in total.
In qualifying, Cameron Hathaway would score his first career pole, posting a time of 20.648 seconds. Ozkan would struggle around the half mile track, posting a time of 21.010, while only 0.362 seconds off Hathaway's time, it would place Ozkan 18th on the grid. Starting last in the race was the #52 Best Buy Pieces d'Auto Dodge of CTMP race winner Noelle Holiday, who posted a time of 21.081, 0.433 seconds behind Hathaway's pole winning time.
When Thursday's race started, one driver would drop to the rear of the field, that being the #29 La Cite De Mirabel Inc. Dodge of Roger James, who had originally qualifying 14th, but forfeited that spot and pulled to the rear of the field on the pace lap due to unapproved adjustments.
When the green flag waved, James would trail for the first lap before knocking Ozkan back to last for the first time on Lap 2, a place Ozkan would remain for three laps before knocking the #09 Lake Excavating / Marshall's Dodge of Omar Gutierrez into last on Lap 5, a position he would hold for only two laps before knocking the #28 Schneider's / Metro Dodge of Jonathan Dayne into last on Lap 7. Dayne would struggle around the half mile track in his first ever attempt at racing on a short track, as he would remain in last for five laps before knocking the #8 Canada's Best Store Fixtures Dodge of Boston Jones into last on Lap 12, a position Jones would hold for three laps before knocking Dayne back to last on Lap 16.
Dayne would again remain in last, this time for only three laps before knocking Ozkan back to last on Lap 19. Ozkan would fight both the track and his ill handling car over the final ten laps to try and get out of last but wouldn't be successful, finishing eleven seconds behind the race leaders.
The remaining Bottom Five were: 19th was CTMP last-place finisher the #4 unsponsored Fitzpatrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Zachary Fitzwater, 18th was the aforementioned #28 of Jonathan Dayne, 17th was the #8 of Boston Jones and 16th was the #09 of Omar Gutierrez.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #67 has finished last in the SCRL Tim Hortons Candian Series as well at Delaware.
*This was the first time the #67 has finished last in the SCRL Tim Hortons Candian Series as well at Delaware.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
20) #67-Samet Ozkan / 30 laps / running
19) #4-Zachary Fitzwater / 30 laps / running
18) #28-Jonathan Dayne / 30 laps / running
17) #8-Boston Jones / 30 laps / running
16) #09-Omar Gutierrez / 30 laps / running
20) #67-Samet Ozkan / 30 laps / running
19) #4-Zachary Fitzwater / 30 laps / running
18) #28-Jonathan Dayne / 30 laps / running
17) #8-Boston Jones / 30 laps / running
16) #09-Omar Gutierrez / 30 laps / running
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