MIRABEL, Quebec – It may have been the NASCAR Pinty’s Series’ first trip to Circuit ICAR since 2017, but it was a familiar face in victory lane and the same result to boot.
Kevin Lacroix earned his first victory of the season and second in a row at the .994-mile tarmac road course, leading 73 of the 83 laps en route to the La Fernandiere 75 trophy, surviving a green-white-checkered restart and holding off Andrew Ranger and L.P. Dumoulin.
While running inside the top five, Marc-Antoine Camirand’s car stalled on track, bringing out the yellow flag after a more than 30-lap green flag run. On the ensuing overtime restart, J.F. Laberge’s front end was destroyed, meaning it would take double overtime to settle things.
Lacroix held on no problem though, easily clearing eventual second-place finisher Ranger for the lead and later the win.
The result is Lacroix’s third top-five in four races this season and third win in four career starts at Circuit ICAR, bringing his average finish to a staggering 1.5. He joins Ranger as the only repeat winners at the track over the eight races (since 2011).
Coming home behind Lacroix and Ranger was Dumoulin and Alex Tagliani with Alex Guenette (best finish this season) rounding out the top five. D.J. Kennington and Dexter Stacey finished sixth and seventh, respectively, their best results of the season, with Matthew Scannell, Luc Lesage and Brett Taylor completing the top 10 finishers.
The finish:
Kevin Lacroix, Andrew Ranger, L.P. Dumoulin, Alex Tagliani, Alex Guenette, D.J. Kennington, Dexter Stacey, Matthew Scannell, Luc Lesage, Brett Taylor, Mark Dilley, Sam Fellows, Ray Junior Courtemanche, Larry Jackson, T.J. Rinomato, J.F. Laberge, Treyten Lapcevich, Marc-Antoine Camirand.