For the 12th time in the history of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the drivers will hit the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course for 51 laps ahead of the Camping World Truck Series’ Chevrolet Silverado 250 for the third straight year in a row. With defending race winner and five-time CTMP winner J.R. Fitzpatrick chasing other racing avenues, the door looks to be wide open in possibility as to who will reach victory lane.
Jason Hathaway enters this weekend sitting third in points, 19 points behind points leader Scott Steckly with two races left in the season, with a win and seven top-10s in the nine races thus far this season. While he has six career NCATS wins, none of those have come on a road course. Notably in 11 starts at CTMP, he has only posted five top-10s with an average finish of 15th. Certainly a solid top-10, possibly top-five finish, would allow Hathaway to head to Kawartha Speedway with a shot at the championship.
Alex Tagliani will be looking for his second win of the season after winning at Sunset Speedway earlier this year. He will perform double duty this weekend, set to run the Camping World Truck Series event for Brad Keselowski Racing for the second straight season. Notably, he has only ran two previous NCATS races at CTMP – finishing fifth in 2008, and 20th last year after mechanical issues. In 16 road course starts, he has a win, five poles and seven top-fives. Though despite the statistics not showing strongly, don’t count out the Quebec native as he finished second in the XFINITY Series event at Mid-Ohio a couple weeks ago.
Ray Courtemanche Jr. will be making his third start of the season this weekend, looking for his first top-10 finish. Notably, he has only finished in the top-10 once in six previous CTMP starts.
While big brother Gary Klutt won the season opener at CTMP, Ryan Klutt is hoping that the race falls in his lap this time around. The Halton Hills, Ontario native will make his fifth CTMP start this weekend, searching for his first career top-10 after finishing 11th in his previous two starts.
Jeff Lapcevich has finished as the runner-up in four of the last five CTMP events. His 5.5 average finish at the track ranks second all-time among active drivers, trailing only D.J. Kennington’s mark of 4.0. Notably, he has posted 25 top-10s with an average finish of eighth in 30 road course starts. With the amount of races he runs each year decreasing each season as focus shifts to sons Cayden and Treyten Lapcevich, Jeff will certainly be looking to seize the opportunity for his first career win this weekend.
Speaking of Cayden, he will make his fifth career series start this weekend, after posting a third place finish earlier this year at Sunset Speedway. Lapcevich had a top-10 run going in May at CTMP, but finished 17th as a result of pit road issues.
Dave Coursol will make his fourth career series start this weekend in a second car for Courtemache’s team. In his three previous starts this season, he has posted a best finish of 12th at Trois-Rivieres.
J.F. Dumoulin enters this weekend sitting eighth in points in his first full season on the tour. He has done well at CTMP before, posting a third place finish in this year’s season opener for his first top-10 on the tour. In 22 road course starts, he has nine top-10 finishes.
D.J. Kennington is hoping to break the winless streak this weekend as the two-time series champion hasn’t scored a victory since August of 2013 at Trois-Riveres. He has won at CTMP before, picking up the win in 2011 to go along with nine top-fives and a series-best average finish of fourth in 11 CTMP starts. Notably in 38 road course career starts, he has 24 top-fives, 30 top-10s and an average finish of seventh.
David Thorndyke will be making his second start of the season after finishing 19th in the season opener at CTMP. In 22 career starts, he has yet to finish in the top-10, posting a best finish of 11th at CTMP in 2014.
Olivier Bedard will be making his Canadian Tire Series debut this weekend, driving for White Motorsports. Bedard enter this weekend with experience on road courses through racing in the F1600 series.
James Van Domselaar will be making his third start of the season after posting a pair of ninth place finishes in his previous two starts. In two previous trips to CTMP, he has posted a best finish of 15th last season.
Scott Steckly enters this weekend with the points lead, currently sitting 12 points ahead of Andrew Ranger with two races left in the season as he searches for his fourth career championship. In 11 previous starts at CTMP, he has posted six top-fives with an average finish of 11.5. Notably, despite having a 19 career wins, he has yet to win on a road course, finishing in the runner-up spot on four different occasions.
Simon Dion-Viens will make his fourth start of the season this weekend after posting his first top-10 of the season in his last start at Trois-Riveres by finishing 10th. He has yet to ever finish in the top-10 at CTMP, though.
Trans-Am Racer Kevin Poitras will make his third start of the season after posting a 10th place finish in the season opener in May.
Florida native Carlos de Quesada will make his second start this weekend, looking to top an 18th place finish that he had at Trois-Riveres earlier this season.
Defending series champion L.P. Dumoulin will hope to repeat his previous success at CTMP as he won both races in 2013, and has posted five top-fives in seven starts for an average finish of sixth. Notably, he has three wins, 14 top-fives and an average finish of 10th in 25 career road course starts.
Anthony Simone will be looking to have a good run after mechanical issues have taken him out of the three previous events at CTMP. If the mechanics of the racecar all stay together, he has proven that he can get the job done, posting a runner-up finish in 2009.
Kerry Micks is hoping to give Micks Motorsports their first win of the season this weekend and his first win at CTMP. In 11 previous starts, though, he has an average finish of 11th, but he scored two career wins on road courses across his career.
Alex Labbe has ran five races thus far this season, posting three top-10 finishes. This will mark his first trip to CTMP in his career, but he has five top-10s in eight previous road course starts.
Kevin Lacroix is looking to become only the second driver to win three road course events in a season, repeating a feat done by Andrew Ranger in 2009 and 2010. The rookie won earlier this season at Circuit ICAR and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres. As a result, he is the first driver in series history to win two of his first four starts, and first to record two victories in rookie season.
Jocelyn Fecteau will make her second start of the season after finishing 13th at Trois-Riveres.
Ryley Seibert will be making his first start of the season this year and first start at CTMP, following in the footsteps of big brother Trevor Seibert.
Andrew Ranger enters this weekend looking to gain points as he currently sits second in standings, 12 points behind Steckly. The two-time series champion is the series’ all-time leader in wins at 20 and is tied for the poles record at 16. Notably in 35 career road course starts, he has posted 15 wins, 16 poles, led 27 races, 29 top-fives and 32 top-10s with an average finish of fourth. In his nine previous starts at CTMP, he has recorded a record five poles to go with seven top-10s and an average finish of eighth. This weekend presents the perfect opportunity for the Quebec driver.
Looking to gain more experience before the Camping World Truck Series event, Spencer Gallagher will be driving the No. 24 Allegiant Travel Dodge for 22 Racing as a teammate to Steckly.
Marc-Antoine Camirand will be hoping to repeat last year’s success this weekend after finishing third to give White Motorsports their first podium finish.
Matthew Scannell will be going to CTMP for the fifth time in his career, looking to top his 12th place finish from the spring for his first CTMP top-10.
Joey McColm is looking to turn his luck around after being plagued by bad luck throughout the season thus far. In 10 previous CTMP starts, he has posted a pair of top-10 finishes.
In the spring, Gary Klutt shocked everyone as he snatched the victory in the final laps after there was contact between Steckly and Ranger. He will look to do the same this weekend as he has averaged a finish of sixth across his four starts at CTMP. He has five top-10s and an average finish of 11th in eight career road races.
