Connor Pritiko Wins Great Canadian 300, Donates Winnings to Children's Hospital

Connor Pritiko won the Castrol Great Canadian 300 on Saturday night at Delaware Speedway. The $10,000 prize he won, however, will be going to a good cause.

Pritiko won the 300-lap APC United Late Model Series finale, taking the lead with 30 laps to go from Shae Gemmell. After the race, Pritiko and his family announced that they would be donating the $10,000 winner's share of the $60,000 purse to Children's Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre.

"The 10 grand we won from this race, we're donating to the Children's Hospital out here in Ontario," Pritiko told Racing America. "We've got a ton of donations from people over the past week or two. I think our goal was to get close to $50,000 in donations, so hopefully we get that or exceed it."

Pritiko had already spent much of the week raising money for Children's Hospital, including a visit to the facility earlier in the week. The grand prize from the race will add to the fundraising efforts.

"My dad came up with the idea," explained Pritiko. "My sister was in the hospital for a couple of weeks as a child and a couple of weeks recently, just having some issues. My dad thought, why don't we do a fundraiser to promote for the kids to the event but it's also for the kids? We showed up at the hospital Tuesday and got 120 over sick kids to sign the car. They brought me a bunch of luck, and it sure paid off."

The race itself was an up-and-down affair over the course of 300 laps for Pritiko. Adjustments throughout the evening allowed him to pick up speed, while the grind of the race wore down on the field around him.

On a restart with 33 laps to go, Pritiko lined up alongside Gemmell on the front row. Gemmell maintained the lead on the restart, but three laps later Pritiko powered to the inside of Gemmell on the backstretch and took over the top spot.

"At the start of the race, we really didn't think we had too much for them," said Pritiko. "She was fast all night, we made some changes, made it better and better. We ended up at the front of the pack and won the Great Canadian.

"I kind of messed up the start pretty bad, and I thought that was my one chance to get him on the top. It was really loose and I was struggling to hold on. He got loose off four and that was my chance and took it. He tried to get back to me, but we had a little bit more in the tank.

The win marked Pritiko's first career APC Late Model Series victory in his 12th start. Pritiko contended for wins several times over the course of the 2024 season, including a podium finish at Sauble Speedway last month. However, the first win had been an elusive one until Saturday.

"We've just had poor luck all season. We've been fast everywhere we've been, new tracks, old tracks. We've been one of the fastest cars here and had no luck. Now we've got the monkey off our back, and it's a feel-good moment.

The Great Canadian 300 also ended with a championship celebration for Kyle Steckly. Steckly finished seventh in the race, which was more than enough to secure his second consecutive APC Late Model Series title.

Steckly was in the mix for the lead around the 200 lap mark, battling side-by-side with Cayden Lapcevich for the win. With 85 laps to go, Steckly and Lapcevich made contact, sending Steckly into a slide which led to damage on his left-front after further contact with Pritiko as he maneuvered to avoid the incident.

Steckly would make several trips down pit road under cautions in the remainder of the race to repair the damage and salvage a top-10 finish, while Lapcevich's night ended after 224 laps with an engine failure.

"The night was frustrating to end that way, but we had a good car," said Steckly. "We just saved our stuff right until the end. Trying to make a move, and just a racing deal. that's part of it, it happened, and we'll move on, but overall, the year's been great.

"Four wins, this team has given me a good car every race. We were in contention again tonight. Super proud to go back-to-back here in one of the best series in North America."

Gemmell finished second, with Josh Stade, Ray Morneau and D.J. Kennington rounding out the top five.

-Photo credit: Koty Geyer

Castrol Great Canadian 300 Unofficial Results