Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin/OnPitRoad.com
With a new series sponsor and excitement in the air, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series is set to kick off their 2016 season this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. A mix of youth and experience will grace the road course in Bowmanville, Ontario as the series hopes to put on drama from top to bottom.
Experience sides with D.J. Kennington as he is the best bet, statistically, entering the weekend for any race fan. The St. Thomas, Ontario native has finished in the top-10 in each of his 12 starts, with 10 top-fives and a win. The driver of the No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge is looking to get to victory lane after failing to win a race last season. He knows his team is capable of getting the job done and feels the off-season changes will be what it takes. Notably, his crew chief Ted McAlister knows how to reach victory lane at CTMP, having done so in the past with J.R. Fitzpatrick.
Speaking of victory lane, Jason Hathaway is the most recent driver to visit that spot at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park after scoring his first road course victory last season. The Uxbridge, Ontario driver is looking for his third straight series victory as after winning CTMP last season, he won the season finale at Kawartha Speedway en route to finishing second in the standings. With the full package put together as he’ll once again work with crew chief Craig Masters, the driver of the No. 3 Raybestos/Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet hopes to start off his season in victory lane.
Last year’s series champion Scott Steckly will not be behind the wheel this weekend, but the 22 Racing team has a full fleet of drivers in the field.
Pier-Luc Oulette will drive Alex Tagliani’s No. 18 EPIPEN/Riobel/CanTourque/440 Lavel Chevrolet as Tagliani qualifies for the Indianapolis 500. Oulette is making his first start in the Pinty’s Series after having success in the Canadian karting ranks.
Kaz Grala will be behind the wheel of Steckly’s familiar No. 22 Dodge with sponsorship from Descartes. Grala is making his first Canadian series start, but is known for his success in his career already as he finished 10th in the Camping World Truck Series race at Dover International Speedway, and has posted three top-10s in K&N Pro Series East competition so far this season.
Brett Taylor will make his series debut behind the wheel of the No. 46 Hard Knocks Fighting Championship/Redtree Inc. Dodge. Notably, the Calgary, Alberta native was named Rookie of the year from the CACC – Confederation of Autosport Car Clubs for the 2015 season.
2014 Series Champion L.P. Dumoulin will be in the field, once again driving the No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare/Eibach Dodge and knows his way around CTMP. He has two wins and six top-fives in eight starts and boosts the second-best average finish of active drivers (5.8). He also had a successful season last year, finishing fourth in points with six top-five finishes. It’ll be interesting to see how he transitions to working with new crew chief Bill Burns, whom joins Dumoulin Competition after spending the last several years at DJK Racing working with Andrew Ranger.
After posting a sixth place finish in last year’s season finale, Cayden Lapcevich is set to contend for Rookie of the Year this year. The 2014 and 2015 Sunset Speedway Super Stock Champion impressed many fans last year with a third place finish at Sunset Speedway, followed by a top-10 at CTMP last September after starting tail-end on the field.
Andrew Ranger wants to mark his claim on the championship this year and become one of a few to have three series championships. He can get a good jump on that this weekend as he has ran well in the past at CTMP with two wins, five top-fives and eight top-10s in 10 starts.
Gary Klutt hopes to repeat last year’s success at CTMP as he scored his first career victory after Ranger and Steckly got together on the last lap. The Halton Hills, Ontario native has proven he can get the job done on the road course with three top-10s in five starts. Recently named a NASCAR Next driver, he finished sixth in points last season with seven top-10 finishes.
Joey McColm has carried the banner for Canada’s Best Racing Team over recent years, but will not be behind the wheel this weekend as he focuses on being the team’s General Manager. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be someone to watch from CBRT as they have entered four cars this weekend.
Josh Collins will be making his first ever road course start behind the wheel of the No. 25 Dennis Porter Trucking/Edward Collins Contracting Ford after running a limited number of races last season. McColm stated on Wednesday that Collins got to test at CTMP not long ago, and took to the track quickly.
Robin Buck will make his return to the series, driving the No. 1 Ontario Chrysler Dealers Advertising Assoc. Dodge. The Milton, Ontario native has 10 previous starts on the road course, posting three top-fives and seven top-10s – but notably missing victory lane each time.
Kevin Poitras will be behind the wheel of the No. 8 Piloti Ford as he is set to run all of the course events on the Pinty’s Series calendar for CBRT this year. The Toronto, Ontario native ran both events last year, finishing 10th and 12th. The events don’t showcase the chances, though, as he has a lot of road course experience racing in the TransAm Series.
Lastly, Mel Shaw will be making his debut in the No. 87 Bay Investments Chevrolet, but is no road course rookie. The New Jersey native has plenty of experience turning both left and right courtesy of the TransAm Series.
J.F. Dumoulin is set to run the majority of the events behind the wheel of the Spectra Premium/Bernier Crepeau/Bellemare/MIA Dodge this season after finishing eighth in points last yaer. The Trois-Rivieres, Quebec native knows his way around CTMP with a third and fifth place finish in his last two starts.
Kerry Micks hopes to return to his winning ways behind the wheel of the No. 02 Johnsonville / Leland/ Avenue Auto Parts Ford after working hard to put together a new car for this seaon. The Mount Albert, Ontario native has done well at CTMP previously, posting five top-fives.
Anthony Simone looks to have a smoother season after running into some issues throughout the past season. The driver of the No. 95 Innovative Plumbing and Mechanical / Castrol Dodge hasn’t had much luck at CTMP, with five finishes outside of the top-20 to go with a second in 2009.
For the first time in his career, Alex Labbe is set to run the full schedule behind the wheel of the No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear/Lous BBQ Ford. The St. Albert, Quebec native has only made one previous start at CTMP and it didn’t come with much success. But don’t count him out, though, as he posted two top-fives and four top-10s in six series starts last season.
Ryan Klutt hopes to find his first career top-10 this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 32 Legendary Motorcar Chevrolet after posting a best-finish of 11th last May.
Matthew Scannell hopes to build on last year’s solid campaign that saw him run well in events, but just miss the top-10 on a weekly basis. The driver of the No. 56 OMVIC/IGPC Ethanol/Stratafax/K&K Insurance Dodge has posted a best finish of 12th at CTMP on two occasions.
After winning a pair of races last season, Kevin Lacroix is set to run the full schedule this season. The driver of the No. 74 Bumper to Bumper/Total/Lacroix Tuning/Go Fast Dodge hopes to not repeat last year’s CTMP experiences as he crashed in May while suffering mechanical issues in September. The Montreal, Quebec native will have experience on the pit box, though, in the form of Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame member Don Thomson Jr.
