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SHORT TRACK MODELS by MR NASCAR Scott Steckly's 2009 CANADIAN TIRE NCATS "Avenger"

decals by BULLRING GRAPHIX!

For those not familiar with the Canadian racing scene I need to define a couple things.

First the NCATS Series:
NCATS was formed in 2007, from the old CASCAR series, through a purchase/takeover by NASCAR. Most races are held on relatively short tracks of 1/3 to 1/2 mile across the country, the exceptions being a race at each of Toronto Indy, the MOSPORT road course, and Montreal. The cars tend to be more stock-appearing than their NASCAR Sprint Cup counterparts, with a lower profile and wider track, plus lower horsepower. They kinda remind me of NASCAR in the 90's when there was more variety in the body styles, and a bit more of a stock appearance.

Next - The 2009 "Avenger":
A sharp-eyed observer will notice that altho the nosecone has a distinct Avenger look, the greenhouse is definitely Chargeresque... According to my guru, Rod McLeod (statsman), this happened because the Charger was being used in 2008, and the nose was an aerodynamic liability, being much more stock than the NASCAR NEXTEL cup version. MOPAR drivers petitioned for an Avenger nose, which would be more competitive with the Monte Carlo and Fusion entries. To save time and money NCATS approved adding an "Avenger" nose to the Charger body, with no other changes - hence the hybrid appearance. By 2010, they looked more like a real Avenger...

Now - The Sponsor:
Canadian Tire is an iconic brand in Canada, kind of a blend of NAPA, Alliance Auto Parts, BassPro (without the boats and motors) Lowes (without the lumber) and Walmart (without the food and clothes). It's been around since the early 20's and no town is considered complete without a Canadian Tire store in it, and preferably a Tim Horton's coffe shop next door... no trip to town is complete without a CTC stop to check the tools, auto parts and hunting equipment, while the better half browses the kitchen appliances, household and electronics sections.

Lastly - The driver:
Scott Steckly is a major star in NCATS. He began racing in 1992 and quickly caught the attention of the Canadian racing world with a Championship win during his first year of racing in the Street Stock Division. Moving up to Challenger, he won two Challenger Championships during his first year, then moved to the Late Model Division, finishing runner up at Sauble Speedway in his first year. Throughout the mid 90s, Scott raced throughout Western and southern Ontario, taking home a Goodyear Challenge Cup before moving to the Cascar Sportsman Series in 1997.

In 1999 Scott joined the CASCAR ranks and went on to win Rookie of the Year that year.He continued to compete in the CASCAR series until it’s end in 2006, when NASCAR bought the series and renamed it the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCATS) in 2007. He contiues to compete in that series, winning the 2008 and 2011 Championships.

This model represents Scott's 2009 NCATS ride. It is my first build using the Avenger body I mastered from a Revell Intrepid body, which Fred at Fred's Resin Workshop was kind enough to cast for me. Major mods included reshaping the nose, and shortening the greenhouse, wheelbase and rear deck. Also built a new hood for it. I took the master to Fred in 2010 at the NNL East. Turned out it was still pretty crude by Fred's standards and he did a great job smoothing and finishing areas I thought were "ok"... Thanks for the lesson in Quality Control, Fred. I'll do better next time!

I used the Revell Intrepid chassis, with 5 millimeters taken out of the wheelbase and the rear overhang shortened. Rod has since determined that it fits nicely on an AMT chassis, so I'll go that route in the future.

I got the body back from Fred at the 2011 NNL East and sat on it over the summer, due to other priorities and projects. I started it in September of 2011, and just finished it. I used Duplicolor white - from Canadian Tire, of course - over PlastiKote white primer - also from CTC. The red is Tamiya's TS49 rattlecan. While working on the body and chassis, I developed the decals for it and printed them on my creaky old ALPS unit...

Decal application was simple enough, I doubled up white layers on the red areas of the model, to minimize bleedthru, and once all had dried applied several coats of TS 13 clear to protect the decals and to allow me to buff it up with Turtle Wax (another CTC purchase...)

I was able to use the windshield and backlight from the Revell Intrepid kit, but made the side windows from mylar sheet. I scrapped the fan-style exhausts; just running evergreen plastic tubing from the h-tube on the exhausts out the right side. I added the tray on the dash to hold the electronics as stipulated by NASCAR. Rest of the chassis was box stock... oh - added plug wires, but passed on the oil lines in the engine compartment.

All in all it went together pretty well, and i am happy to have this piece of "racing Canadiana" in my collection! Scott finished 5th in points in 2009 in this car. Looking down the road, NCATS used the Challenger body in 2011, a la NATIONWIDE Series in the US. That would be a cool project.