It’s been more than a full season since Kevin Lacroix has been able to park his No. 74 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge in NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory lane, a drought exasperated by the dominance of Treyten Lapcevich and Marc-Antoine Camirand.
Lacroix, a native of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, showed solid pace throughout the entire afternoon, but didn’t take over the top spot until the final green-flag run of the race, working around the outside of Alex Tagliani on the race’s final restart.
As the race’s final eight-lap run moved forward, Lacroix was able to quickly scoot away from LP Dumoulin, Marc-Antoine Camirand, and DJ Kennington, as they battled for the second position on track.
With under five laps to go, Lacorix had stretched his lead to more than two seconds, as Dumoulin, the race’s polesitter, was able to finally take over the runner-up spot, and begin his pursuit of the race-leader.
Running times more than a half-second quicker than Lacroix, Dumoulin was able to rapidly close on the No. 74 Dodge, getting to the rear bumper coming to the white flag, which set up an incredible run to the finish between the top two drivers.
Dumoulin attempted to get to the outside of Lacroix at the end of the Mario Andretti Straightaway, and was successful, but couldn’t quite complete the pass, coming up 0.117 seconds short of his first victory on the season.
WHAT A BATTLE TO THE LINE?
KEVIN LACROIX TAKES HOME THE CHECKERED FLAG WITH L.P. DUMOULIN COMING HOME SECOND.
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— NASCAR Canada (@NASCARPintys) September 3, 2023
Dumoulin would come home in second place, while Marc-Antoine Camirand came home in third, but failed to gain a chunk of points on Treyten Lapcevich, who leaves Canadian Tire Motorsports Park with the 35-point advantage.
DJ Kennington came home in fourth place, while Alex Labbe – who suffered a shifter knob issue throughout the majority of the race – made an insane run in the final laps to finish inside the top five.
Treyten Lapcevich finished in sixth, while Daniel Bois matched a career-best seventh-place finish at the 2.459-mile road course. Alex Tagliani faded to eighth place at the end of the race, while Ryan Klutt scored his first-ever top-10 in ninth. Kyle Steckly rounded out the top-10.
Leaving Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Treyten Lapcevich holds a 35-point advantage over Marc-Antoine Camirand heading into the season-finale at Darlington Raceway, where the Grimsby, Ontario-native will likely need to take the green to clinch the championship.
