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Posted by admin on May 22 ^nd 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Camirand Second in Dramatic Last Lap Action, Ranger Suffers Mechanical Failure at CTMP

Bowmanville, ON, May 22, 2023 – Paillé Course//Racing achieved a first podium finish this season, as Marc-Antoine Camirand almost made it to victory lane and scored a brilliant second place after an action-packed last lap. Andrew Ranger suffered mechanical failure early in the race and dropped to an 18^th-place finish.

Heavy rain showers hit the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, on Saturday, and forced NASCAR to cancel all track activities, including practice and qualifying. The starting line-up has been set per 2022 points standings, with Camirand therefore starting on pole position.

Third in the 15-minute shakedown Sunday morning, Camirand was confident he could repeat his September 2022 victory at CTMP. He led the first laps of the eBay Motors 200 and then went into a great battle for the first spot. After pit stops for left-side tires and fuel, Camirand was back in the field and quickly came back in the leading pack.

He took the lead back at lap 43 of 51, but he knew pressure was coming from behind, as his adversary had taken all four tires later in the race. “I lost a few tenths of a second to pass a lapped car, and I knew he was catching up. I did all I could to hold him off,” said Camirand.

The move for the win finally came at the last turn of the last lap, after a contact from behind sent the GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada n°96 Camaro wide into turn 10.

“I knew that move was coming, and, well, this is NASCAR. I’m not too disappointed. I would have liked to win back-to-back here, but it’s a good race for points. It’s a long season, and we’ll be ready for next race,” concluded Camirand.

His Paillé Course//Racing teammate Andrew Ranger had a much more disappointing day, as he was expecting a strong comeback after the last race. While Ranger had a brand new road course car prepared by Wight Motorsport, he was confident that he could achieve a great result for the first road course race of the season.

He didn’t have the chance to show how fast his GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada n°27 Camaro could be. He took the start from the eighth spot, but after only a few laps in the race, a broken sway bar forced him back to the pits.

“I went back on track with a lap down, and I have never been able to go back on the lead lap. It’s a shame because we had high hopes for the weekend. I look forward to going back on track at Chaudière, where I won last year,” said Ranger.

Paillé Course//Racing, Marc-Antoine Camirand and Andrew Ranger will be back in action on June 10^th, for the first race this season in Quebec, as the NASCAR Pinty’s series will be on the short-banked oval of Autodrome Chaudière, in Vallée-Jonction, QC, where Ranger and Camirand finished first and second last year.

Posted by admin on May 22 ^nd 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Heartbreaking End to a Promising Race for Thomas Nepveu at CTMP

Bowmanville (ON), May 22, 2023 – It was a challenging event for Thomas Nepveu at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this weekend as he attempted to complete his first NASCAR Pinty’s road course race commanding the #24 Evirum | Pétrole Bélanger | Home Hardware Nepveu machine.

It was a new track for Nepveu, who had never raced at the iconic Ontario facility, sometimes called Mosport. “I was looking forward to racing on this track,” said Thomas. “I had tested there a few weeks ago, and I was confident we would have a good race. Thomas was helped by Alex Labbé this weekend, as the veteran and 2017 NASCAR Pinty’s champion was tasked with spotting the young rookie.

The event went differently than planned, as inclement weather brought an early end to Saturday’s activities. With the qualifying session cancelled and the 2022 championship points used to build the starting grid, drivers had the option of taking to the track late in the day for practice. However, most teams closed shop instead, not wanting to take an unnecessary risk, and such was the case for the Jacombs Racing crew.

Not having competed in 2022, Thomas started 19th, at the back of the grid, in Sunday morning’s race. From the start, Thomas wasted no time and began making his way toward the pointier end of the field. However, at the beginning of the second lap, a competitor used Thomas’ car to make a turn. This dangerous maneuver resulted in a flat right front tire, which sent the young driver into the outside wall in turn two.

“I have to say I’m not happy about this situation,” said Thomas. “We had a great race ahead of us, and if that competitor had been patient, we could have gone up the field together. He ruined my race before it even started.

Nepveu was forced to retire, leaving valuable championship points on the table. The next event will be held at Autodrome Chaudière in Vallée-Jonction. This is a familiar oval for Thomas, who tested there last fall.

Posted by admin on May 22 ^nd 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

A Challenging Race for Kevin Lacroix at CTMP

Bowmanville (ON), May 22, 2023 – Kevin Lacroix finished fourth commandeering his #74 Adaptive One Brake Calipers | NAPA Auto Parts car during the NASCAR Pinty’s event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP) last Sunday.

The weekend didn’t go as planned as rain and fog invited themselves to the party on Saturday. While it seemed uncertain if the drivers would bring out their cars, the series elected to build the starting grid based on last year’s championship points, cancelling the qualifying session. The drivers had the opportunity to run a practice session later in the afternoon, but most teams decided not to take any unnecessary risks while the track was still wet.

Lacroix started the 51-lap eBay Motors 200 from the second position with Marc-Antoine Camirand at his side. Very quickly, he found himself in a thrilling battle with the leader for a good part of the race.

His success quickly turned into misfortune as he stopped in the pits on lap 15. Kevin left his pitbox too quickly, thinking that the order was given for a safe release while the team was still in the refuelling phase. This incident forced Lacroix to stop on the pit lane and go back on track without the right amount of fuel.

Lacroix had to return to the pits to put the missing fuel into the tank. Then a third and fourth time for tires. “We made an unscheduled stop, which cost us a lot of track time,” said Lacroix.

Then, on a restart with just over 30 laps completed, Kevin found himself behind a much slower competitor, “I tried to pass him, but we touched, and the front wheel was damaged. The car’s alignment was compromised, which prevented me from making my way up the field”.

He held on to the fourth place for the last few laps, not without pressure from Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, who was eyeing the position. Lacroix finally held on, collecting precious points in the standings.

The next NASCAR Pinty’s race will be held on June 10th at Autodrome Chaudière in Vallée-Jonction.

Posted by admin on May 14 ^th 2023 in News

Super Production Challenge series confirms more than 50 entries to its 2023 season

May 13, 2023.- Super Production Challenge series will begin its 2023 season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Bowmanville, Ontario) from May 19 to 21. This will be the first of five events (each consisting of two or three races) for about fifty competitors entered (more than 60 drivers in total).

On the official side, Super Production Challenge also wanted to hire staff with great experience and professionalism. Thus, after the announcement during the winter of the recruitment of Steven Hubert as Chief Steward, the series is pleased to confirm today the presence of Ronald Woltman as Deputy Chief Steward. He replaces Jean-Marc Lavoie in this position.

Ronald Woltman was Series Chief Steward for the last few years, a position he held, among others, in many motorsport organizations throughout his decades-long career as race official. He has notably worked in series such as the Honda/Michelin in Canada, the Indy Lights in the United States, in addition to having been a driver in Formula 1600 and in the Production class.

It should also be remembered that the series’ new Chief Steward, Steven Hubert, has 12 years of experience in Canadian motorsport. A volunteer in his early days at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, he was then a flagger and official. He has been Race director in various provincial and national karting championships since 2013, assistant race director at GP3R (since 2022), Porsche GT3 Cup Canada official (2014-15) and for a multitude of other series and events.

In addition to Steven Hubert and Ronald Woltman, Super Production Challenge also reveals the full list of its officials for the upcoming season. We find Dominic St-Jean (President), Patrik Wittmer (Team Manager), Charles Matte (hospitality and set-up manager), Luc Bouchard (timing and scoring), Marie-Jeanne Bouchard (Hospitality, timing and scoring assistant and false grid help), Brigitte Lemieux (registration and stewards help), Ludovic Landry (data analysis), Mike Nilson and Mary McClure (technical inspection), Jean-Pierre Moisan (data retrieval and Tech inspection assistant), Nicolas Gariepy (photographer), Adam St-Amant (social media) and Pierre-Alexandre Gauthier (videographer).

“We have a list of competitors exceeding 50 teams and representing more than 60 drivers. With all these great people, it was also very important to have a solid staff of officials and that’s exactly what we managed to put in place for this 2023 season,” said Dominic St-Jean, president of the SPC series. “I welcome them, drivers, teams and officials,” he adds.

Posted by admin on May 14 ^th 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

TOP 3 FOR KEVIN LACROIX TO KICK OFF THE NASCAR PINTY’S SEASON

Innisfil (ON), May 14, 2023 – Kevin Lacroix conquered Sunset Speedway in his #74 NAPA Synthetic Motor Oil |Valvoline car as he stepped on to the podium after an action packed race.

The 2023 NASCAR Pinty’s season kicked off at Sunset Speedway, a 1/3 mile oval track 40 minutes north of Toronto. It was the time to reconnect and get back to racing the most competitive field in Canada.

Lacroix slotted himself into the Top 5 right from the get-go in the practice session; “It was a new car that we had previously tested at Autodrome Chaudière” explained Kevin. “We were happy to get a top 5.”

The NASCAR Pinty’s drivers had the opportunity to try to set their best lap times during the qualifying session. Lacroix was back in fifth place again, starting from the third row for the 250-lap NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250.

As the green flag waved, the games had begun. Kevin was jostling between 6th to 4th place, fighting with Alex Tagliani and Marc-Antoine Camirand. The race was punctuated by a lot of cautions, especially during the second 125-lap segment in the latter half. Towards the end of the race, a red flag came out to put a temporary stop to the on-track action. Lacroix was now up in fourth position.

Demonstrating his patience around the last few laps, Kevin Lacroix moved up into 3rd place on the last restart with three laps to go. “I am very happy with the result, I was patient and opportunistic. We have collected a good amount of points. I think we secured a better result than what the car would have typically allowed for. We need to continue to get to grips with this new car to improve our performance on oval tracks.”

Kevin will be back on track next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the first road course event of the season.