Bowmanville, ON – Marc-Antoine Camirand won the NASCAR Canada Series season-opening ASSA ABLOY Accentra 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) following an overtime finish.
Gary Klutt started on pole, followed by Kevin Lacroix, Camirand and Andrew Ranger. An early caution came on Lap 2, with debris on the front stretch. Klutt led the field back to green before Lacroix took the spot on Lap 6, entering turn one.
On Lap 15, caution for Matthew Scannell stalled on track. The yellow flag came during pit stops, with Klutt having already pitted from second-place and D.J. Kennington on pit road just before it closed. The leaders pitted under caution, allowing L.P. Dumoulin to move ahead.
The green flag action lasted only two laps, before Scannell stalled partially off track. Dumoulin, Klutt, Camirand, Kennington, Lacroix, Ranger and Alex Tagliani were among the drivers who pitted, since multiple stops are needed to change tires and add fuel.
Peter Klutt restarted out front and held the position, while the early frontrunners worked their way through the field. Further back, Ranger made an unscheduled pit stop.
Camirand and Lacroix worked their way into the top-five past halfway, with the drivers running second and third on Lap 31. On Lap 34, Camirand took the lead and Lacroix moved to second. Next lap, Lacroix took the top spot exiting turn 10.
With 10 to go, Lacroix blew a transmission while leading, coming to a stop in turn one to bring out the caution. Camirand led Dumoulin and Gary Klutt back to green. The car of Thomas Nepveu stalled off track and remained parked for a few laps before ultimately bringing out the caution with three laps remaining.
Camirand led the field to an overtime restart, where Klutt took second from Dumoulin. Camirand went on to record his third win in the last six CTMP races. He says that his car was not the best but that his team was able to make it a bit better during pit stops.
“I got a really good restart, with traffic, I was able to pass (Lacroix) on one of those restarts,” said Camirand. “We took only two left tires, those guys took four, so I was kind of afraid the last restart but I was able to manage that and get the checkered flag…I got a good out lap (in overtime), I pushed really hard on that lap, I was able to get a little gap on L.P. and then the last lap, was not safe, but I was able to stay there with about two or three car lengths for turn ten.”
This was also Camirand’s ninth straight podium on a road/street course, which includes three wins in the last four races.
“I’ve raced here since 1997 in Formula 1600, so I do like this track and I do like road courses,” said Camirand. “I have a great team behind me, great sponsorship (with) GM Paillé, they give me a good car, year-after-year and race-after-race…next road course is GP3R, so you have to reset and do well now on the ovals.”
Klutt finished runner-up for his sixth podium at CTMP, including his third podium in the last four races. The early pit stop put his team on a different strategy than the other contenders.
“Lacroix and Camirand got through the field a little bit better than L.P. and myself,” said Klutt. “It took us a while, kind of nose-to-tail, to get through traffic and we probably used up our tires and didn’t have that much of an advantage with the four tires at the end.”
Dumoulin finished third for his second straight podium at CTMP. Despite the solid finish, his winless streak now extends to 33 races, dating back to CTMP in 2021.
“I never complain about podiums…you need to be on the podium and top-five to win the championship, that’s the way to go, but I’m really starving for a win right now,” said Dumoulin. “I was really studying Camirand, trying to get something going at the end, I really had good pace to fight with him for the win and the yellow came out…I got a little loose (on the restart), Gary took advantage of it and had a good run in (turn) two.”
The next NASCAR Canada Series race is scheduled for Saturday, June 1 at Autodrome Chaudière.
