SCOTIA SPEEDWORLD: It was a night of tough racing and close competition, but one driver came out on top — and left with the points lead to boot.
Following a string of restarts in the Mr. Lube + Tire 200 at Scotia Speedworld, Ashton Tucker battled through the field and finally collected their first win of the year at the track, outside Halifax.
It was his second win of the season on the FGI Maritime Pro Stock Tour.
“There were a lot of good cars here tonight, and everyone was really close,” said the wheelman after climbing out of the no. 2 White Lightning Auto Centre-sponsored hot rod in Victory Lane.
“It was a tough race, but we battled hard on all those restarts and managed to get a win here. It feels good.
“We’d never won here yet this season, so it’s great to finally get one.”
The win also gave Tucker the points lead. After entering the race trailing by close to 10 points, he left Halifax with a 20-plus point lead going to the final race at Petty International Raceway, outside Moncton, in two weeks.
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The key, Tucker said, was patience and tire management.
“We just rolled around, saved our tires, and waited,” said the Brad Silliker Motorsports driver. “We fell back early and I’m sure some people thought we were going to struggle, but I knew we had a car to win.
“Once the competition caution came at lap 60, we got fuel, made a few adjustments, and just drove to the front.”
Craig Slaunwhite in the no. 99 was second and Nic Naugle, who battled and led some laps during the race, finished third.
Enfield’s Jarrett Butcher, in the no. 54 Superior Foundations/Atlantic Tiltload hot rod, finished seventh, tops among the local drivers.
Jordan Veinotte impressed in the 11V, coming home with a second straight top 10, this time in fourth. Austin MacDonald in the 13 was fifth.
Gage Gilby of Enfield in the no. 25G was having a top four run in the race until he was turned and wrecked in one of those late cautions that Tucker had to withstand.
Gilby wound up on the flatbed and would get a 15th place finish.
Shubenacadie’s Braden Langille also was having a top 10-like run in the no. 26 Coldstream Clear machine until he was involved in a late caution and couldn’t make up much positions on the restart.
He recorded a 12th place finish.
Steve Lively in the no. 30 from Shubenacadie and Alex Johnson of Enfield led the field to green at the start.
Lively would have issues but managed to get a 13th place result in the 18-car field, two laps down.
Johnson, in his final race of 2025 on the tour, got a 14th place finish four laps down as he gained valuable seat and track time to help him in the coming season.
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The race could have ended differently, but a penalty sidelined a strong run from fellow driver Cory Hall in the no. 83.
“I would have liked to race it out with him,” Tucker admitted. “We had a pretty bad car tonight, and I think we could’ve gone up and got him without that.
“But either way, we’ll take whatever we can get. We capitalized on his mistake tonight.”
The team now looks ahead to the next race.
“We’ll move forward to Petty and hope for another good one,” the driver said.
Hall broke a track bar late in the race and ended his race on the infield pit road. He would end up with a 17th place finish, 25 laps down.
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Livley (Shubenacadie, NS), Butcher (Enfield, NS) and Hall won their respective Atlantic Tiltload heat races, which set the field for the Mr. Lube + Tires 200.
Additional contingency cash and prizes were also awarded too:
Eastlink Fastest Lap Award: Cory Hall
R&D Performancentre Most Laps Led Award: Ashton Tucker
Swift Springs Hard Charger Award: Jordan Veinotte
QA1 Free Pass Award: Chris Hughes
Fivestar Hard Luck Award: Tylor Hawes
Lucas Oil Rookie of the Race: Alex Johnson
The Cross Roads Maritime League of Legends ran a 50-lap feature prior to the Mr. Lube + Tires 200.
Owen Mahar (Hubley, NS) was first to the checkers, followed by Chase MacKay (Bear Cove, NS) and Danny Chisholm (Port Williams, NS).
The Tim’s Corner Motorsports Bandolero Road Trip also entertained fans prior to the main event.
Ethan Hicken (New Glasgow, NS) picked up the overall win while Hicken and Bristol Matthews (Nine Mile River, NS) split the two feature races.
