The NASCAR Canada Series returned to the Greater Toronto Area on Saturday for the Markham 125, taking on the brand-new 3.52-kilometre, 12-turn street circuit as part of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, where Marc-Antoine Camirand made history as the inaugural race winner.
Earlier in the day, drivers took to the circuit for the first time during a 30-minute practice and qualifying session. Marc-Antoine Camirand, driving the No. 96 GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet, recorded the fastest lap to earn the pole position for the inaugural race.
Marc-Antoine Camirand led the field to green from pole position and maintained the lead through the opening corners of the Marlham 125, while second-place starter Tyler Gonzalez behind the No. 38 Power Leaves Corp/RGR Motorsports Ford immediately applied pressure to the No. 96.
The race quickly saw its first incident when Gonzalez made contact on Lap 1 and hit the wall, bringing out the first full-course yellow of the afternoon and ultimately ending his race. The No. 88 TransGestion/Complexe AutoPlus/NAPA/IAI Chevrolet of Simon Charbonneau was also involved in contact with the No. 17 Castrol/BrimstoneGames/DriveBuySupply/CIM Dodge of D.J. Kennington on the opening lap, with both cars sustaining damage.
With Gonzalez out of the race, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin in the No. 47 WeatherTech/Bellemare/Omnifab Dodge moved into second behind Camirand, while Kevin Lacroix took over third behind the No. 74 NAPA Racing Chevrolet.
Camirand held the lead on the ensuing restart as the field settled into the early portion of the race. Further back, Charbonneau began working his way through the field after starting from the rear following a qualifying disqualification. Despite the opening-lap contact and a trip to pit road for repairs, the No. 88 had climbed to 14th by Lap 9.
Another full-course yellow came out on Lap 10 due to a medical situation, while debris from the damaged No. 17 also had to be cleared from the circuit. Camirand once again maintained the lead on the restart. Charbonneau continued his charge, moving into 10th by Lap 18. On Lap 19, Sam Fellows in the No. 87 AER/Novus/McDougall Energy/Mobil 1 Chevrolet hit the wall, with officials having to assist in moving the car from the circuit, ending his race.
The race was slowed again on Lap 30 when Jonathan Woolridge in the No. 8 Emzone/Fortress Tech/CFF Stainless Steels spun following contact with another competitor and made contact with the tire barriers, bringing out another full-course yellow. With three laps remaining, the field returned to green for what was set to be a late sprint to the finish. The battle intensified behind Camirand, with Kevin Lacroix getting pushed into the wall and dropping from the front of the field to 17th. Andrew Ranger in the No. 27 GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada/BFL Chevrolet moved into third as a result.
Another full-course yellow came out with two laps remaining when Woolridge’s No. 8 made contact with the wall, sending the race into overtime and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Before the final restart, Alex Tagliani behind the No. 80 St. Hubert/UPS Store/Bet GRW/Olymel Chevrolet encountered problems that forced him out of contention while this moved Ranger into second and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin into third for the overtime restart, with Camirand still leading the field.
Camirand held on through the final two laps to claim the inaugural victory on the streets of Markham and his seventh win of the 2026 season.
“It’s really special to win the very first race here in Markham,” said Marc-Antoine Camirand. “The car was once again excellent and really fast. I’m very happy to earn our seventh win of the season. We wouldn’t necessarily have thought that was possible at the beginning of the year, but now we’re going to try to get an eighth win and break the record for the most wins in a single season, set by Peter Gibbons and D.J. Kennington. There are three races left, so we’re going to give it everything we have to make it happen.”
“I’m really happy about today. We didn’t have the qualifying session we wanted. We started seventh, but we were able to steadily work our way through the field,” said Andrew Ranger. “I had a really good car on the short runs, while the long runs were a little more difficult for me. The last two green-white-checkered finishes really played in our favour. I was able to gain several positions and ultimately take second place. I’m really happy with our race and the result.”
“We could really feel that the No. 47 WeatherTech/Omnifab/Bellemare car was fast,” said Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. “We had a lot of fun putting pressure on Marc-Antoine Camirand and the No. 96. We were faster than him in certain sections, and he was faster than us in others. I was trying to save the car a little through the middle of the race, but at the same time, we had a lot of pressure from behind. On the final restart, I got a really good run on the No. 96, but Andrew Ranger took advantage of it, and we ended up side by side through the big corner at the back of the circuit. It was really tight, and we almost hit the wall. We ultimately came home third. It’s a very satisfying result, but obviously, we always want to win.”
Connor Bell in the No. 3 Dymon/Sangsin Brake/HGC/Fast Eddie Chevrolet steadily made his way through the field after starting ninth, gaining five positions to finish fourth. Alex Guenette, in the No. 39 DLGL/GL Électricité Automatisation Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.
Following the Markham 125, Marc-Antoine Camirand leads the NASCAR Canada Series championship with 503 points, followed by Louis-Philippe Dumoulin with 420 points and Kevin Lacroix with 393. D.J. Kennington sits fourth with 377 points, while rookie Connor Bell rounds out the top five with 372 points.
The NASCAR Canada Series returns to action on August 29 at ICAR in Mirabel, Quebec, where the championship will continue on the road course.