NASCAR Pinty’s Series CRS Express 200 at Autodrome Chaudiere Preview

Following a thrilling race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park to kick off the season, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series is back in action this weekend at Autodrome Chaudiere for the first oval race of the year.

One of the surprises on the entry has to be Larry Jackson. It’s not surprising to see the Oakville, Ontario native in the race – but rather the fact he will be driving the No. 1 Canada’s Best Racing Team/Piloti Ford this weekend. It will mark his first start with the team. Despite that, he should be successful as the team was strong at CTMP and Jackson is an accomplished oval racer, scoring an eighth place finish in his only start at Chaudiere.

His teammate for the weekend will be Josh Collins. Collins was supposed to run the season opener, however was unable to as a result of not having medical clearance. He is on the entry list for this weekend so it will be interesting to see if the New Foundland driver is in attendance. In his only two prior oval starts, he has a 12th and a 10th.

Trevor Seibert will be behind the wheel of the No. 69 Lake Excavating/Area 27 Dodge this weekend, making his first trip to Chaudiere and first start of the season. The British Columbia native made a pair of starts last season, finishing outside of the top-15 in both races.

Following a 23rd place finish, Kevin Lacroix hopes to get his season back on track this weekend. The driver of the No.74 Pieces D’Auto Lacroix/Excellence Dodge will be making his first trip to Autodrome Chaudiere as he only ran a limited schedule last year, winning a pair of road courses. He admits ovals aren’t his strong suit, as noted by a best finish of 16th in a pair of oval starts last year. However, he may be in good shape as new crew chief for this year Don Thomson Jr. knows how to set up a car. He won some oval events in the past with J.R. Fitzpatrick and led Cayden Lapcevich to a pair of oval top-10s last season.

D.J. Kennington entered this year determined to run stronger than season’s past and is off to a great start with a third place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The St. Thomas, Ontario native has done well at Chaudiere in the past, scoring a third place finish last season.

Alex Labbe hopes to have a strong run in front of the hometown crowd after winning the pole last year and leading 109 laps en route to finishing second. He started off the year well, winning the pole at CTMP followed by a fifth place finish.

After finishing 19th in the season opener, Anthony Simone hopes to be up front in the closing stages of the race this weekend. The driver of the No. 95 Innovative Plumbing & Mechanical Dodge did well at Chaudiere last year, finishing sixth.

Donald Theetge is set to make his third career NASCAR Pinty’s Series start as he will drive the No. 22 AIM Levis/Le Soleil/L’Antidote Dodge for defending series champion Scott Steckly’s 22 Racing team. Notably, his last series start came in 2011. While it’s questionable as to how the driver will do, the equipment he’s in is proven as Steckly led a race-high 154 laps last year before mechanical issues.

After missing the season opener due to Indianapolis 500 qualifying, Alex Tagliani will be behind the wheel of the No. 18 Epipen/Riobel/ComplexeJCP/Juste du Chevrolet this weekend. The Quebec native has proven he can get the job done on ovals, finishing fifth at Chaudiere and dominating last year’s race at Sunset Speedway. He also told OnPitRoad.com’s Tyson Lautenschlager he feels strongly about his chances given the work the team has put in during the off-season

Another Quebec native to watch is Andrew Ranger as he enters this weekend with momentum after winning the season opener at CTMP. He also ran well last year at Chaudiere, posting a fourth place finish.

Mark Dilley will be making his first start of the season, debuting a brand new oval car for Micks Motorsports this weekend. The driver of the No. 02 Leland/Johnsonville/BDI Ford has done well at Chaudiere before, as he finished second in a photo finish two years ago.

Going into the Chaudiere, though, the man to keep an eye on is Jason Hathaway as he has won the previous two events at Autodrome Chaudiere. The driver of the No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet also enters with momentum after winning the last race of last season at Kawartha Speedway and leading 31 laps at CTMP en route to finishing seventh.

Gary Klutt is looking for a strong run after posting a 10th place finish in the season opener. He was solid last year at Chaudiere, posting a seventh place finish.

L.P. Dumoulin also hopes to run well as he wasn’t as strong as normal at CTMP with a 12th place finish. This could be the perfect weekend for him as he’s posted a top-10 in each of his previous Chaudiere starts, highlighted by a fifth in 2014.