 | |
| Category | Stock cars |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada United States |
| Inaugural season | 2007 |
| Manufacturers | Chevrolet · Dodge · Ford |
| Tire suppliers | General Tire |
| Drivers' champion | Marc-Antoine Camirand |
| Makes' champion | Chevrolet |
| Official website | www |
 Current season | |
TheNASCAR Canada Series (NCS,French:Série NASCAR Canada) is a nationalNASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the oldCASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada.
In September 2006NASCAR purchased the CASCAR Super Series, the top Canadian stock-car racing series at the time. At the same time, they established a sponsorship agreement withCanadian Tire as the title sponsor. They also signed a television contract withTSN to carry all events with select races being aired live.Three of the series races, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, had crowds in excess of 50,000 fans.
The2007 season was the inaugural season for the series with the first event being held on May 26, 2007, at Cayuga Motor Speedway withDon Thomson Jr. winning in a spirited battle.Andrew Ranger, in his first year of stock-car competition, won the second race, atMosport International Raceway. He took over the lead in the points standings after that event and never relinquished it on his way to the first championship. The first season saw five races decided on last-lap passes.
The2008 season featuredScott Steckly who dominated many events. He won three of the first four events of the year and held the lead in the driver championship point standings all season long. He set a series record with four victories throughout the year.
Thethird season had Andrew Ranger taking centre stage by winning his second series championship in three seasons. He completed his transition from the open-wheel racing world by incorporating his road courses experience with a strong performances on the oval tracks. During the season, he won a single-season series record six races—three on road courses and three on ovals.
The2010 season belonged toD. J. Kennington. He won his first series title on the power of five wins, nine top-fives and eleven top-10 finishes. Kennington battledJ. R. Fitzpatrick for the points lead all season as the two exchanged the top spot an unprecedented five times. Kennington also finished second to fellow Pinty's Series competitorJason Bowles in theToyota All-Star Showdown.
In2011, Steckly had a strong season where he won three events and finished in the runner-up position four times on his way to capture his second championship over Kennington, who had a pair of wins. Long-time road racer Robin Buck and rookiePeter Shepherd won their first events. Ranger won the two biggest events of the year in dominant fashion at Montreal and Toronto. Former championDon Thomson Jr. retired after a lengthy career.
In2012, Kennington won a record seven events, including five consecutively, during the summer. Kennington won his second championship in three years. He faced competition from runners-up J. R. Fitzpatrick and Ranger who both won two events.[1]
In 2013, Steckly won four events, including three in a row. Steckly won his third championship in six years.Louis-Philippe Dumoulin won the season opening race atCanadian Tire Motorsport Park, his first victory in the series with veteran Jeff Lapevich finishing in the runner up position.Peter Shepherd would win the next two events withAndrew Ranger winning the 4th event of the season. Steckly won the title by only two points overD. J. Kennington.
In 2014, L.P. Dumoulin would win his first career championship. He would win two events this season. Other drivers to win this season includeJ. R. Fitzpatrick,Andrew Ranger,Scott Steckly,Jason Hathaway andDonald Chisholm. Dumoulin would win the title by only three points over Fitzpatrick.
On February 17, 2015, Canadian Tire did not renew their sponsorship of the series after the2015 season.[2] On December 7, NASCAR and Pinty's Delicious Foods Inc. signed a six-year agreement to sponsor the series beginning with the2016 season.[3]
The 2018 Pinty's Series also included its first race in the United States, atNew Hampshire Motor Speedway, replacing theMonster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on their fall race weekend that continues to feature theNASCAR K&N Pro Series East and theNASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, now the featured division with theMusket 250.
For the 2019 seasonContinental AG replacedGoodyear as exclusive tire supplier for the series with theirGeneral Tire branding.[4] Also it was announced that all races would be live in theUnited States through fanschoice.tv and six races live throughTSN inCanada.[5]In December 2019,NASCAR changed their schedule. The series would be returning to two previous tracks -Sunset Speedway andCircuit ICAR. The series was also set to produce their first-ever dirt race atOhsweken Speedway in August 2020. Rescheduled for August 2022.[6]
Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a shortened 2020 season called thePinty's Fan Cave Challenge was completed that consisted of six races at three tracks. Sunset Speedway, Flamboro Speedway and Jukasa Motor Speedway played host to three double race weekends that made up the entire season.[7]
On November 21, 2023, it was announced that the series would be renamed into the NASCAR Canada Series, with Pinty's and Evirum serving as presenting partners.[8]
The NASCAR Pinty's Series contains drivers with many different agendas and backgrounds. Veteran Canadian drivers compete in the series on a part-time basis for fun while maintaining full-time careers, while others are serious championship contenders. In recent years, a NASCAR regional series driver from the United States will often run in the races to gain experience and with NASCAR's specification engine rule. Drivers includeCale Gale,Jason Bowles,Timmy Hill,Tony Stewart,Dave Blaney andAustin Dillon.[9] Drivers with open-wheel and road racing backgrounds have also attempted races, including,Jacques Villeneuve,Max Papis,Alex Tagliani,Jean-François Dumoulin andPatrick Carpentier. Even formerNational Hockey League playerPatrice Brisebois runs in the major events which now feature over 40 cars.
In 2011, atCircuit Gilles Villeneuve, a record three female drivers,Maryeve Dufault, Caitlin Johnston and Isabelle Tremblay, attempted the event.[10]
The series is a development, or feeder, series for NASCAR's top national touring divisions. Drivers like Fitzpatrick, Kennington, Ranger, Steckly and Thomson Jr. have competed in theXfinity Series, whilePierre Bourque andDerek White have raced in theCamping World Truck Series. Ranger finished third in the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series event in Montreal after battling with eventual race winnerCarl Edwards for much of the race. He competed in the 2011Sprint Cup Series event atWatkins Glen forFAS Lane Racing finishing 35th after suffering from transmission failure.
On June 2, 2019,Julia Landauer became the first woman in NASCAR Canada history to lead a lap when she led lap 72 of the APC 200 atJukasa Motor Speedway.[11]
On August 15, 2022, Aaron Turkey became the first indigenous person to win, at the First ever NASCAR Event on Dirt. (The Pinty's 100 - Quick Wick Hot Lap Winner) at Ohsweken Speedway in Six Nations.
The following are the tracks which have been, and are currently used in the NASCAR Canada Series:
A gradual implementation of both competition and safety-based modifications have been made to the cars used in theCASCAR Super Series.[12] These include a move toGoodyear 9.5" tires, the same size that is used in all NASCAR stock-car series, on-dash electrical andignition systems, in-car fire-suppression equipment and increased fuel cell protection. In 2009, the option of utilizing the NASCAR spec engine program was introduced. The cars use steel tube-framedsilhouettestock cars powered by carbureted V8 engines. The cars have a relatively high minimum weight, so development of lightweight components is minimal. A number of components are specified by the rules, as parity is given priority over vehicle development. Manufacturer involvement is therefore limited largely to supply arrangements for long-developedcrate motors, and branding on the largely standard bodywork.
Types of cars used include theFord Mustang,Ford Fusion,Chevrolet Camaro, andDodge Challenger. The NASCAR Pinty's Series was the last NASCAR series in which Dodge still provided factory support, as the series was supported by the Canadian arm of Fiat Automobili, S.p.A., having pulled out of the United States and Mexican series after 2012. Factory support ended before the shortened 2020 season. It is also one of two seriesToyota does not participate in, the other being theNASCAR Brasil Sprint Race; it was also the last NASCAR series which had factory support from Pontiac prior to going out of business in 2010 after General Motors's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Scott Steckly has the most Canada Series championships with four by winning in 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2015.
| Year | Champion | Owner | Make | No. | Points (margin) | Manufacturers' champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Andrew Ranger (1) | Dave Jacombs | Ford | 27 | 1896 (103) | Ford |
| 2008 | Scott Steckly (1) | Scott Steckly | Dodge | 22 | 2070 (24) | Dodge |
| 2009 | Andrew Ranger (2) | David Jacombs | Ford | 27 | 2190 (167) | Ford |
| 2010 | D. J. Kennington (1) | Doug Kennington | Dodge | 17 | 2117 (87) | Dodge |
| 2011 | Scott Steckly (2) | Scott Steckly | Dodge | 22 | 1960 (79) | Dodge |
| 2012 | D. J. Kennington (2) | Doug Kennington | Dodge | 17 | 517 (27) | Dodge |
| 2013 | Scott Steckly (3) | Scott Steckly | Dodge | 22 | 473 (2) | Dodge |
| 2014 | L. P. Dumoulin (1) | Marc-Andre Bergeron | Dodge | 47 | 453 (3) | Dodge |
| 2015 | Scott Steckly (4) | Scott Steckly | Dodge | 22 | 446 (4) | Dodge |
| 2016 | Cayden Lapcevich | Sherri Lapcevich | Dodge | 76 | 505 (54) | Dodge |
| 2017 | Alex Labbé | Alain Lord Mounir | Ford | 32 | 542 (16) | Ford |
| 2018 | L. P. Dumoulin (2) | Marc-André Bergeron | Dodge | 47 | 523 (7) | Dodge |
| 2019 | Andrew Ranger (3) | Doug Kennington | Dodge | 27 | 550 (11) | Dodge |
| 2020 | Jason Hathaway | Ed Hakonson | Chevrolet | 3 | 265 (14) | Chevrolet |
| 2021 | L. P. Dumoulin (3) | Marc-Andre Bergeron | Dodge | 47 | 389 (8) | Dodge |
| 2022 | Marc-Antoine Camirand | Jean Claude Paille | Chevrolet | 96 | 523 (27) | Chevrolet |
| 2023 | Treyten Lapcevich | Scott Steckly | Chevrolet | 20 | 612 (61) | Chevrolet |
| 2024 | Marc-Antoine Camirand (2) | Jean Claude Paille | Chevrolet | 96 | 510 (20) | Chevrolet |
All-time wins under the NASCAR banner, starting at 2007 season. Does not include CASCAR SuperSeries wins. As of the Leland Industries 250 atSutherland Automotive Speedway(July 20, 2024)
Links to related articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
