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.