The 2014 season was beginning to wrap up but the battle for the championship had just begun, and Barrie Speedway was set to host round 10 of the 2014 NASCAR Pinty’s Series season.
J.R. Fitzpatrick and LP Dumoulin were both in search of their first title in the series, which was then titled the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1. Fitzpatrick had come close before in 2010 and in 2012, while this was Dumoulin’s first run for the title.
Previous champions Andrew Ranger, Scott Steckly and D.J. Kennington were all more than 50 points off of the leaders heading into the penultimate race, giving the leaders little heat with two races to go.
As the points leader, Dumoulin’s season had been stellar. He hadn’t finished worse than sixth while picking up a win at Saskatoon and another at his home track, GP3R in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.
Fitzpatrick was coming off a win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, his second of the season. At 26, Fitzpatrick had runner-up finishes in points in 2010 and 2012. He claimed the 2006 CASCAR Super Series as an 18-year-old, but the NASCAR trophy still eluded him.
Defending race winner Jason Hathaway was a crowd favourite heading into the event. While Hathaway finished third for the championship in 2013, he was currently sitting 74 points back of Dumoulin, despite a win at Autodrome Chaudiere in Vallee-Joncton, Quebec.
RACING-REFERENCE: Race Results at Barrie Speedway | 2014 Results
Steckly, the reigning series champion, was sitting fifth in the point standings with two races left and was looking to pick up a second win.
Ranger was back full-time for the 2014 season and after a rocky start managed to pick up a pair of wins at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, Quebec, and out west at Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The then 27-year-old needed two, near-perfect finishes to make a run at the championship. His last time at Barrie was in 2012 where he finished runner-up to Pete Shepherd, his best finish at the track.
Kennington was the driver with the most wins at Barrie, sweeping the two races in 2007 and getting a win again in 2010. But the St. Thomas, Ontario, native was still searching for a win in 2014.