@hondaindy Archives

Posted by admin on Jul 16 ^th 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Kevin Lacroix on the verge of victory in the streets of Toronto

Toronto (ON), July 15, 2023 – Kevin Lacroix took to the streets of Toronto last Friday, finishing second to Alex Tagliani in the renowned ‘Toronto Indy’ event.

It was an exceptionally busy day for the NASCAR Pinty’s drivers, who had to take to the track for a practice session, followed by a qualifying session immediately afterwards. The event itself, the Tiffany Gate Grand Prix of Toronto, took place later in the afternoon.

Lacroix qualified in 4th place, starting from the second row of the grid. Right from the start, he came up against Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, and pulled off the overtake to climb up into 3rd place. Half of the race was spent behind the two frontrunners as he tried to capitalize on their mistakes.

The driver of the #74 NAPA Synthetic Motor Oil |Valvoline car delighted the thousands of fans in the grandstand as he went wide, leaving only a sliver of room between his car and the wall. It was the maneuver of the race, as he lost no time compared to the other drivers ahead of him.

With less than 10 laps remaining, he gave it his all to hunt down the car ahead of him and stole away 2nd place. In the closing laps, Lacroix began to close in on the leader, Alex Tagliani, while also watching his back as Marc-Antoine Camirand began to close in.

In the end, Lacroix was unable to claim the victory, finishing in 2nd place. “The car was good, but not the best around the city circuit,” said Lacroix. “I fought hard to try and keep up with the first two, then Andrew Ranger started to slow down, which allowed me to overtake him. Alex (Tagliani) was faster than me, so it was very difficult to catch him. However, at the end of the race he made a few mistakes, so I was able to close in on him, but he had a good last lap, so there was nothing I could do. Still, I’m very happy with 2nd place.”

The next NASCAR Pinty’s event is July 22nd as the series prepares for its annual trip to Western Canada. The first stop will be at Edmonton International Raceway in Alberta.

Posted by admin on Jul 16 ^th 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Disappointing yet promising race for Thomas Nepveu in Toronto

Toronto (Ontario), July 16, 2023 – It was Toronto’s turn to host the NASCAR Pinty’s field in the city streets. Thomas Nepveu shone at the renowned Toronto Indy event last Friday, in front of thousands of spectators and supporters.

The driver of the #24 Evirum | Home Hardware car had an exceptional start to the day, kicking off the busy Friday with a practice session, followed by qualifying immediately after. He went on to qualify sixth, marking his best qualifying in the series so far this season, and securing him a start from the third row for the main event that took place later that afternoon.

As the green flag waved to kick start the 35-lap race, Thomas was immediately going wheel to wheel through the narrow turns. He battled it out on track with Treyten Lapcevich, the current championship leader, as the two went side by side across multiple laps.

As he continued to charge towards the Top 5, the action was momentarily halted as the yellow flags came out on lap 7. As the field prepared to restart just 5 laps later, misfortune struck for Nepveu as the race returned to green. He lost positions on the restart as he suffered an electrical issue, resulting in the car losing power. He was then rear-ended by a competitor, resulting in another full course caution as Nepveu’s car suffered too much damage and had stopped on track before being assisted back into the pit lane. The team was able to fire back up the car to let Thomas join the track and finish the race in 18th place.

“On the bright side, I’m very happy with how my qualifying went,” said Thomas Nepveu. “I’m disappointed with the race result, but the car had great pace and I think we’ve made great steps forward. It’s a shame that we were dealt some bad luck, but hopefully it will turn around and we’ll be ready to try again.”

Despite the unfortunate outcome, Nepveu showed great promise and will be ready to challenge the pointier end of the field once more in his next event.

Posted by admin on Jul 16 ^th 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Paillé Course//Racing Shines in Toronto Double Top-Five for Camirand and Ranger

Bowmanville, ON- July 14: At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 14, 2023 in Ontario, Canada (Photo by Ray MacAloney / CDN-R.com)

(Photos by Ray MacAloney/cdn-r.com)

Toronto, ON, July 16, 2023 – Paillé Course//Racing achieved a brilliant double top-five finish, Friday, as the NASCAR Pinty’s series was on the streets of Toronto, as part of the Honda Indy event. Marc-Antoine Camirand made a spectacular come back to achieve a podium finish after trouble in qualifying, while Andrew Ranger rounded off his race with a fifth-place finish.

The day didn’t smart smoothly for the GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada n°96 team. Marc-Antoine Camirand completed only two laps in practice, when a piece of the rear suspension broke on his car, causing sustainable damage to the driveshaft. The Camirand Performance team then spent the entire time remaining in the combined practice and qualifying session to repair the car, and fell sort to get the car back on track in time to post a qualifying lap.

18^th on the grid, Camirand managed to climb back positions quickly in the 35-lap race. Around mid-race, he had climbed to the top five and his GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada n°96 Camaro was the fastest car on the track. He then quickly closed up the gap between the leaders. “I was sitting third, and I was waiting for Kevin (Lacroix, in second place) to make a move. I would have taken the opportunity myself, but it never happened. My car was really fast at the end of the race,” stated Camirand.

Camirand finally scored a well-deserved podium finish. “My crew worked extremely hard all day to get my car rolling for the race and I had a very good car throughout the 35 laps. We are really happy of this great comeback,” concluded Camirand, who achieved his best finish at the Toronto race in the Pinty’s series.

His Paillé Course//Racing teammate, Andrew Ranger, also had a strong outing, finally leaving hard luck behind. Fastest in practice and second in qualifying, he was confident that his GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada n°27 Camaro could battle for the win, as he had won three times before in the streets of Toronto in the NASCAR Pinty’s series.

“My car was very fast and I had a great battle with Tagliani for the lead. Around mid-race, I started to experience brake problems. At the end of the race, I was really struggling with my car and I was just trying to survive the last few laps,” told Ranger.

He finally scored a fifth-place finish, his best result to date this season. “I’ve had a very difficult beginning of the season. I knew I had a fast car, and I could have battled for the win, but I am still happy with this top-five finish,” concluded Ranger.

Paillé Course//Racing, with Marc-Antoine Camirand and Andrew Ranger, comes back in action as soon as next Saturday at Edmonton International Raceway, as the NASCAR Pinty’s series heads to its annual Western swing.

Posted by admin on Jul 11 ^th 2023 in NASCAR Pinty's Series

Thomas Nepveu Takes On the Streets of Toronto

Oka (Quebec), July 11, 2023 – Thomas Nepveu will be back racing in the streets of downtown Toronto this upcoming Friday for NASCAR Pinty’s Tiffany Gate Grand Prix. The event, located at Exhibition Place, will run in support of the INDYCAR championship, with thousands of spectators in attendance.

The Oka-native will be commandeering the #24 Evirum | Home Hardware Nepveu car once again. It will be a very different driving experience this time around, as he previously competed at the street track in single-seaters.

The narrow track is notoriously challenging, with rough surfaces, tight corners, and a high speed straightaway giving drivers a wide variety of obstacles and elements to contend with. Fortunately, Nepveu is already coming into the event with prior experience, having raced on the same track one year prior in the USF2000 series, where he stood on the podium in front of a home crowd.

“I’m really happy to be returning to downtown Toronto,” said Thomas. “I’ve had the opportunity to familiarize myself with this track. I had a strong race here last year and took home a second-place finish. It will be an interesting challenge to see how it feels to drive around here in a completely different type of car.”

He went on to add that “it’s a difficult track to master, so every lap counts when trying to get confidence and extract the most you can out of the car. I’ll be giving it my maximum effort in the practice session to reinforce my knowledge and adapt to the handling of the stock car. From there, it’s all about making sure I have a strong qualifying session to put us in the best position ahead of the race on Friday afternoon.”

The green flag for the Tiffany Gate Grand Prix of Toronto will be waved at 5:10pm ET on Friday, July 14th. The race will be broadcast live on the TSN+ app.

Posted by admin on Jul 14 ^th 2019 in Road to Indy

Pro2000 Podium Photos – @hondaindy

Congratulations to Danial Frost of Exclusive Autosport on his victory in race #1 of the weekend at the Toronto Honda Indy. Also making the podium was Parker Thompson who finished in third place. Race #2 of the weekend goes at 9:55am on Sunday.

Race #2 Starting Positions:

3rd – #8 Parker Thompson

4th – #68 Danial Frost

8th – #11 Antonio Serravalle

9th – #90 Nikita Lastochkin