Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
After a successful first year, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series will return to Sunset Speedway this weekend. With a full field of cars on deck, it promises to be a great event.
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. Unfortunately, last year at Sunset he wasn’t as strong with a 15th place finish.
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. 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 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 at CTMP, 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 Sunset Speedway 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. Last year at Sunset didn’t work out well for the St. Thomas native as he finished 16th.
Alex Labbe hopes to have a strong run starting off the year well, winning the pole at CTMP followed by a fifth place finish. He was solid at Sunset Speedway last year with a seventh 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 didn’t fare well last year at Sunset as he got caught up in a first lap crash. He knows how to get around the 1/3-mile oval though, as he won there in a late model a couple years ago.
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, 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. Unfortunately, his Sunset Speedway debut last year didn’t pan out well with a 20th 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 knows Sunset Speedway well as he’s the track General Manager, and hopes to put last year’s bad luck behind him after falling out due to a mechanical issue.
Going into the Sunset, one of the drivers to keep an eye on is Jason Hathaway as the driver of the No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet 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. He also did well last year at Sunset Speedway, finishing third.
Gary Klutt is looking for a strong run after posting a 10th place finish in the season opener. He was solid last year at Sunset, winning the pole en route to a sixth 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. He was solid last year at Sunset Speedway, posting a 10th place finish.
Adam Martin will make his NASCAR Pinty’s Series debut after having success in Sunset Speedway Late Model and Super Stock ranks.
Jason White will be making his first start of the season after running a limited schedule last year for Rob McConnell.
Dwayne Baker is set for his fifth career Pinty’s Series start following a 12th place finish last year at Sunset Speedway. He knows the 1/3-mile oval well, having won there in a Limited Late Model and Super Late Model previously.
Matthew Scannell hopes to have a strong run this weekend after struggling last year at Sunset Speedway and starting off the year with a 25th place finish at CTMP.
Derek Lynch will be making his return to the series, looking for a solid performance in his return. The longtime Kawartha Speedway promotor knows his way behind the wheel as he’s picked up some big wins in the past.
Two-time Sunset Speedway Super Stock Champion Cayden Lapcevich is looking for his second straight series top-five finish after finishing fourth at CTMP. He did well last year at Sunset Speedway, leading 45 laps en route to finishing third.
