Wetaskiwin, AB – Kevin Lacroix claimed the highest honour in front of a record-breaking crowd in the NAPA 300 at Edmonton International Raceway this past Saturday. Lacroix brilliantly maneuvered his No. 74 Quick Strut/NAPA Racing Dodge on the 1/3-mile oval track, clinching his third win of the NASCAR Canada Series season and scoring important points towards the championship battle.
Lacroix was the driver to beat at Edmonton, as he was uncontested in every session. He set the fastest lap time in practice, a mere 0.045 seconds ahead of his teammate Andrew Ranger, aboard the No. 27 GM Paillé Chevrolet. D.J. Kennington wasn’t far behind, with a 13.052 in his No. 17 Castrol Edge/Brimstone Games/CIM Metals Dodge.
The E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award went to Lacroix, who went quickest with a 12.821, 0.098 seconds faster than the No. 96 GM Paillé Chevrolet of Marc-Antoine Camirand. L.P. Dumoulin went third-fastest in his No. 47 WeatherTech/OmniFab Dodge, while it was a moment of redemption for Alberta native Jamie Krzysik, who commanded his No. 46 Krown-Pel Ventures/BerMar Rewind/Da-Roc Chevrolet to fourth place.
Cloudy skies made way for typical Alberta sunshine as the race was set to start. Lacroix set sail, never looking back until the halfway point of the race. Though Lacroix was never under threat of any kind, things shuffled down the pack. Ranger, who didn’t have a great qualifying, started ninth and made his way up to second, half a lap behind Lacroix.
Danny Chisolm, back in the NASCAR Canada Series aboard the No. 8 Jani-King Canada/Fast Eddie Speedwear Chevrolet, prepared by EHR Racing, made his way into the top-three, with Donald Theetge rounding out the top-four in his No. 80 Groupe Theetge/Vulcain Chevrolet. The Québec native had qualified eighth and made his way up, but not without a fight, namely with Krzysik.
As the first half of the race went without a hitch, it was a different story for the second portion of the NAPA 300. When the mandatory caution came out, Lacroix was well in the lead, a lap ahead of Ranger, Chisholm, and Theetge, and two laps ahead of the rest of the field.
Right at the restart, Ranger overtook for the lead and remained there until the closing stage of the race. A caution came out with about 90 laps remaining, to the delight of Camirand, who benefitted from the Lucky Dog, which allowed him to overtake the field and regain a lap.
Lacroix was on Ranger’s rear bumper, waiting patiently for an opportunity to reclaim the lead. When he finally succeeded, Ranger lost ground and had to defend from a charging Camirand. It was a catastrophic last 20 laps for Ranger, who was shoved into the wall, ending his hopes for a good result, as he was forced down pit road for quick repairs. Ranger made his way back in the field, however, there was not enough time for him to get a podium result.
Ranger’s dismay promoted Camirand to second place and Chisolm to third. Chisolm spent his race attacking and defending from various adversaries on track, always making up ground. He challenged Camirand for second, however, he was not able to hold the position, finishing third, as Lacroix claimed the win.
“I’ve had four pole positions here in the past,” said Lacroix. “It’s nice to finally get the win. It’s good for points. The first part of the race went very well, I led every lap. However, I was getting a little bit nervous at the end but we got it done in front of the NAPA crowd.”
Lacroix is now second in the championship standings, 10 points behind Camirand, but one point ahead of Ranger.
“We had a really good second part of the race,” said runner-up Camirand. “In the first part, the car was understeering. I have to thank my crew chief, who made major adjustments for the second part of the race. We were just a bit short on laps, but I’m really happy with the second place as it gives us really good points for the championship.”
“We had a really great race,” explained Chisolm. “We started fifth and kind of fell back at the beginning. We didn’t really have a car for the short run. But, as the race went on, it became great. It kind of came to me. We were able to make our way back to the field. I think I ended up in third place before the halfway break. It was a little bit of a challenging second half. There were a lot of better guys that were able to get up front and fix their cars in the halfway break. But then we ended up with third, so I’m very happy.”
Theetge was in the midst of all the action, fighting his way through the field. Ultimately he had to settle for fourth place, with Kennington rounding off the top-five. Local hero Krzysik came in sixth, two spots behind where he had qualified earlier in the day.
Ranger limped to a seventh-place finish with a wounded car, not leaving any points on the table. Thomas Nepveu had better luck than in the past few races in his No. 24 Richelieu/Cromwell/Home Hardware Ford, finishing eighth, in front of the No. 84 Big Chief Snacks/E3/O’Neil Electric/Duma Dodge of Larry Jackson.
Dumoulin, who rounded off the top-ten, was forced down pit road in the first half of the race due to a puncture after contact with a fellow competitor.
NASCAR Canada heads back to Québec for the highly-anticipated Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières on August 11.
- By Éliane Gilain/NASCAR Canada
