Marc-Antoine Camirand captured his second win of the season in a dominating fashion at Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.
The defending race winner started the day out strong, with his first career pole on a paved oval and the fifth of his career.
Camirand was able to lead every lap, finishing the race by 11 seconds over Treyten Lapcevich, and completely lapping the field up to the top-three finishers.
“The car was so great,” said Camirand. “I’m so proud of my team, thanks to my sponsors and now we will go to Saskatoon and try to win over there.”
Despite the runner-up finish, Lapcevich had a hard fight for his result.
The No. 20 FBM/Delta Bingo/GSR/RGC/Leading Edge Chevrolet was fastest in practice and qualified second, 0.005 seconds off of Camirand.
However, Lapcevich had to relinquish his front-row position, after a kill switch issue forced him to return to the pits before the green flag for repairs.
After taking the green from the tail of the field, Lapcevich later ended up going a lap down when he spun on lap 64.
He then received the free pass at the halfway break and was able to navigate his way through the field to a second-place finish.
Due to the sweltering heat, several cars had heat-related issues.
Alex Guenette had been upfront battling in the top five when he suddenly started dropping positions and eventually was the cause of the halfway caution. Despite the team’s best efforts, they were unable to get the No. 3 ASSA ABLOY/Fast Eddie/HGC Chevrolet going again, making Guenette the only retirement of the race after his engine let go due to overheating.
D.J. Kennington finished the race 109 laps down due to repeated issues with overheating while Andrew Ranger’s 2023 season struggles continued. He finished 14 laps down in 15th, due to a similar problem.
Rookie Thomas Nepveu recorded a career-best finish of seventh after starting 13th.
Wester driver, Matthew Shirley, also finished in the top ten, in tenth, in his first start at the track.
FULL RESULTS: BAYER 300
Teams will now drive one province east to Saskatoon, SK, and Sutherland Automotive Raceway for the Leland Industries Twin 125.
The Bayer 300 from Edmonton International Raceway will be broadcast on tape delay on TSN on Sunday, July 30, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. ET and on RDS2 on Sunday, August 13 at 11:00 a.m. ET.
