Pinty’s Series News & Notes: GP3R

Fast Facts:

The Race: The Can-Am Le 50 Tours will be the ninth of 13 events on the 2017 NASCAR Pinty’s Series schedule, and the third of four dates in the province of Quebec.

The Procedure: The maximum starting field is 34 cars, including provisionals. The first 29 cars will have secured starting positions through NASCAR Road Race style group qualifying and the remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 50 laps (76.5 miles/123 kilometers).

The Track: The temporary street course of Circuit de Trois-Rivieres is an 11-turn, 1.53-mile circuit. In Trois-Rivieres – differing from many road course tracks – the cars race in a counter-clockwise motion as on oval tracks. The track’s trademark is the Porte Duplessis, a narrow concrete gateway the cars pass through in Turn 3.

The History: The Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres (GP3R) began in 1967 when racing-passionate members of the Club Autosport Mauricien decided to organize a race in the streets of the city. Inspired by the Monaco race, Mr. Jean E. Ryan, Leon Dufour and Yves Girard, plus a committee of about thirty people, organized the event that has now become a unique event in North America. It is the oldest street course in North America and this year is the 48th edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.

Pole Winners: The 10 previous Trois-Rivieres races have produced six different pole winners. Kevin Lacroix set the series’ circuit qualifying record last year at 66.889 seconds (82.345 mph).

Race Winners: Andrew Ranger has won four of the 10 all-time GP3R Pinty’s Series events, including three in a row from 2008-10. Kevin Lacroix has won the previous two races and Trois-Rivieres native L.P. Dumoulin won in 2014. Robin Buck is also entered for this race and he won at GP3R in 2011.

Can-Am 50 Tours Notes:

Ranger’s Remarkable GP3R Record: Quebec native Andrew Ranger has a podium spot locked down at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres. The road course ace has won four of the 10 all-time NASCAR Pinty’s Series races on the 1.53-mile street circuit, and finished second in the other six races.

Former Champions In Field: Defending series champ Cayden Lapcevich joins D.J. Kennington, Andrew Ranger and L.P. Dumoulin as former Pinty’s Series title holders entered for the race at Trois-Rivieres. Kennington also won this event in 2013.

Labbe, Lapcevich Still Looking for First Road Course Win: Labbe and Lapcevich have nine victories combined in the Pinty’s Series and the one other thing they have in common is neither young driver has yet to score a win on a road course. Labbe has made five starts at GP3R with back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 2015 and 2016, while Lapcevich has made two starts in Trois-Rivieres with his best showing of sixth last season.

Camirand Returns to Action: Marc Antoine Camirand returns to action making his third start of the season this Sunday. The road course specialist finished third at Circuit ICAR and was challenging Kevin Lacroix for the lead in Toronto before crashing out late in the race going for the win.

Klutt Returns to GP3R After Making First Cup Series Start: Gary Klutt will return to GP3R after competing in his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race last weekend at Watkins Glen International. Klutt finished 31st in his start with Premium Motorsports. Klutt was the third NASCAR Pinty’s Series driver to make a NASCAR national series start in the U.S. this season. He joins Alex Labbe, who competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and D.J. Kennington, who became the eighth Canadian to qualify for the Daytona 500 earlier this season.