L.P. Dumoulin is about to embark on his seventh full-time season in the NASCAR Pinty's Series. Dumoulin has been a threat the last few seasons finishing outside the top-five in points just one time over the course of those seven seasons. Dumoulin was able to secure the championship in 2014 and this season he's looking to win another one. Over the off-season, Dumoulin and his team have been working on building the team and starting to find the right people, much like Furniture Row Racing did here in the states. With the amount of homework the team did over the off-season, it could be majorly concerning to the rest of the field."I'm super pumped," said LP Dumoulin. "The last two years we have been building the team. It's been a big challenge for JF and me, to build up the team. Finding the right staff, equipment, build the shop and everything around it. We have to fight against teams who have been doing this for more than 25 years with teams like Kennington, Steckley, etc. It's hard to build your own team and compete up front. I am super proud of my team did over the last two years."
"This winter, we've had more time to focus on the performance side of the racing and that's what I am super excited about because we found a bunch of good stuff so I can't wait to get started this year."
Despite winning that championship in 2014, Dumoulin has two fourth-place finishes in the standings including last season. Dumoulin matched his top-five totals from 2014 last season but he also had four finishes outside the top-five, which in the competitive Pinty's Series just can't happen in order to win a championship. With the increased homework over the off-season and the speed, the team showed last season, Dumoulin certainly has to be a favorite to capture the 2018 series championship."Winning is one of the main things you need to do to win a championship. We have been running up front the last two years with pretty reliable equipment. We need to finish up front every weekend to win the championship. I think we have shown we can finish inside the top five and podium over the last few seasons. If we can stay up front and get a couple of wins, I feel like we can win the championships."
Another 13 race season for the NASCAR Pinty's Series is in store for Dumoulin and the No. 47 Weathertech/Groupe Bellemare Canada Dodge. Though not the shortest schedule in NASCAR, the NASCAR Pinty's Series could see some more tracks being as it's opening the door to the United States later this season. Dumoulin would like to see them add a few more races to the schedule.
"I would like to add two to three races but as it is, I am pretty happy with what NASCAR and Pinty's are doing," said Dumoulin about the current Pinty's Series schedule. "I am proud of the championship we have right now and it looks really good. I like the schedule, I like the tracks we go to and I think we put on a good show. Yes, a couple more races would make me happy. I do like the fact that we are going down to the US. That is really cool, maybe we could add another road course out west, that would be awesome."
Dumoulin has four career victories in the NASCAR Pinty's Series and on Sunday, he'll look to earn his fifth on Sunday at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. He swept the races at CTMP in 2013, his first and second career victories and on Sunday, don't be surprised to see him up front. (Koelle,2018)
Photo Credit - Matthew Manor and Patrice March Eseault
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