Vallée-Jonction (QC), June 11, 2023 – The Autodrome Chaudière in Vallée-Jonction was the host of an action-packed race last Saturday. Kevin Lacroix finished just shy of the podium in 4th place during the 300-lap Bud Light 300.
Lacroix was behind the wheel of the #74 NAPA Synthetic Motor Oil | Valvoline car on Saturday evening, in front of a full house. He finished the morning practice session in 8th position, then went on to set the 6th fastest time in qualifying a little later in the day.
Lacroix started the race from the third row and he wasted no time in moving up the field, battling with the competitors around him. By the halfway mark, he was in the leading pack, and was giving it his all to try to take the win.
“Our car was very fast, probably one of the fastest on the track,” said Kevin Lacroix. “It is quite challenging to overtake at Autodrome Chaudière. I was stuck running two cars wide for the whole race, which made it difficult for me to make progress and move up the field quickly.”
He went on to say that “I was hanging around in 4th place a lot, and when I got back up to 3rd, I didn’t have much time to catch up to the first two cars before the cautions. This scenario played out a few times. As for the restarts, I was starting from the inside line, but the outside line was a bit faster. Therefore I was almost guaranteed to lose a position on each restart.”
“We had a final restart with 4 laps to go. I was running in 3rd but lost my position at that point, but that’s life. I’m satisfied with the event, it went very well overall.”
Kevin Lacroix leaves Vallée-Jonction with valuable points in the bank, enabling him to maintain 3rd place in the overall standings with 122 points, 17 points behind the leader.
The next NASCAR Pinty’s event will be at Eastbound International Speedway in Newfoundland on June 24.