Trois-Rivières, QC – Three-time NASCAR Canada Series champion Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, driving the No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Groupe Bellemare/Omnifab car, finished in fourth-place at the first oval race of the season on Saturday, in front of the packed grandstands of Autodrome Chaudière in Vallée-Jonction, QC.
The result is extremely promising for the rest of the season, since this was the first of seven consecutive events on ovals and Dumoulin fought in the lead group throughout the 300 laps.
“The car was performing well and we made good adjustments,” said Dumoulin. “Finishing fourth, just off the podium, is good, even if I was aiming for even better, but I especially remember that we were competitive throughout the race, without ever experiencing a drop in pace. It’s promising for the upcoming oval events.”
Third in practice and sixth at the end of the qualifying session, the driver managed to climb into the top-three in the first part of the race, with the halfway break finishing at Lap 170. He then conceded a place to the eventual winner Andrew Ranger during the second segment.
“In the second portion of the race, all was still going very well, especially considering that our group of leaders had to overtake a lot of back markers without giving up too much pace,” said Dumoulin. “In my case, I would say that the pace was very good. I was waiting for a restart to try to contest the lead… but there was no yellow flag for the entire second segment, no full course yellow until the checkered flag!”
Dumoulin delighted the thousands of fans in the grandstands with a great battle with Donald Theetge and was hoping for a full course yellow to “shuffle the cards” among the leading trio.
“I like clean driving, races with a lot of action and without incident,” said Dumoulin. “But let’s say that in this case, a restart at the end of the race would have suited me! That’s what I had planned at the beginning of the second part of the race. In the end, we waited for the full course yellow for 150 laps but it never came. From then on, our strategy was in jeopardy. We were simply basing our hopes on the average number of yellow flags during this type of race and especially towards the end, which is much higher.”
The results of this race are still excellent for Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, who has just started the season with two top-fours on two different types of tracks.
“I am very happy with this fourth position, which marks a start to the season where we are constantly at the forefront,” concluded Dumoulin. “In my opinion, if we can keep a fast car like that for the next oval races, we will have a very good season.”
The next events of the NASCAR Canada Series will take place in the Maritime provinces, with the first of three races in the region being presented at Eastbound International Speedway, in Newfoundland, on June 22.
- By Service Presse
