On Saturday night at Barrie Speedway, it was evident that L.P. Dumoulin didn’t have the handling that he would’ve preferred to get around the tight confines of Barrie Speedway. However, throughout the night, Mario Gosselin and the team continued to work on the No. 47 Weathertech Dodge and by the end of the night, the pieces came together as Dumoulin posted a fourth place finish.
“Tough race. The car wasn’t the way I wanted at the beginning, but Mario Gosselin and the whole team worked really hard to bring it up to speed,” Dumoulin noted post-race. “The car was loose and got a lap down. Got that lap back and ended up running second at one point, but we had a flat tire. We had to pit back in, change the tire and restarted seventh. Moved our way back up to fourth with hte green-white-checkered at the end. I mean, we were points racing, but at the same time we were going balls to the wall to stay up front. J.R. Fitzpatrick finished second – congratulations to Jason Hathaway for winning the race.
“For us, we’re heading to Kawartha with a 16 point lead, which is not too bad for the last race. We’re heading down there pumped up, but aware and not taking anything granted.”
Part of getting to finish involved staying out of trouble late in the race with the final cautions that fell back to back, including an incident that happened right in front of Dumoulin involving Alex Tagliani and Joey McColm.
“It’s always like that at Barrie. You have to be ready for that at Barrie,” Dumoulin commented. “I was, my team was and we ended up finishing fourth.”
Now heading into the final event of the season next weekend at Kawartha Speedway, Dumoulin holds a 16 point lead over J.R. Fitzpatrick. Historically, Dumoulin hasn’t been that strong at Kawartha in the past with only one top-10 finish. However, this year, Dumoulin has been consistent across the season on both the ovals and road/street courses, failing to finish outside of the top six.
“We want to prep the car completely, make sure everything is right so that way we can run up front all weekend,” Dumoulin said. “We want to run well, finish the race and ending as the champion would be awesome.”
Dumoulin knows the challenge that lies ahead as he knows that his closest rival – Fitzpatrick – will be strong given Fitzpatrick’s oval background.
“He’s going to be strong, but at the end day, you never know what is going to happen with the points,” Dumoulin said. “It’s very important to be there at the end – that’s the main thing – and finish top five.”
If Dumoulin can hold on to the championship, it’ll mark his first championship in the series. Not bad for his third season in the series, and his first with King Autosport.
“We have a lot of top fives. Our worst finish is sixth place,” Dumoulin said of his season. “In all the other races, we’ve finished in the top five. It’s great. I mean, I’m very happy about it but we have to keep it up. With a couple races to go, it’s not time to give up. It’s time to keep working hard for the big picture.”
One of the most memorable moments of the year – winning at Trois-Riveries as Dumoulin says it was “epic” to win his hometown event in front of the home for his sponsors and his family.
