Lacroix fends off Dumoulin to win WeatherTech 200
Published
In classic Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) fashion, it came down to a last-lap move, in the final corners.
Kevin Lacroix defended his lead on L.P. Dumoulin in turns nine and ten to win the WeatherTech 200, his first of the season and first since May 2022.
The No. 74 Adaptive One/NAPA Auto Parts Dodge of Lacroix started fourth and remained up front throughout the slew of green flag pit stops.
On lap 38, the tides began to shift. What had been a relatively quiet race, with only one caution until that point, was quickly thrown into chaos.
Andrew Ranger was chasing Alex Tagliani down for the lead when his No. 27 GM Paillé Chevrolet blew up in front of the rest of the field going into turn ten.
The incident collected fellow front-runner, Gary Klutt, who later had to retire from the race due to damage and the No. 66 of Wallace Stacey.
After a red flag for track clean-up, Lacroix got the race lead on the restart with eight laps to go, beating Tagliani into turn two.
While it seemed that Lacroix was starting to pull away from the field, the No. 47 WeatherTech/Omnifab Dodge of Dumoulin was slowly closing the gap.
By the white flag, Dumoulin was on Lacroix’s bumper.
Both drivers were searching for their first wins of the season, Dumoulin especially, having not won since CTMP in 2021, was waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
Coming off the Andretti Straightaway, the two were side-by-side, with Lacroix getting the advantage into nine.
“We were beside him all the way around eight and, had a little tango there in nine and he got really hard on the pedal into ten,” said Dumoulin. “It would have been super easy to bump him out of the way but I don't want to win like that.”
Into turn ten, Dumoulin put his bumper to the No. 74, trying to make a move. It slowed down Lacroix enough for Dumoulin to get beside him, but it was too late.
Lacroix crossed the start-finish line, 0.117 seconds ahead of Dumoulin.
“We had a tight battle with a lot of drivers, it was really nice,” said Lacroix. “I think it was awesome to have that kind of battle with L.P. and it's nice to end the season with some positivity.”
Marc-Antoine Camirand, who took the lead from Dumoulin, shortly after the green flag, came home on the bottom step of the podium.
D.J. Kennington and Alex Labbe, who led the most laps of the day (16), finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Championship leader, Treyten Lapcevich was able to keep his No. 20 Chevrolet in good standing, leading two laps and finishing sixth.
Daniel Bois, Alex Tagliani, Ryan Klutt, and Kyle Steckly rounded out the top-ten.
Larry Jackson, who finished 11th, led his first lap since Kawartha in 2014.
FULL RACE RESULTS
The WeatherTech 200 will be tape-delayed on TSN on Saturday, September 9th, 2023, at 12:30 p.m. ET and RSD2 on Saturday, October 7th at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The next stop for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series will be Delaware Speedway on Sunday, September 24 for the Pinty’s Fall Brawl, where the 2023 Champion will be crowned.