Marc-Antoine Camirand, sporting a special livery on his No. 96 GM Paillé Chevrolet honouring Canadian Armed Forces, captured a dominant victory in double overtime in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, in front of a record-breaking crowd.
Camirand set sail on the final re-start, relegating the No. 36 AB Express/Lussier Chev/VR Victoriaville Chevrolet of Alex Labbé, the series 2016 champion, to a second-place finish.
Raphaël Lessard, in the No. 7 Lions deTrois-Rivières/Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, was in a hard-fought battle for third place with Trois-Rivières native Louis-Philippe Dumoulin in the No. 47 WeatherTech/Omnifab/Bellemare Dodge.
This win increases Camirand’s championship points lead by 29 points over Kevin Lacroix, who was forced to retire from the race early with a broken axle.
Lessard Rounds Off the Podium in a Dramatic Fashion
Lessard is familiar with podiums in NASCAR Canada and local short tracks, however, his weekend consisted of not one but three podiums in just two days.
Lessard’s full weekend of racing started off nicely with a victory in the Défi Urbain Chevrolet. Shortly after the race ended he jumped in a helicopter and flew to Autodrome Chaudière to race in the ACT LMS Québec series, where he came home third.
On Sunday, Lessard got to show off his new NASCAR Canada ride, featuring the local Trois-Rivières hockey team, which is owned by American NASCAR team Spire Motorsports.
Lessard started the 60 Tours Rousseau Métal in 11th place and was able to battle through the late race carnage to a third-place finish. Dumoulin, however, gave Lessard a run for his money. The two of them battled hard to the line, beating and banging for the final step on the podium for the thousands of fans in attendance to witness.
Labbé Comes Home Second, with Significant Damage.
Labbé came home second, but his car was not unscathed. The No. 36 Chevrolet suffered damage after hitting the back of Andrew Ranger’s GM Paillé Chevrolet, which ran out of fuel coming at the final restart.
The contact caused body damage to the car, buckling the hood. This did not stop Labbé who ensured a second-place finish.
Jackson Ties his Second-Best Finish Coming Home 6th.
Series veteran Larry Jackson, commanding the No. 84 Big Chief Snacks/E3/O’Neil Electric/Duma Dodge tied his second-best NASCAR Canada series finish, coming home sixth. Jackson stayed out of trouble during the race, masterfully taming the streets of Trois-Rivières.