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Category: Oval Racing

Milverton, Ontario – Kyle Steckly looks forward to his first time racing at Peterborough Speedway this Saturday for round 3 of the APC United Late Model Series.

Kyle and his No. 22 APC Auto Parts / CANUSA / Qwick Wick Chevrolet Camaro will be heading to Peterborough, Ontario, on Saturday, June 18th for the AP Emissions Technologies 100. Spectator gates will open at 3:00 p.m. and qualifying will begin at 6:00 p.m.. The AP Emissions Technologies 100 will go green at 8:30 p.m.. Finishing 2nd last weekend at Flamboro Speedway, Kyle is hoping for a 1st place finish in this week's 100-lap feature.

"After a weekend off, we are ready to get our APC Auto Parts CANUSA Warehousing Camaro back on track this weekend at Peterborough Speedway. I have never been to Peterborough before so I have been doing lots of research and it looks like a really fun track! I think we are going to have a great car and hopefully catch onto the fast track really quick. If we can stay out of all of the carnage in the race we will be there at the end fighting for a win," Kyle said.

In the APC United Late Model Series points standings Kyle is currently tied for 4th with Josh Stade and Rick Spencer-Walt. He is looking for another solid finish this weekend to gain some more points.

The full APC United Late Model Series season will be broadcasted LIVE by GForceTV on YouTube

The APC United Late Model Series races on oval tracks across Ontario before crowning its 2022 champion at Delaware Speedway in September. For more information and updates throughout the season, please visit www.22racing.ca and http://www.apcracingseries.com/.

For the complete 2022 APC United Late Model Series Schedule please visit http://www.apcracingseries.com/schedule.

About 22 Racing

22 Racing is owned by Four-Time NASCAR Pinty's Series Champion and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Inductee Scott Steckly. 22 Racing provides highly competitive race cars built in their world-class 7,500 square foot Milverton-based facility and maintained by a team of highly experienced crew members. 22 Racing offers turnkey solutions that range from research and development, construction, testing, logistics to marketing support.

Visit 22Racing.ca for additional details and a list of previous notable drivers the team has prepared cars for.

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Category: Oval Racing

Raphael Lessard Ready For Victory Lane Return at Autodrome Chaudière

Twenty-eight days after Raphael Lessard (No. 8 EZ Kleen / Fast Eddie Speed Wear / RJ Investments Chevrolet) lost his NASCAR Pinty’s Series perfect record at oval tracks, he gets his shot at redemption.

Lessard had won his first three oval track races, including his series debut at Autodrome Chaudière in 2019, and was in position to extend his streak to four in the season-opening race at Sunset Speedway. An incident with Marc-Antoine Camirand (No. 96 GM Paille / Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet) in NASCAR Overtime left Lessard with his first runner-up finish.

“Second place sucks,” Lessard said following the race. “The second half of the race, I was just trying to keep the pressure on Camirand because he was the class of the field. At the end, I thought I made a clean pass on him, but he just dive-bombed me really hard in Turn 1.”

Based on his record, it’s hard not to call Lessard the favorite in Saturday night’s QwickWick 250 presented by St. Hubert in Vallée-Jonction. Lessard dominated the second half of the last Chaudière race, leading the final 153 laps. He also swept both Sunset races last year filling in for an injured Donald Theetge (No. 80 Groupe Theetge INC Chevrolet).

But a lot has changed for Lessard in the three years since then. He competed in 35 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports (2019-20) and GMS Racing (2021), winning at Talladega Superspeedway in 2020. However, the impact of the global pandemic forced Lessard to step away from the team mid-2021 to plan for the future.

In January, Lessard and Ed Hakonson Racing announced a partnership for the 2022 season in which Lessard would pilot the No. 8 Chevrolet in oval races with veteran Ray Courtemanche Jr. handling road courses.

After sitting out the last race (CTMP), Lessard is ready to go at his home track. He grew up minutes from Chaudière, in St. Joseph de Beauce, Quebec, and began racing there when he was 11 years old.

“It was always fun to watch all those guys like Andrew Ranger and the rest of the Pinty’s guys compete,” Lessard said before his 2019 start. “I kept telling myself, I’m going to be racing against those guys one day.”

And while he continues to pursue his goal of racing in NASCAR’s three national series in the United States, Lessard can settle for not just racing against the legends of the Pinty’s Series but beating them.

JP Bergeron ready for first Chaudière race

Raphael Lessard isn’t the only young driver with roots at Autodrome Chaudière. Before joining the Pinty’s Series, Rookie of the Year candidate JP Bergeron (No. 1 Prolon Controls Rousseau Metals Ford) raced NASCAR Late Models at the track in a support role for the Pinty’s Series.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” Bergeron said. “I saw the Pinty’s Series come to Chaudiere for the past three or four years when I was running late models weekly there. For sure it will be a big event for me to run on a track that I know well.”

Not that Bergeron has been held back by his limited knowledge of other tracks. He has opened the season with consecutive top-10 finishes (eighth at Sunset and ninth at CTMP) and sits an impressive eighth in the standings in his first season with champion car owner Dave Jacombs. The team brought 2017 series champion Alex Labbe with them to their pre-season test to help dial in the car and coach the 23-year-old Bergeron.

Notes: First Quebec race of 2022 sees record car count

Following two races in Ontario, the series makes its Quebec debut with a track-record 23 cars, the largest Pinty’s Series field since the 2019 season finale Pinty’s Fall Brawl at Jukasa Speedway. In fact, the car count is the highest it has been at a Quebec oval track since the first time the series competed at a Quebec oval. Twenty-four cars entered the National Kodak 250 at Autodrome St. Eustache on July 5, 2008, a race that was won by Scott Steckly. …

L.P. Dumoulin, D.J. Kennington, Andrew Ranger and Alex Tagliani are the only drivers to have competed in all six previous Chaudière races. Ranger is the only one of the four with a win; all four drivers have three top fives. … Donald Theetge, who is making his series debut this weekend, has finished in the top 10 in all four of his Chaudière starts, including three top-five finishes. … Dumoulin Competition announced earlier this week a three-year extension with long-term partner WeatherTech Canada through 2024. The partnership began in 2012, with WeatherTech Canada serving as sponsor for all three of Dumoulin’s Pinty’s Series championships.

Race QwickWick 250 presented by St. Hubert
Date / Start Time Saturday, June 11, 2022 / 5:30 p.m. ET
Track / Location Autodrome Chaudière (Vallée-Jonction, Quebec)
TV TSN (Saturday, June 18 / 3 p.m. ET)
RDS2 (Friday, June 24 / 8 p.m. ET)
Live Stream Canada: TSN.ca / TSN app
USA: FloRacing

Fans can stay connected to the NASCAR Pinty’s Series – and all things NASCAR in Canada – at www.nascar.ca, on Twitter, Facebookand Instagram.

Notes & Nouvelles - Série NASCAR Pinty’s Autodrome Chaudière

Raphaël Lessard prêt à retrouver la victoire à l'Autodrome Chaudière

Vingt-huit jours après que Raphaël Lessard (Chevrolet n° 8 EZ Kleen / Fast Eddie Speed Wear / RJ Investments) ait perdu sa fiche parfaite de la série NASCAR Pinty's sur les pistes ovales, il aura la chance de se racheter ce week-end.

Lessard avait remporté ses trois premières courses sur piste ovale, dont celle à l'Autodrome Chaudière à ses débuts en 2019, au volant d’une voiture préparée par Dumoulin Compétition. À Sunset Speedway plus tôt en mai, un incident avec Marc-Antoine Camirand (Chevrolet GM Paille / Chevrolet Canada no 96) lors de la prolongation NASCAR, relègue Lessard à sa première deuxième place.

« La deuxième place, ce n’est bon à rien, » déclare Lessard. « La deuxième moitié de la course, j'essayais juste de garder la pression sur Camirand parce qu'il était le meilleur en piste. À la fin, j'ai pensé que j'avais fait un dépassement propre contre lui, mais il m'a foncé dedans très fort dans le virage 1. »

Compte tenu de sa fiche, il est facile de considérer Lessard comme le favori de la course « QwickWick 250 » présentée par Saint-Hubert samedi soir à Vallée-Jonction. Lessard a dominé la deuxième moitié de la dernière course présentée à Chaudière en 2019, alors qu'il avait mené les 153 derniers tours. Il a également remporté les deux courses à Sunset Speedway l'année dernière en remplacement de Donald Theetge (Chevrolet no 80 Groupe Theetge INC.), blessé.

Plusieurs éléments ont changé pour Lessard au cours des trois années qui ont suivi. Il a participé à 35 courses dans la série NASCAR Camping World Truck pour Kyle Busch Motorsports (2019-2020) et pour GMS Racing (2021), remportant une victoire au Talladega Superspeedway en 2020. Cependant, la pandémie mondiale a forcé Lessard à quitter l'équipe à la mi-saison 2021 pour planifier son avenir.

En janvier, Lessard et Ed Hakonson Racing ont annoncé un partenariat pour la saison 2022 en vertu duquel Lessard piloterait la Chevrolet n°8 sur les circuits ovales et que le vétéran Ray Jr. Courtemanche assurerait la relève sur les tracés routiers.

Absent lors de la plus récente course Pinty's (CTMP), Lessard est prêt à revenir sur son tracé fétiche. Il a grandi à quelques minutes de l’Autodrome Chaudière, à Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce (Québec) et a commencé à y courir dès l'âge de 11 ans.

« C'était toujours amusant de regarder tous les gars comme Andrew Ranger, les Dumoulin et les autres en piste, » a déclaré Lessard avant sa course en 2019. « Je n'arrêtais pas de me dire, je vais courir contre ces gars-là un jour. »

Et tandis qu'il poursuit son objectif de courir dans les trois séries nationales de NASCAR aux États-Unis, Lessard peut se contenter de ne pas seulement courir contre les légendes de la série Pinty's, mais de tenter de les battre.

Jean-Philippe Bergeron prêt pour sa première course à Chaudière

Raphaël Lessard n'est pas le seul jeune pilote à avoir des racines à l'Autodrome Chaudière. Avant de se joindre à la série Pinty's, le candidat au titre de recrue de l'année Jean-Philippe Bergeron (Ford no 1 - Prolon - Rousseau Métal) a couru en NASCAR Late Model à l'Autodrome dans des courses de soutien pour la série Pinty's.

« Cela faisait un moment que je voulais faire cela » a déclaré Bergeron. « J'ai vu la série Pinty's venir à Chaudière au cours des trois ou quatre dernières années lorsque j'y courais en Late Model toutes les semaines. C'est sûr que ce sera un grand moment pour moi de courir sur une piste que je connais bien. »

Bergeron n'a pas été freiné par sa connaissance limitée des autres circuits. Il a ouvert la saison avec des top-10 consécutifs (huitième à Sunset et neuvième à CTMP) et occupe une impressionnante huitième place au classement pour sa première saison avec préparateur à succès Dave Jacombs. L'équipe a fait appel au champion de la série Pinty's en 2017, Alex Labbé, pour leurs essais pré-saison afin d’aider à régler la voiture et le pilotage de Bergeron.

Notes : La première course au Québec en 2022 attire un nombre record de voitures.

Après deux courses en Ontario, la série fait ses débuts au Québec avec 23 inscrits, soit le plus grand nombre de participants à une course de la série Pinty's depuis la finale de la saison 2019, le Pinty's Fall Brawl, au Jukasa Motor Speedway. En fait, le nombre de voitures est le plus élevé depuis la première participation de la série à une piste ovale au Québec. Vingt-quatre voitures avaient participé au National Kodak 250 à l'Autodrome St-Eustache le 5 juillet 2008, une course remportée par Scott Steckly.

Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, D.J. Kennington, Andrew Ranger et Alex Tagliani sont les seuls pilotes à avoir participé aux six courses Pinty's déjà tenues à Chaudière. Ranger est le seul des quatre à avoir remporté une victoire ; alors que les quatre pilotes ont tous obtenu trois top-5. Donald Theetge, qui fait ses débuts de saison dans la série ce week-end, a terminé dans le top-10 lors de ses quatre départs à Chaudière, dont trois top-5.

Dumoulin Compétition a annoncé plus tôt cette semaine une prolongation de trois années de son partenariat à long terme avec WeatherTech Canada, jusqu'à la fin de la saison 2024. Ce partenariat a débuté en 2012, WeatherTech Canada ayant été le partenaire majeur des trois championnats de la série Pinty's de Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. Ce dernier a d’ailleurs été intronisé au Temple de la renommée du sport automobile canadien le samedi 28 mai.

Course QwickWick 250 présenté par St Hubert
Date / départ Samedi 11 juin / 17hH30 HNE
Pîste / Endroit Autodrome Chaudière (Vallée-Jonction, Québec)
TV TSN (samedi, 18 juin / 15h HNE)
RDS2 (vendredi, le 24 juin / 20h HNE)
Télé en direct Canada: TSN.ca / TSN app
États-Unis : FloRacing

Demeurez en contact avec la série NASCAR Pinty’s – et tout ce qui concerne NASCAR au Canada – à www.nascar.ca, Twitter, Facebook et Instagram.

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Category: Oval Racing

Vallée-Jonction, Quebec - The long-awaited return of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series to Autodrome Chaudière with the largest car lineup since 2019 made for an exciting and entertaining race! The QwickWick 250 presented by St. Hubert saw Alex Tagliani finish 5th and Treyten Lapcevich finish 22nd after his evening ended early due to engine issues.

During practice Alex Tagliani set a good pace in his No. 18 Viagra / St. Hubert Chevrolet Camaro with the 9th fastest time. It may have been Treyten Lapcevich’s first time at Autodrome Chaudière but his oval-track experience came in handy, helping him get the fastest time in practice.

The official qualifying session saw Lapcevich and his No. 20 RGC / Qwick Wick / FBM Chevrolet Camaro secure 6th position and Tagliani capturing 4th.

Before the driver’s autograph session could begin some rain rolled into the area and the 22 Racing Team was forced to cover the cars and wait out the rain.

Just after 6 p.m. the command to start the engines was given and the QwickWick 250 presented by St. Hubert was finally underway.

The race featured many cautions as Tagliani and Lapcevich worked their way up through the field. On lap 101 Lapcevich’s car began smoking and he was forced to bring it into the pits. The 22 Racing Team attempted to fix the problem, but quickly realized that unfortunately the day was over for Lapcevich and his No. 20 car due to engine troubles.

There was a planned pit stop at lap 126 to allow teams to fill up on fuel and get 4 new tires.

After the halfway mark, four more cautions and a red flag pushed the race into overtime. Tagliani held onto his position and was able to finish 5th as a caution flag and a checkered flag ended the race early.

This marked Tagliani’s fourth top 5 finish at Autodrome Chaudière. Tagliani is now tied with Kevin Lacroix for first in the points standings. Lapcevich is 8th in the points standings.

The QwickWick 250 presented by St. Hubert will air on TSN on Saturday, June 18, at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race will also air on RDS2 on Friday, June 27, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Next The NASCAR Pinty’s Series and the 22 Racing Team will be heading to Eastbound International Speedway in Newfoundland on Saturday, June 25 for the Pro Line 225 presented by QwickWick.

About 22 Racing

22 Racing is owned by Four-Time NASCAR Pinty’s Series Champion and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Inductee Scott Steckly. 22 Racing provides highly competitive race cars built in their world-class 7,500 square foot Milverton-based facility and maintained by a team of highly experienced crew members. 22 Racing offers turnkey solutions that range from research and development, construction, testing, logistics to marketing support.

Visit 22racing.ca for additional details and a list of previous notable drivers the team has prepared cars for.

Details

Category: Oval Racing

Milverton, Ontario – This weekend the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and the 22 Racing drivers are heading to Vallée-Jonction, Quebec. The QwickWick 250 Presented by St. Hubert will take place on Saturday, June 11, at Autodrome Chaudière. With last year’s race at Autodrome Chaudière getting canceled due to rain, all of the drivers are eager to get back to this ¼-mile oval.

Going into the race weekend the 22 Racing drivers both hold an impressive top 3 position in the 2022 NASCAR Pinty’s Series points standings: Treyten Lapcevich in 2nd and Alex Tagliani in 3rd.

Coming off a second-place finish at CTMP, Alex Tagliani is sure to do everything in his power to keep his momentum going. The driver of the No. 18 Viagra / St Hubert Chevrolet Camaro has 3 top-five finishes at Autodrome Chaudière and is looking to get his first first-place finish of the season.

Behind the wheel of the No. 20 RGC / Qwick Wick / FBM Chevrolet Camaro Treyten Lapcevich has proved that he is a major contender. This will be Lapcevich's first visit to Autodrome Chaudiere, but his oval racing background and adaptability to new tracks are sure to contribute to some strong results.

Raceday kicks off with practice at 11:20 a.m, followed by qualifying taking place from 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.. The QwickWick 250 Presented by St. Hubert will go green on Saturday, June 11, at 5:30 p.m.. The race will be 250 laps, with a planned pit stop at lap 125.

Tune in to TSN.ca to watch the QwickWick 250 Presented by St. Hubert streamed LIVE.

This season the NASCAR Pinty’s Series races on oval tracks and road courses in Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. For more information and updates throughout the season, please visit www.22racing.ca and NASCAR.ca.

For the complete 2022 Pinty’s Series Schedule please visit https://www.nascar.ca/schedule/

About 22 Racing

22 Racing is owned by Four-Time NASCAR Pinty’s Series Champion and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Inductee Scott Steckly. 22 Racing provides highly competitive race cars built in their world-class 7,500 square foot Milverton-based facility and maintained by a team of highly experienced crew members. 22 Racing offers turnkey solutions that range from research and development, construction, testing, logistics to marketing support.

Visit 22racing.ca for additional details and a list of previous notable drivers the team has prepared cars for.