Camirand Wins Season Opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park After Eventful Clarington 200
Camirand Wins Season Opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park After Eventful Clarington 200
Bowmanville, ON (May 18, 2025) - The 2025 NASCAR Canada Series officially launched its season on Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the Clarington 200. Defending champion Marc-Antoine Camirand, driving the No. 96 GM Paillé / Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet, claimed the first win of the year following a race marked by dramatic overtakes and multiple changes of leaders.
Kyle Steckly started strong from pole position, after securing the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award with a lap time of 1:22.264 in Saturday’s Qualifying session. However, the young MBS Motorsports driver faced early challenges in his No. 22 MBS Motorsports / Sierra Excavating / APC Chevrolet. This allowed Alex Tagliani to surge to the lead in his No. 80 St-Hubert / UPS Store / Bet GRW Chevrolet.
The first caution of the race came on Lap 5 following an incident involving Matthew Scannell’s No. 99 Nitro 54 / Main Street Logistics / Rack.ca Dodge in Turn 3, forcing his early retirement from the event. Steckly’s race came to an early end as well when he was forced to take the No. 22 machine back to the garages because of damage he picked up on Lap 14. He’s one of the twelve drivers who did not finish.
Cautions continued to shape the race, including a restart incident in Turn 1 involving Brent Wheller commanding the No. 81 Industrial Deck Equipment/Arbon Equipment Dodge, Domenic Scrivo in the No. 69 MBS Motorsports/Sierra Excavating/Bolton GM Chevrolet and Mathieu Kingsbury aboard the No. 9 Duroking/BFL Canada Chevrolet. As this was unfolding, Tagliani’s Chevrolet stalled in Turn 5 due to an electrical issue. Through the race, Alex Guénette, at the helm of the No. 39 GL Électricité-Automatisations / Bet GRW Chevrolet, and Sam Fellows, No. 87 AER / Polysleep / Novus Auto / Mobil 1 Chevrolet, battled for position, with Guénette briefly climbing to second place.
Meanwhile, Gary Klutt showed strong pace in his No. 59 Autologic / Hofmann Plastics Dodge despite hitting the tire wall in Turn 9, which slowed his momentum. Halfway through the race, Malcolm Strachan, who started 11th on the grid in the No. 98 Curb Records / Darkhorse Trailers / Strode’s Ford, led the field, but eventually fell back in the order.
With 3 laps to go, Klutt gained the lead, setting up a late-race fight between himself, Camirand, and Strachan. On the final lap, Camirand made the decisive move in Turn 3 and took the win.
Camirand, who was fastest in Practice earlier in the weekend, praised his team’s efforts. “It was a good way to start the season,” he stated. “The pace was fast early on, but the car wasn’t ideal. After our fuel stop, we made some adjustments, and the car really came alive. I’m proud of what the team accomplished all weekend.”
Gary Klutt made a strong push leading in the final laps before Camirand overtook him in Turn 3 on the final lap. “We were a bit off in qualifying, but the team executed our pit strategy really well,” Klutt said. “We had a shot at the win, but Marc-Antoine had the better pace at the end.”
Strachan delivered a standout performance, leading laps and ultimately finishing third. “The strategy worked out perfectly today. After a few restarts, we got a bit of a lead, and I was hoping it would stay green. We led a bunch of laps. I’m overjoyed to be in the top 3.”
Alex Guénette and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin completed the top five, while Alex Tagliani earned the Evirum Fastest lap of the race. Both the Gulf Race Fuels Move of the Race and Jostens Rookie of the Race went to rising star Danny Chisolm.
The NASCAR Canada Series returns to action on May 31 with the Bud Light 250 at Autodrome Chaudière in Vallée-Jonction, Quebec.
NASCAR Race Number 1
Unofficial Race Results For The Clarington 200 - 05/18/2025
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Bowmanville, Ont. - 2.459-mile paved road course
Total Race Length 201 K - 51L - 125 M
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 4 96 Marc-Antoine Camirand GM Paillé Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet 51 47 4 Running
2 6 59 Gary Klutt Autologic/Hofmann Plastics Dodge 51 43 1 Running
3 11 98 Malcolm Strachan Curb Records/Darkhorse Trailers/Strode's Ford 51 43 2 Running
4 5 39 Alex Guenette GL Électricité-Automatisations/Bet GRW Chevrolet 51 40 Running
5 13 47 L.-P. Dumoulin WeatherTech/Omnifab Dodge 51 39 Running
6 8 27 Andrew Ranger GM Paillé Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet 51 38 Running
7 16 17 DJ Kennington Castrol Edge/Brimstone Games/CIM Metals Dodge 51 37 Running
8 2 74 Kevin Lacroix Adaptive One Calipers/NAPA Racing Chevrolet 51 36 Running
9 7 3 Jason Hathaway Leland/Sangsin Brakes/Fast Eddie/HGC Chevrolet 51 35 Running
10 25 8 Danny Chisholm * Jani-King/Choko Chevrolet 51 34 Running
11 12 24 Josh Hurley * BC Race Cars/CathcartTrucking/Akers AutoGlass 51 33 Running
12 20 28 Ryan Vargas Critical Path Security/Leargas Dodge 51 33 1 Running
13 21 84 Darryl Timmers * Switch Tire/Keith's Trailer Sales/Rack.ca Dodge 51 31 Running
14 23 54 Dave Coursol AutoPlace/Carquest/Qualité Refrigeration Dodge 51 30 Running
15 18 9 Mathieu Kingsbury Duroking/BFL Canada Chevrolet 51 29 Running
16 17 88 Simon Charbonneau * TransGestion/NAPA/IAI Experts Conseils Chevrolet 51 28 Running
17 22 0 Glenn Styres GSR/Ohsweken Speedway/Chantarellie Chevrolet 50 27 Running
18 3 80 Alex Tagliani St. Hubért/UPS Store/Bet GRW Chevrolet 49 27 1 Running
19 15 42 Ryan Klutt Legendary Motorcar/K-Line/Fix Network Dodge 46 25 Running
20 9 87 Sam Fellows AER/Polysleep/Novus Auto/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 42 24 Running
21 24 85 Larry Jackson Rack.ca/Castrol/Emzone Dodge 41 23 Transmission
22 28 81 Brent Wheller Industrial Deck Equipment/Arbon Equipment Dodge 39 22 Running
23 27 67 David Thorndyke Feed the Need in Durham Chevrolet 34 21 Engine
24 10 6 Peter Klutt Legendary Motorcar/K-Line/Fix Network Dodge 28 20 Accident
25 26 69 Domenic Scrivo * MBS Mtps/Sierra Excavating/Bolton GM Chevrolet 17 19 Accident
26 19 1 JP Bergeron ERacer/JC Perreault/Prolon/Whiskey Pembroke Ford 16 18 Power Steering
27 1 22 Kyle Steckly Racing MBS Mtps/Sierra Excavating/APC Chevrolet 13 17 Engine
28 14 99 Matthew Scannell Nitro54 Variety/Mainstreet Logistics/Rack.ca Dodge 4 16 Clutch
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment