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Kevin Lacroix stays perfect on road courses in Pinty's win at Toronto

NASCAR Pinty’s Series points leader Kevin Lacroix makes it 3-for-3 on road courses this season winning the Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto.

Kevin Lacroix

Kevin Lacroix

Matthew Murnaghan/NASCAR via Getty Images

Adam Andretti, Chevrolet
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, Dodge
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, Dodge
Kevin Lacroix
Alex Tagliani, Dodge
Andrew Ranger, Dodge

Kevin Lacroix took the lead on Lap 7 and held off a pair of charges by Marc-Antione Camirand and L.P. Dumoulin to score his second straight NASCAR Pinty’s Series win and seventh of his career Saturday in Toronto.

Lacroix started third. He was following Andrew Ranger and Alex Tagliani when they made contact in Turn 5 on Lap 5. Tagliani was given a drive-thru penalty for the incident as Ranger handed over the lead to Lacroix.

For Lacroix, who won last week at Circuit ICAR following a controversial finish on the last restart, the victory was one of the biggest of his career.

“I seem to always to get the best out of myself and my car winning these bigger races here in Toronto and in Quebec at Trois-Riviere,” Lacroix said. “It’s good for our confidence and more importantly, the points standings. Here I don’t think I had the car to win but it was very, very good for sure.”

Former NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion L.P. Dumoulin scored his first runner-up finish since the fall race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last year. He had a good car but could not keep up with Lacroix on the final restart with three laps to decide the race.

“The only thing I wanted to do was get to the outside on that final restart,” said Dumoulin. “I don’t think we had the car to win today and we were struggling with the set up a little yesterday. The car was okay on a longer run.”

Adam Andretti put on a show throughout the day. Despite qualifying fourth in his NPS debut, Andretti started at the rear of the field for being late to the driver’s meeting. By Lap 32, Andretti restarted fourth and passed Alex Labbe for the podium finish.

“What an honor to be a part of this great series with great competitors,” Andretti said. “NASCAR has always done a great job of putting these things together and it was a lot of fun to be out there today. 

“Don’t be surprised if you see me back here in another race before the end of the season.”

Labbe remained in fourth with J.F. Dumoulin fifth. D.J. Kennington celebrated his 40th birthday coming home sixth with Cayden Lapcevich, Anthony Simone, Gary Klutt and Peter Klutt rounding out the top 10.

When the race restarted on Lap 9 following the second caution for Martin Cote’s contact with the wall, Lacroix and Marc-Antione Camirand pulled away from the pack by over one second and battled for the lead. 

Camirand made hard contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4 as he attempted to make a pass by Lacroix on Lap 29, ending his chances to get his first series win.  

Ranger returned to the field and finished 15th and Tagliani came home 14th after suffering mechanical issues late in the race.

The race was slowed three times by cautions with Lacroix maintaining his lead in the championship standings with the victory.

The series will now turn west for its annual trip to Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 26th and Edmonton International Raceway in Alberta on July 29. 

Pinty's Grand Prix of Toronto Race Results

PosNo.NameSponsorBest TmBest SpeedIn LapLapsDiff
1 74 Kevin Lacroix Bumper to Bumper/Total/Gates/Go Fast 1:17.807 81.201 26 35  
2 47 L.P. Dumoulin WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare/Berier 1:18.047 80.951 17 35 1.207
3 44 Adam Andretti * Engineered Components/Anchor Bolt & Screw 1:18.267 80.724 15 35 2.250
4 32 Alex Labbe Can-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear/Lous BBQ 1:18.611 80.370 16 35 2.791
5 04 J.F. Dumoulin Spectra Premium/Bernier/Bellemare 1:19.199 79.774 35 35 4.752
6 17 D.J. Kennington Castrol Edge 1:18.915 80.061 16 35 5.733
7 76 Cayden Lapcevich Bay King Chrysler 1:18.901 80.075 20 35 6.122
8 95 Anthony Simone Innovative Plumbing/Ink Your Ride 1:18.594 80.388 6 35 7.309
9 59 Gary Klutt Pioneer Family Pools 1:19.128 79.845 16 35 8.144
10 42 Peter Klutt Legendary Motorcar 1:19.341 79.631 15 35 9.223
11 69 Trevor Seibert Lake Excavating/Avion Motorsports 1:20.071 78.905 34 35 10.791
12 25 Larry Jackson Wonder/Dunright Foam/CBRT/B&B Decals 1:22.001 77.048 34 35 17.377
13 9 Adam Martin * Johnsonville/Oliviers/Reser's 1:19.681 79.291 23 35 45.838
14 18 Alex Tagliani EpiPen/Lowes/St. Hubert/Fast Wheels 1:17.773 81.236 22 33 2 Laps
15 27 Andrew Ranger Mopar/Pennzoil 1:18.477 80.508 19 33 2 Laps
16 22 Marc-Antoine Camirand GM PaillË 1:17.758 81.252 26 29 6 Laps
17 43 Robin Buck Ontario Chrysler Dealers 1:18.945 80.030 20 22 13 Laps
18 8 Brett Taylor * Piloti/CBRT/365 Security 1:19.696 79.276 7 15 20 Laps
19 11 Martin Cote * GO-VR.com 1:24.575 74.703 8 8 27 Laps
20 02 Matthew Scannell OMVIC/Leland/Beyond Digital 1:25.718 73.707 1 1 34 Laps

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