Kevin Lacroix Perseveres Through Wet Weather, Double Overtime to Claim Victory at Circuit ICAR

When the NASCAR Pinty’s Series showed up to Mirabel, Quebec on Saturday Morning, Kevin Lacroix was already considered to be one of the favorites for the victory in Saturday’s La Fernandiere 75 at Circuit ICAR, having won two of the series’ last three races on the road course, despite running on two configurations different than the series would contest.

The No. 74 Bumper to Bumper Dodge wasn’t just the class of the field though, it was in its own postal code, running some of the quickest laps in practice, before earning the second-place starting position through group qualifying, missing out on the pole position by 0.076 seconds to Andrew Ranger.

Lacroix didn’t waste a second, hounding the Rick Ware Racing entry for the lead of the race from the green flag, eventually making the pass for the top spot on lap 10 of 75, and never looking back, leading the final 65 laps of the event en-route to his 14th NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory, and his first of the 2021 season.

However, it wasn’t necessarily that simple, as inclement weather plaguing the province of Quebec – which forced the cancellation of Sunday’s doubleheader at Autodrome Chaudiere — forced teams to pivot to wet weather tires just after the halfway point of the event, which totally changed the dynamic of the race…. for everybody but Kevin Lacroix.

The 32-year-old seemed to have even more of an advantage on the rain tires, extending his lead to a margin that hadn’t been seen throughout the first portion of the race, reaching nearly seven seconds before Marc-Antoine Camirand’s No. 22 Chevrolet Camaro stopped on the track, throwing the race into NASCAR Overtime.

Making his race win seem even more impressive, Lacroix was able to keep Andrew Ranger, LP Dumoulin and Alex Tagliani – three of the series’ best road racers — behind him, capturing his first victory of the season and his third at Circuit ICAR.

Andrew Ranger brought Rick Ware Racing their best-ever finish in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series with a second-place effort, with L.P. Dumoulin, Alex Tagliani and Alex Guenette rounding out the top-five. DJ Kennington, Dexter Stacey, Matthew Scannell, Luc Lesage and Brett Taylor rounded out the top-10.

La Fernandiere 75 at Circuit ICAR – Race Results:

1. No. 74 – Kevin Lacroix
2. No. 51 – Andrew Ranger (-1.189 seconds)
3. No. 47 – L.P. Dumoulin (-1.995 seconds)
4. No. 18 – Alex Tagliani (-3.784 seconds)
5. No. 52 – Alex Guenette (-5.010 seconds)
6. No. 17 – DJ Kennington (-5.880 seconds)
7. No. 92 – Dexter Stacey (-47.078 seconds)
8. No. 7 – Matthew Scannell (-1 Lap)
9. No. 25 – Luc Lesage (-1 Lap)
10. No. 3 – Brett Taylor (-2 Laps)
11. No. 64 – Mark Dilley (-3 Laps)
12. No. 98 – Sam Fellows (-4 Laps)
13. No. 8 – Ray Junior Courtemanche (-5 Laps)
14. No. 84 – Larry Jackson (-8 Laps)
15. No. 2 – TJ Rinomato (-8 Laps)
16. No. 80 – J.F. Laberge (-13 Laps)
17. No. 20 – Treyten Lapcevich (-13 Laps)
18. No. 22 – Marc-Antoine Camirand (-14 Laps)

2021 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Point Standings After 4 of 11 Races:

1. Alex Tagliani
2. L.P. Dumoulin (-4)
3. Kevin Lacroix (-7)
4. Treyten Lapcevich (-19)
5. DJ Kennington (-19)
6. Alex Guenette (-23)
7. Andrew Ranger (-25)
8. Larry Jackson (-30)
9. Mark Dilley (-35)
10. Raphael Lessard (-39)
11. Brett Taylor (-39)
12. Dexter Stacey (-41)
13. Marc-Antoine Camirand (-48)
14. TJ Rinomato (-52)