The NASCAR Pinty’s Series’ highly-anticipated debut at Eastbound International Speedway didn’t disappoint, with lots of side-by-side action and full-contact racing, like fans of the series are accustomed to seeing on a race-to-race basis.
Racing for the first time in the province of Newfoundland, drivers, and teams were faced with a number of unique challenges, including transportation to the track – which required a ferry — and the weather.
The persistent showers that traveled through Avondale, Newfoundland postponed the event from its scheduled Saturday date, pushing the event into the morning hours of Sunday (11:00 am / Local Time, 9:30 am / EST).
In the early stages of the 225-lap contest, Brandon Watson and Andrew Ranger looked to have the field easily covered, trading the top spot between themselves for the first 87 laps of the race.
As the laps clicked off, the pair’s stranglehold on the field began to fade, with both drivers having significant mechanical gremlins throughout the event.
Just 43 laps into the event, Andrew Ranger was forced to retire his No. 27 GM Paille Chevrolet, after the engine began pouring smoke out of the tailpipes, eventually expiring and losing power.
While not necessarily race-ending, Brandon Watson ran into problems with the power steering on his No. 9 Jacombs Racing entry, which required a lengthy fix under the race’s halfway break, sending him to the rear.
From that point forward, it was the Marc-Antoine Camirand show, again, as the driver who has dominated the oval races in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series this season, took control of the race, and – unofficially – leading 137 of the final 138 laps en-route to the victory.
Treyten Lapcevich – winner at Sunset Speedway — challenged Camirand on the last couple of restarts, but was unable to get clear of the GM Paille Racing driver to secure the lead.
DJ Kennington, who at one point early in the event was one lap behind the leaders, rebounded for a strong third-place run, while Brandon Watson recovered to finish fourth after fixing the power-steering. Gary Klutt rounded out the top-five.
Dexter Stacey, Kevin Lacroix, Raphael Lessard, JP Bergeron, and Mark Dilley rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Missing from the top-10 was defending NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion, LP Dumoulin, who was involved in a big crash just after the halfway break, which saw the No. 47 WeatherTech Dodge pound the water barrels in turn three.
YELLOW #7 / RED – 119/225:@DumoulinLP drifts up the track entering T3 and POUNDS the barrels at the top of the track, sending water everywhere.
The impact rips the entire right-rear tire/suspension off the @DumoulinDC entry.
LP Dumoulin has climbed from the car.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aFlw5KJRbG
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) June 26, 2022
The event featured a total of 11 cautions flag, marking the second consecutive event with double-digit yellows. The last of which set up a restart inside the final 15 laps, after Sara Thorne was turned by Wallace Stacey.
Leaving Newfoundland, Marc-Antoine Camirand has a 10-point advantage over Kevin Lacroix and Gary Klutt in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series point standings, with Brandon Watson, Treyten Lapcevich, DJ Kennington, and Alex Tagliani rounding out the top-five.
PRO•LINE 225 RESULTS:
- Marc-Antoine Camirand
- Treyten Lapcevich
- DJ Kennington
- Brandon Watson
- Gary Klutt
- Dexter Stacey
- Kevin Lacroix
- Raphael Lessard
- JP Bergeron
- Mark Dilley
- Larry Jackson
- Bryan Catchcart
- TJ Rinomato
- Wallace Stacey (-1)
- Alex Tagliani (-6)
- Brandon McFarlane (-6)
- Sara Thorne (-7)
- Glenn Styres (OUT)
- LP Dumoulin (OUT)
- Andrew Ranger (OUT)
- Donald Theetge (OUT)
- Brett Taylor (OUT)
NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES POINTS – AFTER 4 of 13 RACES:
- Marc-Antoine Camirand 165pts
- Kevin Lacroix (-10pts)
- Gary Klutt (-10pts)
- Brandon Watson (-11pts)
- Treyten Lapcevich (-15pts)
- DJ Kennington (-16pts)
- Alex Tagliani (-18pts)
- LP Dumoulin (-26pts)
- JP Bergeron (-33pts)
- Dexter Stacey (-35pts)
- Mark Dilley (-36pts)
- Larry Jackson (-38pts)
- Andrew Ranger (-41pts)
- Raphael Lessard (-48pts)
- Bryan Cathcart (-51pts)
- Brett Taylor (-52pts)
- TJ Rinomato (-53pts)
- Wallace Stacey (-55pts)
- Glenn Styres (-67pts)
- Sam Fellows (-86pts)
