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| Quebec native Andrew Ranger will go for his second straight win to kick off the 2016 NASCAR Pinty's Series season this Saturday at Autodrome Chaudiere. Ranger won the season opener last month and will try and score his second oval track win in the province in the CRS Express 300. |
CRS Express 300 Setup:
• The CRS Express 300 will be the first of six oval events on the 2016 NASCAR Pinty’s Series schedule, and one of two in Quebec.• Jason Hathaway is the defending winner of CRS Express 300. He’ll try and tie a series record with his third straight win at Chaudiere this weekend.
• Ontario drivers have won eight of the nine previous oval races in Quebec with Hathaway scoring the two previous races at Chaudiere with Kennington (1), Steckly (4) and Dave Whitlock (1) also scoring wins for those drivers. Andre Ranger became the first Quebec native to win an oval race last season in Quebec at St-Eustache last summer.
At Autodrome Chaudiere:
• Opened in 1992 as a dirt track and was converted to an asphalt racing surface in 2005.• Has held ACT Castrol Series, PASS North, International Supermodified Association and Sportsman Quebec touring series events.
• Facility held its inaugural NASCAR Pinty’s Series race on June 15, 2014.
Autodrome Chaudiere Data
Race #: 2 of 12Track Layout: .25-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Straights: progressive from 6-11 degrees
Banking/Turns: progressive from 11-16 degrees
Race Length: 300 laps (75 miles)
Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Pole Winner: Alex Labbe, Dodge, 13.113 seconds, 68.634 mph2015 Race Winner: Jason Hathaway, Chevrolet, 1:31:18, 49.288 mph
Track Qualifying Record: Steve Mathews, Ford, 13.109 seconds, 68.655 mph (2014)
Race Record: Jason Hathaway, Chevrolet, 1:19:23 seconds, 56.876 mph (2014)
Select Driver Highlights:
Mark Dilley (No. 02 Leland/Johnsonville/BDI Ford)
• Has three wins, three poles, 33 top fives and 52 top 10s in 91 career NASCAR Pinty’s Series starts.• This will be his 2016 debut. Kerry Micks piloted the No. 02 Ford in the opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
• All of his wins and poles have come on ovals, where he has 42 top 10s and an average finish of eighth in 64 starts.
• Led 60 laps and finished as the runner-up in the series’ inaugural Autodrome Chaudiere event in 2014 and finished 17th there a year ago.
L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)
• The 2014 NPS Champion and 2011 Rookie of the Year has four wins, a pole, 24 top fives and 38 top 10s in 60 career starts.• Has a win (2014 Auto Clearing Motor Speedway), 20 top 10s and an average finish of ninth in 32 career oval starts.
• Has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in as many starts at Chaudiere.
Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet)
• Has eight wins and 69 top 10s in 110 career starts. Is one of two drivers to compete in every race in NPS history.• All five of his wins have come on ovals, where he has posted 43 top 10s and an average finish of eighth in 63 starts.
• Led 177 laps en route to victory in 2014’s inaugural event at Chaudiere and followed that up by leading 35 laps en route to picking up the win in last year’s event at the track.
• Finished a career-best second in last year’s final season standings.
D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge)
• The 2010 and 2012 NPS champion. Currently is tied for second in all-time NPS career wins (19), top fives (74) and top 10s (91), and is one of two drivers to start each of the 110 all-time events. Also ranks second in series history in laps led (2,797) and fifth in poles (11).• Suffered first DNF in 69 races last fall at Riverside after starting on the pole. His most recent DNF before last year also came at Riverside International Speedway in 2009.
• His 16 oval wins are second to Scott Steckly for the most in NPS history, and all 11 of his career poles have been earned on ovals. He has an average finish of sixth with 44 races led and 58 top 10s in 70 career oval events.
• Finished third at Chaudiere last season and seventh in 2014.
Gary Klutt (No. 59 Pioneer Family Pools/PoolSuppliesCanada.ca Dodge)
• Has a win, a pole and 11 top 10s in 18 career NPS starts. Both the pole and win came in last year’s season-opener at CTMP.• Finished seventh at Chaudiere last year and has scored five of his career top-10 finishes on ovals with his best finish to date of sixth at Sunset Speedway in 2015.
• Recently named to be a part of the NASCAR Next program.
Alex Labbe (No. 36 Can-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear Dodge)
• Has three poles, five top fives and nine top 10s in 16 career starts. His first career pole came at Autodrome St-Eustache and he also won the pole at Chaudiere last year.• Labbe also equaled his best career finish of second at this track in 2015. He scored his first career runner-up finish at Riverside in 2014.
• Has recorded three top-10 finishes on ovals.
Kevin Lacroix (No. 74 Bumper To Bumper/Total/Lacroix Tuning Dodge)
• Recorded two wins in seven starts during his debut season in 2015. Won road races at Circuit ICAR and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres.• Is the first driver in series history to win two of his first four starts, and first to record two victories in rookie season.
• Finished 15th in last year’s final season standings.
• This will be his first appearance at Autodrome Chaudiere.
Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 NPS champion and after his season opening win at CTMP holds the record for all-time wins with 20 and tied for first in poles (17). Has 49 top fives and 70 top 10s in 84 career starts.• Has five wins, 18 races led, 37 top 10s and an average finish of sixth in 48 career oval starts.
• Finished fourth last year at Chaudiere and 12th in 2014.
Alex Tagliani (No. 18 EpiPen/Riobel/Complexe JCP/Juste du Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, six poles and 10 top 10s in 34 career NPS starts.• Has a pole, three top 10s, an average finish of 12th and scored his first oval track win at Sunset Speedway last summer for his best finish on an oval in 17 oval starts.
• He finished fifth at Chaudiere last year and came home 14th after qualifying fourth in the inaugural Chaudiere event in 2014.
Other Driver Notes
• Rookie Josh Collins is scheduled to make his first start of the season at Chaudiere. He’s the first driver in series history to compete in the series from Newfoundland. Best career finish in two starts was 10th at Riverside in 2015.• Donald Theetge will start in a car fielded by four-time champion Scott Steckly. Theetge has two career starts in the series at Trois-Rivieres and Montreal in 2011.
Up To Speed:
• The 2016 season is the first for new series sponsor Pinty’s and the 10th overall for the Canadian-based NASCAR division.• The 2016 schedule features 12 races at 11 different tracks across five provinces and a return to the road course in Toronto as part of the IndyCar weekend in July.
• Quebec native Andrew Ranger took the lead on the penultimate lap of the season opening race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Part to score the win.
• The next race, the Leland Industries 300 presented by Dickies on June 18, will be the series’ second straight visit to Sunset Speedway in Innisfil, Ontario.
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