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The NASCAR Pinty's Series will be making it's 4th trip to the Honda Indy Toronto.

By: NASCAR Pinty's Series 
July 12 2017 

Analyzing the Grand Prix at Honda Indy Toronto

Daytona Beach, Florida – After a successful return to Honda Indy Toronto last season the Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto is set to be held on the street course located near downtown Toronto for the second straight year. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series at the road course and selected drivers:

Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto Setup:

• This is the series’ fourth visit overall to the track.

• Andrew Ranger won back-to-back events at Exhibition Place in 2010 and 2011, winning the pole and leading every lap in the inaugural visit for the series. Alex Tagliani edged Ranger in a green-white-checkered finish in the return for the series last season.

• Kevin Lacroix enters this race having won both road-course events so far this season for the series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in May and last Saturday at Circuit ICAR.

At Honda Indy Toronto:

History

• This will be the 31st event at Honda Indy Toronto. IndyCar will be competing on Sunday, with the NPS racing on Saturday.

• Ranger and Kerry Micks are the only drivers to finish in the top five in all three previous NPS events in Toronto.

• The event weekend was originally known as the Molson Toronto Indy, the event dates back to 1986 at the site formerly known as Exhibition Place.

Notebook

• Andrew Ranger, Kerry Micks and Peter Klutt are the only drivers to have completed every lap of competition in all three previous events (110).

• Ranger has led 73 of the 110 laps ran in competition in the previous three events at the facility.

• This will also be the 100th career NASCAR Pinty’s Series start for Ranger.

• Alex Tagliani gave Chevrolet its first victory at Toronto last year with Dodge winning the first two events at the facility in 2011 and 2011, respectively.

Honda Indy Toronto Data

Race #: 5 of 13
Track Layout: 2.82 kilometers (1.755-mile) 11-turn road course on the streets of Toronto at Exhibition Place
Race Length: 35 laps (61.4 miles/100 kilometers)
Telecast: TSN – Saturday, July 22, 2 p.m. ET; RDS – Aug. 6, 2 p.m. ET

Qualifying/Race Data
2016 Race Winner: Andrew Tagliani, Chevrolet, 63.146 mph, 1 hour, 1 min. 42 secs.
2016 Pole Winner: Andrew Ranger, Dodge, 81.091 mph, 77.912 secs.
Qualifying Record: Jason Bowles, Dodge, 82.801 mph, 76.26 secs., July 9, 2011

Active Category Leaders at Honda Indy Toronto:

Wins
1. Andrew Ranger ... 2
2. Alex Tagliani ... 1

Poles
1. Andrew Ranger ... 2

Top Fives
1. Andrew Ranger ... 3
Kerry Micks ... 3
3. DJ Kennington ... 2

Top 10s
1. Andrew Ranger ... 3
2. Kerry Micks ... 3
3. Peter Klutt ... 3

Laps Led
1. Andrew Ranger ... 73
2. Alex Tagliani ... 13

Laps Completed
1. Andrew Ranger ... 110 (all)
2. Peter Klutt ... 110
3. Kerry Micks ... 110

Starts
1. 10 drivers ... 3 (all)

Select Driver Highlights:

J.F. Dumoulin (No. 04 Spectra Premium/Bernier/BellemareDodge)

• Has five top-five and 23 top 10s in 40 career NPS starts.

• 2017 will mark the second season J.F. will compete full-time in the series. He competed in all 11 events in 2015 in his best season to date finishing the year with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

• Has made two starts at Toronto finishing 10th last season for his best finish to date on the road course.

L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)

• The 2014 NPS Champion and 2011 Rookie of the Year has four wins, one pole, 32 top fives and 48 top 10s in 75 career starts.

• Enters this week fourth in the season standings with two top-five and three top-10s finishes this season.

• Has an average finish of 10th at Toronto with his best finish in three starts of fourth in this race last year.

Larry Jackson (No. 25 Wonder/Dunright Foam Inc/CBRT/B&B Decals Dodge)

• He has one top five and 8 top 10s in 43 career starts.

• Finished 24th in his lone start at Toronto last season after he suffered mechanical issues 10 laps in the race.

• He scored his lone top-five finish at Sunset Speedway in 2016.

D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge)

• The 2010 and 2012 NPS champion maintains series records for top fives (79) and top 10s (104), and is the only driver to start each of the 125 all-time events.

• Ranks second in series history in wins (19), laps led (2,938) and ranks fifth in poles (11).

• Sits seventh in points after four races with two top-five and three top-10 finishes so far this season.

• In the three races at Toronto he’s finished third, fifth and 25th last year.

Gary Klutt (No. 59 Pioneer Family Pools/PoolSuppliesCanada.ca Dodge)

• Has a win, two poles and 19 top 10s in 30 career NPS starts. He won the pole and his lone win in the 2015 season-opener at CTMP. His other pole came at Sunset Speedway also in 2015.

• Finished sixth last year on his only previous start at Toronto.

• Will compete against his brother Ryan this weekend in the Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto.

Alex Labbé (No. 32 Cam-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear/Lou’s BBQ Ford)

• Has two wins (First came at Chaudière – 2016) with five poles, 14 top fives and 20 top 10s in 31 career starts.

• Scored his second NPS race win race in the series’ return to Delaware Speedway.

• Labbé sits second the points standings five points behind leader Kevin Lacroix.

• He qualified sixth and finished 12th in his lone start on the street course at Toronto last season.

Kevin Lacroix (No. 74 Bumper To Bumper/Gates/Go Fast Dodge)

• Has three poles, six wins, 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in 22 career starts.

• Only driver to recorded two wins in seven starts during his rookie season in 2015. Won road races at Circuit ICAR and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres.

• Won from the pole at CTMP in last month’s season opener and enters this race as the most recent winner in the series taking his second career win at Circuit ICAR last weekend. He also retook the points lead by five points (174-169) over Alex Labbé with the win.

• Qualified fourth and finished third last season in his only start to date at Toronto.

Cayden Lapcevich (No. 76 APC/Fastline Motorsports Dodge)

• The defending NPS champion has four wins, 12 top-five, 17 top-10 and one pole in 22 career starts.

• Became the youngest champion in the history of the NPS last season at 16 years, 10 months and 16 days. He also became the youngest race winner in the history of the series with his victory at Wyant Group Raceway last July.

• Recently named a member of the NASCAR Next class highlighting young and up-and-coming talent within NASCAR.

• Finished eighth in his first career start at Toronto last year.

Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge)

• The 2007 and 2009 champion is the series’ all-time leader in wins at 22 and holds the record for the poles with 20. Has 55 top fives and 82 top 10s in 99 career starts.

• Finished second in last year’s final season standings.

• Won the first two NPS events at Toronto in 2010 and 2011 and finished second in last year’s race.

• Currently holds the series’ record for consecutive wins at a track with three (ICAR, 2012-14; Trois-Rivieres, 2008-10).

• If he wins this Saturday, the street course in Toronto would be the fifth road course that Ranger has won three or more races on during his NPS career.

Alex Tagliani (No. 18 Lowes Canada/EpiPen/St.Hubert Chevrolet)

• Has five wins, eight poles and 19 top fives, 31 top 10s in 49 career NPS starts.

• Four of his five wins at have come on the ovals (Sunset Speedway 2015-16 and Edmonton 2008 & 2016). His lone road course win came last season in Toronto.

• This will be his 50th career series start on Saturday.

Other Driver Notes

• Marc-Antoine Camirand will try and stay on a hot streak starting his second consecutive series race after finishing third last weekend at ICAR. It was his seventh career top-five finish in 20 starts and first since 2015.

• Adam Martin finished 17th at Toronto last year in his only start at the track.

Up To Speed:

• The 2017 season is the second for series sponsor Pinty’s and the 11th overall for the Canadian-based NASCAR division.

• The 2017 schedule features 13 races at 12 different tracks across five provinces and featured a return to Delaware Speedway for the first time since 2013 earlier this season.

• Quebec native Kevin Lacroix won from the pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in May for his third career series win.

• Alex Labbé made Quebec drivers two-for-two this season after he won the CHOKO/Fast Eddie 250 at Delaware Speedway for his second career series victory.

• Defending series champion and current NASCAR Next member Cayden Lapcevich took the lead late from Alex Labbé to score his first win of the season at Autodrome Chaudière.

• Kevin Lacroix used some muscle to make the pass in NASCAR overtime to score his second win of the season and second at Circuit ICAR. He won there during his rookie season in 2015.