NASCAR Pinty's Series
Lacroix Surges Late for ICAR Victory
Series Release/Photo by Matthew Manor
Makes Move On Last Restart to Claim NASCAR Pinty’s Series Second Win of 2017
MIRABEL, Que. — A late caution set up an overtime opportunity for Kevin Lacroix, and he pounced.
The 28-year-old driver out of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, used the extra laps Saturday evening to go take the lead and hold off a charging Andrew Ranger to the checkered flag of the Ecko Unlimited 75 at Circuit ICAR
It was Lacroix’s second win in three years on the flat road course of the Mirabel airport. This time, it was accomplished on the new .624 mile layout. It was also the second win of the season for Lacroix, the championship points leader four races into the 13-race calendar.
A caution for a stopped race car on Lap 73 pushed the race to 79 laps. Lacroix took the lead from Marc-Antoine Camirand coming out of turn one in NASCAR overtime. It was then a hard battle with Ranger, with Lacroix taking home the win by .114 seconds.
Ranger nearly passed Lacroix coming to line, before settling for second. Ranger has four wins and two seconds in seven starts at ICAR, including a runner-up finish to Lacroix in 2015.
Camirand led 13 laps and came home third.
Alex Labbe, who came into this race as the series points leader, finished fourth. Alex Tagliani won the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award earlier in the afternoon and led a race-high 61 laps before coming home fifth.
Simone Dion-Viens finished sixth, followed by Larry Jackson, DJ Kennington, Anthony Simone and David Michuad.
With the win, Lacroix opened a five-point lead on Lacroix and 16 over Ranger. LP Dumoulin is another eight points back, one point ahead of defending series champion Cayden Lapcevich. Lapcevich qualified fifth but wound up 16th after suspension issue cut his race short at Lap 56.
The NASCAR Pinty’s Series will be back in action Saturday, July 15 for the Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto at Exhibition Place.
The Ecko Unlimited 75 will air on TSN on Saturday, July 15 at noon, and on RDS on Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m.
NASCAR Pinty’s Series-ECKO Unlimited 150 Results
At ICAR Short Track
Mirabel, QC
Lap length: 0.684 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
- (2) Kevin Lacroix, Saint-Eustache, Que., Dodge, 79 laps, 41.101 mph.
- (4) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Que., Dodge, 79.
- (6) Marc-Antoine Camirand, Saint-Leonard-d’Aston, Que., Dodge, 79.
- (3) Alex Labbe, Victoriaville, Que., Ford, 79.
- (1) Alex Tagliani, Lachenaie, Que., Dodge, 79.
- (12) Simon Dion-Viens, Saint-Joseph-de-Kamouraska, Que., Dodge, 79.
- (17) Larry Jackson, Oakville, Ont., Dodge, 79.
- (13) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 76.
- (10) Anthony Simone, Aurora, Ont., Dodge, 75.
- (15) David Michaud, Terrebonne, Que., Dodge, 72.
- (9) Elie Arseneau, Laval, Que., Dodge, 72.
- (16) Raymond Guay, Saint-Julie, Que., Dodge, 72.
- (11) J.F. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivieres, Que., Dodge, 72.
- (7) L.P. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivieres, Que., Dodge, 63.
- (14) Adam Martin, Ayr, Ont., Ford, 62.
- (5) Cayden Lapcevich, Grimsby, Ont., Dodge, 56, suspension.
- (8) Matthew Scannell, Rockwood, Ont., Ford, 10, suspension.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 18 minutes 53 seconds
Margin of Victory: .114 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: A.Tagliani (49.943 mph, 49.304 seconds)
Caution Flags: 3 for 16 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Tagliani 1-61; K. Lacroix 62-64; M. Camirand 65-77; K. Lacroix 78-79.
Standings: 1. K. Lacroix, 174; 2. A. Labbe, 169; 3. A. Ranger, 158; 4. L. Dumoulin, 150; 5. C. Lapcevich, 149; 6. A. Tagliani, 148; 7. D. Kennington, 145; 8. J. Dumoulin, 141; 9. A. Martin, 131; 10. L. Jackson, 121.