NASHVILLE, Tenn: The checkered flag will fly for the final time this season for the ASA STARS National Tour in Sunday’s All-American 400 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville with Rette Jones Racing and rookie Kyle Steckly looking to put an exclamation point on a solid inaugural season.
The driver and team will admit while showcasing speed when the gates opened for the season at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February, the duo had to exercise patience for the results.
Summer arrived, and the team put on the heat.
With their first victory together in July at Anderson Speedway in the Red Bud 400, the Rette Jones Racing has maintained their strength through the summer and fall and invade the historic Nashville Fairgrounds looking for their second win of the season on Nov. 3.
“I’m feeling good about the All American 400 weekend,” offered Steckly. “We continue showing speed and knocking off good finishes with our No. 30 APC Auto Parts Centres Ford Mustang and we are hungry to end the season strong.”
Fresh off a third-place finish in the ASA STARS National Tour’s most recent race at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway for the Winchester 400, Steckly hopes another endurance race will offer a flashback to July when patience and a fast race car paid off with a trophy and a checkered flag.
With experience at the half-mile short track in a Pro Late Model, Steckly relies on that experience, plus the countless hours he has spent since Winchester studying film and photos to prepare for his 10th ASA STARS National Tour start of the season.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this weekend,” added Steckly. “I’ve got a race under my belt there in a Pro Late Model, and I’ve been studying from past races. And the Rette Jones Racing team has been tuning on the car. Hopefully, it can all come together and end the season on a high note!”
A strong finish on Sunday afternoon will not only give the Mooresville, N.C.-based team some welcomed momentum for the off-season but also assist the combo in their goal of finishing second in series points heading to the season finale.
Following his second top-five finish of the season at Winchester, Steckly is tied for second in the championship standings with Cole Butcher and a 25-point gap over fourth place Austin Nason.
Steckly, the son of four-time NASCAR Canada Series champion Scott Steckly, is focused on delivering his third top-five finish of the season. He knows that a good finish means the points will take care of themselves.
“Points are really close; if we could finish top-three in points in our rookie season and collect Rookie of the Year, I would be pumped,” exclaimed Steckly. “We are gonna have to play it smart, make sure we collect stage points, and hopefully it all plays out in our favor.”
No matter what happens over 300 laps on Sunday, Steckly is proud of the efforts of his Rette Jones Racing team in his freshman season of the ASA STARS National Tour competition.
“We have had a strong rookie season with my Rette Jones Racing team,” sounded Steckly. “We definitely made a ton of gains on our No. 30 APC Auto Parts Centres Ford Mustang since the start of the year.
“We’ve grown as a team immensely. I’m proud of how far I have come as a driver, and I think we’ve shown in the second half of the season that we are a threat to win everywhere we go. Hopefully, that includes this weekend at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.”
With their sights set on another checkered flag to end the season, the team led by former ARCA championship crew chief Mark Rette is confident they can find themselves in the hunt again for the win this weekend.
“It’s hard to believe it’s the season finale,” offered Rette. “I am so proud of what we have been able to build with Kyle from the bottom to the top. Of course, the win at Anderson Speedway was huge, but we are hungry to win again, and Nashville would be the perfect place.
“It’s such an iconic race track. Tires will be important, as well as handling, but Kyle should be able to adapt well. It’s a stacked field for the final this weekend, so we need to be on our game and make sure our execution is at its finest so we can be in contention when it counts the most.”
Auto Parts Centres (APC) | Canusa will be the primary marketing partner for Steckly’s full ASA STARS season aboard the No. 30 Ford Mustang.
APC Auto Parts Centres | Canusa is a family-owned automotive parts business started in 1981 with over 50 branches stretching across Ontario. APC’s target market is purely trade-based, supplying garages, specialty installers, dealerships, and muffler shops throughout the province.
Auto Parts Centres takes full advantage of the marketing power of motorsports by sponsoring numerous race cars and speedways around the province. APC is the proud title sponsor in the APC Pro Late Model Touring Series that has been recognized as one of Canada’s top series.
In addition to his 2023 and 2024 APC United Late Model Series championships, Steckly’s accolades include six APC United Late Model Series wins, the 2024 BCA Bearings by NTN Triple Crown Championship, the 2023 Grisdale Triple Crown Champion and Gold Rush 123 winner, second-place at Oshweken Speedway with the NASCAR Canada Series on dirt, and winning the pole in the 2023 season finale Pinty’s Fall Brawl at Delaware Speedway in Delaware, Ont.
For more on Kyle Steckly, like him on Facebook (Kyle Steckly Racing) and follow him on Instagram (@kyle_steckly) and X | Twitter (@KyleSteckly).
For more on Rette Jones Racing, please visit RetteJonesRacing.com, like them on Facebook (Rette Jones Racing), or follow them on Instagram (@RetteJones30) and X | Twitter (@RetteJones30).
The 40th annual Curb Records | Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers All American 400 presented by U.S Tank is set for Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET
About Auto Parts Centres (APC) | Canusa:
Auto Parts Centres (APC) | Canusa is a family-owned automotive parts business started in 1981 with over 65 branches stretching across Ontario. APC’s target market is purely trade-based, supplying garages, specialty installers, dealerships, and muffler shops throughout the province.
Auto Parts Centres takes full advantage of the marketing power of motorsports by sponsoring numerous race cars and speedways around the province. APC is the proud title sponsor in the APC Pro Late Model Touring Series that has been recognized as one of Canada’s top series.
About Rette Jones Racing:
Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, Rette Jones Racing (RJR) was founded in 2015 with the intent of building a successful racing operation built around the fundamentals of hard work and a never-give-up attitude.
Owned by racers Terry Jones and Mark Rette, RJR plans to field a full-time entry in 2024 in the ASA STARS National Tour Series while also planning to field vehicles in the ARCA Menards Series platform and NASCAR respectively.
Rette Jones Racing also offers technical and setup intel as part of its technical alliance partnership program.
