The Stars and Cars of the 2023 NASCAR Pintys Series

The Late Model Stocks with the Bad Shocks are back starting this weekend.

That nickname, first articulated by Kenny Schrader, is everything that makes the NASCAR Pinty’s Series one of the absolute best motorsport platforms in the world. Sure, a diverse schedule that the Cup Series has only since begun to emulate and a truly affable roster goes a long way, but it’s all about the car.

There is nothing in modern day semi-professional stock car racing that slides around on both ovals and road courses like the NASCAR Pinty’s Series car — a unique to itself racing platform. The car features a perimeter rail chassis powered by a 525 hp engine that weighs in total at 3,050 lbs.

But all of it is offset by its bias ply tires, a big spring package and no bump stops. The road and street course package utilizes a watts link rear suspension and it all contributes to a machine that just slides around the corners like it’s on ice.

The Pinty’s Series machine is legitimately the antithesis of the high grip and higher downforce national touring machines and most modern Late Models too. It’s a racer’s dream car from a race craft standpoint.

But then there’s the schedule.

Dating back to its heritage as the CASCAR Super Series, these cars and its drivers have long competed on temporary city street courses, showing the Cup Series that such an event could be entertaining and worthwhile.

The series added a dirt event in 2020 but wasn’t able to contest it until last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of the diversity, a wide variety of drivers opt to chase the championship each year, representing backgrounds ranging from Sports Cars, Late Models and Indy Cars.

Andrew Ranger, now a three-time champion, first rose to prominence in the Champ Car World Series. Another three-time champion, LP Dumoulin, has spent time in Sports Cars and Touring Cars before becoming one of the mainstays in Canadian Stock Cars.

Kevin Lacroix raced in Formula Atlantics before moving onto Touring Cars and then NASCAR Stock Cars. Defending champion Marc-Antoine Camirand raced open wheel and Sports Cars before making the move to NASCAR style machines.

Arguably the highest profile full-time driver is Alex Tagliani, a 20 year IndyCar veteran and the 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner, still seeking the elusive championship despite being in the hunt virtually every year he has entered.

Then comes the Late Model contingent, older and younger, like Brandon Watson, Treyten Lapcevich and Dexter Stacey.

The series is fantastic due to the cars, but also the schedule they are contested on, and the diverse backgrounds that all lead to this point. The cars are on the edge of out of control, leading to extremely hard racing, close finishes and the occasional bad blood.

The schedule diversity generally prevents one team or driver from running away from the championship too as everyone has their strengths over the course of the summer.

ANDREW RANGER

It’s hard to imagine a NASCAR Pinty’s Series without Andrew Ranger and that’s exactly what happened in 2020 when a lack of sponsorship kept him out of the pandemic shortened all oval season that summer. It was certainly a less interesting campaign as a result.

Ranger, 36, is one of the most successful drivers in the series. He owns series records for wins (31) and poles (28) and won the inaugural NASCAR Pinty’s Series championship in 2007. He also shares the all-time championship record alongside LP Dumoulin with three overall. Ranger has also made a handful of starts in the Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series.

He returns to the Paillé Course//Racing No. 27 for a second consecutive season.

L.P. DUMOULIN

It’s been over a decade of dominance for Dumoulin Competition with LP Dumoulin winning three championships, 11 wins, 67 top-5s and 103 top-10s in 139 races since 2009. The 44-year-old was named to the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2020. Although winless for the first time since 2017 last summer, his seven wins over the past five years typically means the championship has run through his No. 47 team during that time.

ALEX TAGLIANI

Perhaps the driver with the most international fanfare on the tour, Alex Tagliani is in pursuit of his first NASCAR championship this season with the 22 Racing No. 18 colors with financial support from RONA and St. Hubert.

After spending over a decade in Champ Car and IndyCar, Tagliani has reinvented himself over the past decade as a premier stock car driver in his native Canada. While the road and streets have always been his meat and potatoes, Tag has become a player on short tracks too. He spent last season experimenting in anticipation of a full season in 2023. He’s also a fan favorite and a dedicated salesman for his partners.

KEVIN LACROIX

The 34-year-old from Saint-Eustache, Quebec has become one of the most well-rounded drivers in Pinty’s competition over the past decade with 17 wins in 86 starts. The former Formula Atlantic driver has arguably become the most well rounded driver in the series over the past three years winning regularly on every track type. He’s a hard driver that occasionally ruffles feathers but is always in the championship mix.

DJ KENNINGTON

It’s hard to imagine a national Canadian Stock Car tour that doesn’t include DJ Kennington. The 46-year-old driver-owner has made every start in CASCAR and NASCAR since 1998. Across the two divisions, he has two championships 31 wins, 142 top-5s, 212 top-10s and 21 poles in 263 races. With three wins over the past two seasons, Kennington has returned to championship form following numerous winless seasons before that.

TREYTEN LAPCEVICH

The next in the Lapcevich racing heritage, the 18-year-old brother of 2016 Pinty’s champion Cayden emerged as a true championship threat in his second full-time season with wins at Sunset and on the dirt at Ohsweken. Before that, the Grimsby, Ontario driver was no stranger to success earning numerous feature-wins between 2015 and 2016 in Late Models and became the youngest-ever Sunset Speedway Champion and Rookie of the Year in 2015. He finished third in the 2019 APC championship standings.

MA CAMIRAND

Not even Marc-Antoine Camirand realistically expected a championship out of his first season as a driver-owner in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. A decade into his journey as a stock car racer, the 43-year-old claimed the largest touring prize in Canadian motorsports and did it by bringing the band back together with crew chief Robin McCluskey and a group that had previous experience working together. Not only that, but Camirand and their No. 96 under the GM Paillé and Camirand Performance banners were virtually perfect this last summer with three wins, nine top-5s and a 5.3 average finish across the dozen races from coast to coast. Now comes the follow-up act.

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The season begins on Saturday night at Sunset Speedway in Innisfil Ontario. Races air in Canada on the TSN app and in the United States on FloRacing.

2023 NASCAR Pinty’s Series schedule