Marc-Antoine Camirand took home his second win of the season in the Freshstone Dirt Classic at Ohsweken Speedway.
Camirand in the No. 96 GM Paillé Chevrolet was able to hold off a field of 19 cars, including NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe, ARCA regular Amber Balcaen, NASCAR legend Ken Schrader, and 2016 series champion Cayden Lapcevich.
South of the Border stars make an appearance in NASCAR Canada
Briscoe, who currently races for Stewart Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, made his first career NASCAR Canada start in the No. 1 Rinnai/Mahindra Tractors/S3 Ford.
The driver from Mitchell, Indiana won the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award by winning the first heat race.
Briscoe started up front and battled with the No. 80 RPM Designs/Vulcain Chevrolet of Donald Theetge early on, however, under the first caution Briscoe pitted.
Briscoe worked his way through the field, battling among the leaders. Briscoe came home fifth, battling with Schrader and Kyle Steckly in the closing laps.
Balcean, who regularly competes in the ARCA Menards series joined the field in the No. 99 Brimstone Games/Castrol/O’Neil Electric Dodge prepared by D.J. Kennington for her second NASCAR Canada start. However, her night was cut short due to break issues early in the race.
Camirand Captures First Dirt Win
Camirand, who won the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, started third, after winning his heat race.
The No. 96 GM Paillé Chevrolet led 92 of 100 laps, dominating the race.
Camirand now takes over the points lead with 249, one point ahead of Andrew Ranger, who finished the Freshstone Dirt Classic in second.
Ken Schrader’s Podium Finish
Schrader, who won the first dirt race last year, joined the field once again, in the No. 52 APC/Pennzoil/Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet, finishing his heat race second, behind Briscoe. This led to a fourth-place starting spot.
The 69-year-old continued his streak of top-ten finishes in the series, having finished in the top ten in both of his previous two series starts.
Ready for the Western Swing
Teams will now head west for the series’ annual western swing to Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The swing starts on July 20th at Sutherland Automotive Speedway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, followed by Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin, Alberta on July 27th.
The Freshstone Dirt Classic will air on TSN on Saturday, July 20th, at 2:00 p.m. ET and on RDS on Saturday, July 27, at 5:30 p.m. ET.