2013 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

In 2013, the Canadian NASCAR series was in its seventh season. With Canadian Tire as the primary sponsor, NASCAR had developed a successful format that attracted competitors and fans.

For the most part, the series schedule mirrored that of 2012 - just some shuffling around of dates. For the second straight year, the title chase started on the Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). There would be two additional events held at this facility – a race on the oval track in June and on the Labour Day weekend a second event on the road course supporting the NASCAR Trucks series. The title chase would end in September at Kawartha Speedway. The only significant changes saw two high-profile events - Edmonton and Montreal - dropped from the calendar. The championship also returned to Autodrome Saint-Eustache for the first time since 2010. In total, there was twelve race weekends and the series would visit eleven different tracks in five provinces.

The cars competing in the championship are constructed to specifications and rules common to most stock car series. The chassis is a steel tube frame design covered with a fiberglass body and is required to weigh no less than 3000-lbs. Body styles are from manufacturers such as Dodge (Avenger, Challenger and Charger), Ford (Fusion) and Chevrolet (Monte Carlo and Impala SS). Engine type and displacement are dictated by the make and model of the vehicle. The carbureted eight-cylinder motors produce approximately 650-horsepower. Depending on the gearing, these cars are estimated to have a top speed of 160-mph.

Round ten of the 2013 NASCAR Canadian Tire championship was the series’ second visit to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park road course. Drivers would be competing in the Clarington 200 presented by Pinty’s.

Thirty-six teams were entered in the Clarington 200. Drivers were scheduled to race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course for fifty-one laps but a late race caution reduced it to forty-two circuits. Leading the field through the final turn is a series veteran, Jeff Lapcevich in the Tim Hortons Dodge Challenger. Sharing the front row with the pole-sitter, Lapcevich is Andrew Ranger also driving a Dodge.

L.P. Dumoulin won the season’s opening round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The veteran road racer gave notice that he would be quick by turning the fastest lap in the first practice session. The driver of the WeatherTech Dodge Challenger qualified third. Dumoulin ran with the leaders all day and when the race was red flagged for a multi-car incident in turn eight, he was the leader and declared the winner.

Missing the pole-position by 0.043-seconds was Andrew Ranger. Ranger’s strategy early in the contest was to run a conservative pace and save his tires so that he could make a late race charge - unfortunately for him, that opportunity never came. An accident in the closing stage of the event required an extensive clean-up and caused officials to throw the red flag. When the race concluded, Ranger was third.

Scoring his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole in fifty-two starts was Jeff Lapcevich. Lapcevich driving the Tim Hortons Dodge Challenger finished second in the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and was looking for his first series victory. He led the race until lap-17 when he made a scheduled stop. Lapcevich made contact with Scott Steckly on lap-34 and fell off the pace – eventually finishing eighth.

It was an uneventful race for Martin Roy who happened to be ‘in the right place at the right time’ when the red flag came out on lap-42. Roy started eighth in the Batteries Expert/Veloce Dodge Challenger. During the race, he maintained contact with the leaders and after that last caution was in second place where he remained until the finish. This was Roy’s best result in twenty-six NASCAR Canadian Tire Series starts.

The second event at the Canadian Tire road course was a support race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Five of the Truck competitors were entered in the Canadian Tire race to gain valuable experience on the road course. One of these drivers was Ty Dillon in a Fitzpatrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS. Dillon qualified fifteenth but on lap-28, he hit the pit-wall. He retired four-laps latter with an overheating problem.

D.J. Kennington entered round ten trailing the championship leader, Scott Steckly by four-points. With just three events remaining in 2013, a poor result by either driver could cause a swing in the title chase and that happened at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Kennington started twelfth but at the end of forty-two laps was fourth. Steckly’s eleventh place finish gave Kennington the points lead with just two races left in the season.

Jason Hathaway was the first driver to go down a lap but was the beneficiary of the third caution which allowed him to remain in contention. Unfortunately, Hathaway encountered more problems and the driver of the No. 3 Dodge Challenger was twenty-seventh at the conclusion of the race. With just two races left in the season, Hathaway’s title aspirations took a big hit – he fell from third to fourth in the standings.

It appeared that the season’s first event would be dominated by J.R. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick qualified on the pole and was in the lead until his driveshaft failed on lap-7. Despite being at the bottom of the points standings, he bounced back with a second place result at Delaware which was followed by a couple of podium finishes. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on the Labour Day weekend, Fitzpatrick was fifth but not a title contender.

Entering the second Canadian Tire Motorsport Park road course event, Scott Steckly had victories at Vernon, Saskatoon and St. Eustache – these results contributed to his lead in the point standings. In qualifying, Steckly recorded the sixth quickest time. An off track excursion early in the race required an unscheduled pit-stop and dropped him out of contention. At the checkered flag, he was eleventh and fell to second in the standings.

FINISH	START	DRIVERS	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	3	L.P. Dumoulin	WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare / Dodge	42	-
2	8	Martin Roy	Batteries Expert/Gamache/Veloce Dodge	42	-
3	2	Andrew Ranger	La Cite De Mirabel Inc. Dodge	42	-
4	12	D.J. Kennington	Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge	42	-
5	4	J.R. Fitzpatrick	Equipment Express Chevrolet	42	-
6	11	Marc-Antoine Camirand	Stereo Plus/Burger Barn Chevrolet	42	-
7	7	Gary Klutt	K-Line/Legendary Motorcar Chevrolet	42	-
8	1	Jeff Lapcevich	Tim Hortons Dodge	42	-
9	21	Howie Scannell Jr.	IGPC Ethanol Inc./K&B Auto Service Dodge	42	-
10	19	Robin Buck	Quaker State Dodge	42	-
11	6	Scott Steckly	Canadian Tire Dodge	42	-
12	14	Jeb Burton	State Water Heaters Dodge	42	-
13	13	Chad Hackenbracht	Jacombs Motorsports Dodge	42	-
14	9	Peter Klutt	Legendary Motorcar Chevrolet	42	-
15	20	J.F. Dumoulin	Bellemare/Bernier Crepeau Dodge	42	-
16	10	Kerry Micks	Leland/BDI/Gaunt Collision Ford	42	-
17	26	Jason White	Bowers & Wilkins Dodge	42	-
18	16	Alex Guennette	Motos Illimitées/DLGL Dodge	42	-
19	23	Noel Dowler	EMCO/Praxair/Safety Kleen Dodge	42	-
20	25	Brad Graham	Holmar Plumbing Ford	42	-
21	22	Joey McColm	Canada's Best Store Fixtures Dodge	42	-
22	36	David Thorndyke	LubeSource/Thorsons EVT Chevrolet	42	-
23	32	James Van Domselaar	Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet	42	-
24	28	Larry Jackson	B & B Decals Dodge	42	-
25	5	Jason Hathaway	Snap-On Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge	42	-
26	18	Ron Beauchamp, Jr.	Mopar/Exide/Pennzoil Dodge	42	-
27	24	Steven Mathews	Bill Mathews Motors Ford	41	-
28	31	Ray Courtemanche Jr.	La Cité de Mirabel Inc. Dodge	40	-
29	27	Hugo Vannini	VTI Motorsports Ford	39	-
30	34	Paul Jean	Prohibition Bar/VIP Poker Chevrolet	35	Off Track
31	17	James Buescher	22 Racing Dodge	34	Off Track
32	15	Ty Dillon	Fitzpatrick Motorsports Chevrolet	32	Overheating
33	30	Ryley Seibert	Lake Excavating/Emco Waterworks Dodge	27	Overheating
34	33	Matthew Scannell	Trailers by Jim Bray Dodge	21	Off Track
35	29	Trevor Seibert	Lake Excavating/Emco Waterworks Dodge	20	Mechanical
36	35	Curtis Fielding	Fielding Estates Winery Ford	1	Mechanical

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