LP Dumoulin returns home to Trois-Rivieres as Pinty’s leader

Trois-Rivieres native L.P. Dumoulin will return home this weekend as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series championship leader and is looking for his second win on the familiar Streets of Three Rivers.

While the 2014 champion enters the Le 50 Tours Can-Am this weekend with just a slim four-point margin over Cole Powell, he’s happy to come back to his hometown with the advantage at the halfway point of the season.

“It really feels great to come back home leading the points and coming off of a win in Edmonton a couple of weeks ago,” said Dumoulin. “There’s still a long way to go in the season and a lot of racing still to be done, but I’m so happy for my team and our partners. It makes this weekend even more special.”

Dumoulin leads a stacked roster for family team Dumoulin Competition, with brother J.F. and NASCAR Whelen Euro competitor Frederic Gabilion.

“Yes, it’s a busy week as we will have a lot to do with media and sponsor events throughout the week, said L.P. Dumoulin. “The good thing about our team is we have the experience to do everything we need to do off the track and maintain our focus on preparing our cars and being ready to compete in the track as well.”

Speaking of adding another driver to their team this weekend, the points leader is happy and fortunate to be a part of the unique program between the two NASCAR international series.

“This is great what the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series are able to make this driver exchange happen with the support of Spectra Premium,” said L.P. Dumoulin. “We know Frederic will have a good car to drive this weekend and we know J.F. will have a good care when he visits Europe later this season.

“We’ll do everything we can to help Frederic with his setup and our team will work together to help give him a great opportunity to race with us this weekend.”

Dumoulin is one of just two drivers to score multiple victories this season, joining Andrew Ranger in that distinction. He also hopes to make it three wins with another victory on the challenging street course layout through his hometown.

To get that win he’ll have to go through Andrew Ranger, who leads all drivers with four wins at GP3R, and previous winners Alex Tagliani and Kevin Lacroix — who back-to-back Grands Prix in 2015 and 2016.

Powell picked up his first Pinty’s win during the western swing ,winning in Saskatoon in the second race of the doubleheader. While he is close in the standings, he will try to score just his second top-10 finish of the season on a road or street course.

Powell and Donald Theetge celebrated their first career series wins during the western swing and another driver who could also celebrate his first victory is Marc-Antoine Camirand.

Camirand is enjoying the best season of his career in the Pinty’s Series after returning to full-time competition for the first time since 2015. Camirand enters third in the standings and is just one of two drivers to finish in the top-10 in all seven races held so far in 2018.

In fact, the St. Leonard d’Aston, Quebec native has not finished lower than sixth in any race this season and has one top-five, two top-10s and one pole in five previous starts at GP3R.

One addition to the race this year that could play into the outcome of the race is a mandatory pit stop for fuel will be required by all competitors between laps 15-30.

Pinty’s Series News & Notes

NORRIS MCDONALD Norris McDonald
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Alex Labbe Returns to Series: Defending Pinty’s Series champion Alex Labbe will return to compete in the series for the first time on Sunday at GP3R. Labbe, who enters this weekend 19th in the NASCAR Xfinity Series standings, will compete on Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and then travel to race in the Le 50 Tours Can-Am on Sunday for Dave Jacombs. Labbe finished fifth in the race in Trois-Rivieres last year and has a stretch of three consecutive top five finishes on the street course.

Andrew Ranger Hopes to Add to Record: Andrew Ranger is no stranger to celebrating wins in Trois-Rivieres as he will try and score his fifth win in the event. The Roxton Pond, Quebec, native is the only driver to finish in the top five in all 11 starts at GP3R. In fact, he’s never finished worse than second.

Expect Action in the Le 50 Tours Can-Am: This will be the 12th consecutive season Trois-Rivieres has hosted the Pinty’s Series and there has never been a caution-free race. The record for most yellow flags flown during the race is six in 2014, while the race was slowed four times by caution last season.

Road-Racing Specialist Looks to Continue Streak: James Vance has made two starts on road courses this season and he’ll try and continue an impressive streak this Sunday at Trois-Rivieres. Vance, from Stouffville, Ontario, started the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and again in the Pinty’s Grand Prix of Toronto with eighth and seventh-place finishes, will try to bring home another top-10 in his third start of the season.

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