HISTORY: NASCAR PINTY'S SERIES

 

The NASCAR Pinty’s Series is the premier motorsports division in Canada, where crowds enjoy hotly-contested racing and fuel Canada’s tremendous support for the NASCAR brand. With events held at a variety of road courses and oval tracks across the country, including those on dirt and on the city streets, it is truly Canada’s national series. 

NASCAR announced in September 2006 the purchase of the CASCAR Super Series, the top stock-car racing series in Canada. At the same time, they announced a sponsorship agreement with Canadian Tire Corporation as the entitlement sponsor of the new series.

In December of 2015, NASCAR in Canada announced a new name and entitlement sponsor – one that’s familiar to race fans across the country. NASCAR and Pinty’s Foods Inc. announced a six-year series entitlement sponsorship agreement of NASCAR’s Canadian-based series that began on Jan. 1, 2016.

In 2017, drivers made a trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, marking the first stop in the United States in series history. 

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the original schedule was replaced by the Pinty's FanCave Challenge. A series of three double-headers, six races in total. The series returned to Sunset Speedway for the first time since 2016 and made its debut at Flamboro Speedway.

In 15 seasons, multiple drivers have made the leap to compete at the NASCAR national series level. Alex Labbe, Marc-Antoine Camirand, J.R. Fitzpatrick, D.J. Kennington, Gary Klutt, Andrew Ranger, Scott Steckly, Alex Tagliani and Don Thomson Jr. are among a list of drivers who have competed in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Kennington and Klutt have also competed in NASCAR’s top series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Scott Steckly holds the record for most championships in the series (4). Andrew Ranger and reigning series champion, L.P. Dumoulin are close behind with three series titles. 

The series receives exceptional national broadcast coverage on TSN and RDS, providing both English and French-language race telecasts. The series' races also stream live in the U.S. via FloRacing. 

General Tire has been the official tire of the series since 2019. E3 Spark Plugs are the pole award sponsor while QwickWick Fire Starter sponsors the fastest lap of the race. 

NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES FIRSTS

First Race: Cayuga International Speedway, Hamilton, Ontario, May 2007
First Race Winner: Don Thomson, Jr.
First Pole Winner: Peter Gibbons
First Champion: Andrew Ranger

First Woman to qualify for a race: Ashley Taws, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, August 2008
First Josten’s Rookie of the year: J.R. Fitzpatrick
First United States Race: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, September 2018
First Woman to lead a lap: Julia LandauerJukasa Motor Speedway, 2019

YEAR-BY-YEAR: NASCAR Pinty’s Series Results & Point Standings

NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES STATS AND RECORDS

Number of Series Races: 189 (As of March of 20223)

Past Champions

YEAR # OF RACES DRIVER NAME CAR OWNER CREW CHIEF
2007 12 Andrew Ranger Dave Jacombs Bill Burns
2008 13 Scott Steckly Scott Steckly Greg Gibson
2009 13 Andrew Ranger Dave Jacombs Bill Burns
2010 13 D.J. Kennington Doug Kennington Dave Wight
2011 12 Scott Steckly Scott Steckly Guilio Montanari
2012 12 D.J. Kennington Doug Kennington Dave Wight
2013 12 Scott Steckly Scott Steckly Randy Steckly
2014 11 L.P. Dumoulin Marc-Andre Bergeron Mario Gosselin
2015 11 Scott Steckly  Scott Steckly Randy Steckly
2016 12 Cayden Lapcevich Sherri Lapcevich Jeff Lapcevich
2017 13 Alex Labbe Alain Lord Mounir Mario Gosselin
2018 13 L.P. Dumoulin Marc-Andre Bergeron Robin McCluskey
2019 13 Andrew Ranger Doug Kennington Dave Wight
2020* 6 Jason Hathaway Ed Hakonson Craig Masters
2021 10 L.P. Dumoulin Marc-Andre Bergeron Robin McCluskey
2022 13 Marc-Antoine Camirand Jean-Claude Paillè Robin McCluskey

* 2020 was a shortened, exhibition season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, titled the Pinty's FanCave Challenge

Rookie of the Years

YEAR DRIVER NAME
2007 J.R. Fitzpatrick
2008 Jason White
2009 Joey Hanssen
2010 Derek White
2011 L.P. Dumoulin
2012 Martin Roy
2013 Alex Guenette
2014 Matthew Scannell
2015 Gary Klutt
2016 Cayden Lapcevich
2017 Adam Martin
2018 Brett Taylor
2019 T.J. Rinomato
2021* Treyten Lapcevich
2022 Brandon Watson

* there was no Rookie of the Year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 shortened season

Most Career Starts:
D.J. Kennington …189

Andrew Ranger... 156

Jason Hathaway …143

Mark Dilley... 143

LP Dumoulin... 139

Scott Steckly …110

Alex Tagliani ...108

Most Career Wins:
Andrew Ranger …31

D.J. Kennington …24

Scott Steckly …19

Kevin Lacroix ...17

Jason Hathaway... 14

Most Races Won in a Single Season:
D.J. Kennington ...7 (2012)

Andrew Ranger ...6 (2009)

Alex Labbe ...5 (2017)

D.J. Kennington ...5 (2010)

Most Career Poles:
Andrew Ranger ...28

Scott Steckly ...17

J.R. Fitzpatrick ...16

D.J. Kennington ...15

Kevin Lacroix ...13

Most Poles Won in a Season:
Don Thompson Jr. ...7 (2008)

D.J. Kennington ...5 (2010)

Andrew Ranger ...4 (2010)

J.R. Fitzpatrick ...4 (2012)

Kevin Lacroix ...4 (2017)

Most Consecutive Races Won:
D.J. Kennington ...5 (2012)

Scott Steckly ...3 (2013)
*Drivers have won two consecutive races 17 times*

Most Top Five Finishes in a Season:
D.J. Kennington… 11 (2012)

Alex Labbe… 11 (2017)

Andrew Ranger ...10 (2019)

Kevin Lacroix ...10 (2019)
*12 different times a driver recorded 9 top-five finishes in the same season*

Most Laps Led in a Season:
Scott Steckly… 1090 (2015)

Marc-Antoine Camirand ...803 (2022)

D.J. Kennington… 796 (2010)

Kevin Lacroix… 789 (2018)

Highest Race Finish by a Female: 8th by two drivers — Erica Thiering (September 2014) & Isabelle Tremblay (June 2011)

Highest Points Finish by a Female: Isabelle Tremblay (12th in 2011)

Youngest Female to Start a Race: Sara Thorne - 18 (Eastbound Speedway, 2022)

Drivers To Win Both The Final Race & Title in Same Season:
D.J. Kennington (2012)

Scott Steckly (2013)

Youngest Josten's Rookie of the Year:
Cayden Lapcevich  16-years-old (2016)

Treyten Lapcevich - 17-years-old (2021)

Matthew Scannell — 17-years-old (2014)

Alex Guenette— 17-years-old (2013)

Oldest Josten's Rookie of the Year:
T.J. Rinomato - 50-years-old (2019)
*Ages used recorded at the final series event of that season*

Youngest Driver To Win A Race:
Cayden Lapcevich — 16 years, 8 months (Wyant Group Raceway, July 2016)

Cayden Lapcevich — 16 years, 9 months (Riverside International Speedway, August 2016)

Cayden Lapcevich — 16 years, 10 months (Autodrome St. Eustache, September 2016)

Raphael Lessard - 17 years, 11 months (Autodrome Chaudière, June 2019)

Smallest Margin in Championship Standings:
*2 — Scott Steckly over D.J. Kennington (2013)

*3 — L.P. Dumoulin over J.R. Fitzpatrick (2014)

*4 — Scott Steckly over Jason Hathaway (2015)
*Point standings based of a 43-1 scale*

Closest Finishes in Series History:
.012 seconds — Kerry Micks over Andrew Ranger — GP3R 2007

.015 seconds — D.J. Kennington over Don Thomson Jr. — Barrie 2010

.029 seconds — J.R. Fitzpatrick over Scott Steckly — Sun Valley 2007

.045 seconds — Peter Shepherd III over D.J. Kennington — Auto Clearing 2011

.048 seconds — Kevin Lacroix over Andrew Ranger — GP3R 2015 

Most Lead Changes in a Single Race:
17 — twice — (Barrie 2008 & Delaware 2009)

16 — six different times

Most Cautions in a Single Race:
18 — Cayuga International Speedway (2000)
14 — Barrie Speedway (2008)
13 — Three Occasions, Delaware Speedway (2010) - Kawartha Speedway (2011) - Barrie Speedway, (2013)

Worst Starting Position For A Winner:
18th — Scott Steckly — Wyant Group Raceway (2009)
16th — twice — Derek Lynch (Jukasa 2007) & Andrew Ranger (Circuit ICAR 2012)

Largest Number of Cars To Start A Race:
37 - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2011)
36 - Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (2013)
34 - Montreal (2009) - Montreal (2010) - Montreal (2012)
33 - Montreal (2008) - Toronto (2011) - GP3R (2011) - GP3R (2014)

Number of Different Race Winners (Season): 8 — three times (2007, 2008, 2018)

Car Owners To Win More Than One Title:
Dave Jacombs (2007, 2009)
Scott Steckly (2008, 2011, 2013, 2015)
Doug Kennington (2010, 2012, 2019)
Mark-Andre Bergeron (2014, 2018)

QUALIFYING RECORDS — 2019 TRACKS

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Bowmanville, ON

1-lap qualifying record: 108.006 mph, 81.962 seconds (Gary Klutt, May 2019)

Jukasa Motor Speedway - Hagersville, ON

1-lap qualifying record: 121.111 mph, 18.578 seconds (D.J. Kennington, September 2017)

Autodrome Chaudière - Vallée-Joncton, QC

1-lap qualifying record: 69.482 mph, 12.953 seconds (Alex Labbe, June 2016)

Sunset Speedway - Innisfil, ON

1-lap qualifying record: 81.891 mph, 14.639 seconds (Cayden Lapcevich, June 2016)

Exhibition Place - Toronto, ON

1-lap qualifying record: 83.221 mph, 75.918 seconds (Alex Tagliani, July 2019)

Edmonton International Raceway - Wetaskiwin, AB

1-lap qualifying record: 71.919 mph, 12.514 seconds (Alex Tagliani, July 2014)

Wyant Group Raceway - Saskatoon, SK

1-lap qualifying record: 82.020 mph, 14.616 seconds (Scott Steckly, July 2014)

Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières - Trois-Rivières, QC

1-lap qualifying record: 82.345 mph, 66.889 seconds (Kevin Lacroix, August 2016)

Ohsweken Speedway - Ohsweken, ON

*No lap record has been set for this track as of March 2021*

Circuit ICAR - Mirabel, QC

1-lap qualifying record: 49.943 mph, 49.304 seconds (Alex Tagliani, July 2017)