Andrew Ranger left for the western swing with goal in mine: dominate.
Following two standout races in Saskatoon, Ranger came into Edmonton
looking to finish the job.
Ranger took care of that Saturday in dominating fashion by winning the LUXXUR 300 at Edmonton International Raceway. With rain a factor once again, Ranger’s No.27 Mopar Dodge wasted no time taking the lead from LP Dumoulin on lap 228.
That’s now three wins, two in a row and the most oval wins the two-time champion has in a single season — and he’s only just reached the halfway point.
“Oh, it’s good to have a car like this,” Ranger told Short Track Scene after the race. “We proved it in Saskatoon and now in Edmonton. The last time we’ve won this many ovals, we won the championship. It’s early yet but we gained on the championship this week. We hope to do it again, this time on a street course, at Trois-Rivières.”
Despite a handful of cautions and ensuing restarts, Ranger
continued to fend off all comers. In the end, the rain came down and NASCAR was
forced to call the race on lap 275 following a stretch of racing in perilous
conditions. The Roxton Pond, Quebec driver led 253 laps en route to his 27th
career NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory in 127 starts.
Ranger ended his western swing with two wins, a third-place
finish and the points lead.
“Yeah, I was glad to see the checkered flag because
it’s a small track and crazy things happen. I was the leader, but it rained
pretty hard. I was glad to see it for sure.”
Since returning to the Pinty’s Series full-time this summer,
Jason Hathaway has shown good speed but experienced bad luck. With the rain
closing in, Hathaway made a march to front after getting shuffled outside of
the top-15 on the initial restart.
This is the first race of the season in which Hathaway failed
to suffer a mechanical issue or get caught in a wreck – and it resulted in a runner-up.
This marked the Stouffville, Ontario driver’s first podium of the season and
highest finish since winning at Kawartha in 2016.
“Yeah, we deserved it too,” Hathaway said.
“The mechanical failures have given us some bad finishes and the points
don’t reflect our speed. It was good. We were good all day long. We picked them
off one-by-one … we fell back to like 15th on the start and we didn’t even
rough anyone up coming back through the field. So, it was a good day and we
still kept our friends.”
Saskatoon Race One winner LP Dumoulin was another driver with a successful western swing. The Trois-Rivieres, Quebec driver came home third after a strong run at the track he won at last year. Dumoulin will leave Edmonton with momentum carrying into this his home tack at GP3R in August.
“I think we had something if it came down to a lap 25 lap shootout, but our car was just a little bit slower on a long run,” Dumoulin said. “You know, you never know with the short runs here, a 25 lap shootout, it would have been exciting, especially with a green race track.
“We’re proud of the western swing, third, fourth and a win. I’m proud of my guys and girls. This was a good week for the championship.”
- Andrew Ranger
- Jason Hathaway
- LP Dumoulin
- Alex Labbe
- Donald Theetge
- MA Camirand
- Kevin Lacroix
- Alex Tagliani
- Anthony Simone
- DJ Kennington
- Jamie Krzysik
- Brandon White
- Mark Dilley
- Shantel Kalika
- TJ Rinomato
- Brett Taylor
- Larry Jackson
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