Ranger Holds On For Victory
MIRABEL, Quebec, Canada – Andrew Ranger held off J.R. Fitzpatrick and Scott Steckly in a green-white-checker finish to pick up his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win of the season taking the ICAR Lucas Oil Grand Prix presented by Budweiser Sunday at Circuit ICAR.
Ranger, a two-time series champion out of Roxton Pond, Que., took the lead in his No. 27 Dodge/GC Motorsports Dodge from D.J. Kennington on Lap 7 and remained out front the rest of the way to pick up his 17th career win in the series. It was his 12th on a road course with seven of those coming in his home province of Quebec.
Fitzpatrick, who trailed Ranger to the line by .507 seconds, followed his season-opening win two weeks ago with a runner-up finish. Steckly rebounded from an early penalty for rough driving to finish third while Louis-Philippe Dumoulin and Kennington finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Ranger |
| 2 | J.R. Fitzpatrick |
| 3 | Scott Steckly |
| 4 | L.P. Dumoulin |
| 5 | D.J. Kennington |
Alex Labbe finished an impressive sixth in his series debut followed by Jean-Francois Dumoulin in seventh. Jeff Lapcevich, Ron Beauchamp Jr. and rookie Martin Roy completed the top 10.
The race was slowed due to caution four times for 10 laps.
In the point standings, Fitzpatrick was able to retain his place at the top, but has just a one-point advantage over Ranger.
Both Kennington and Steckly sit seven points back.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series takes on an oval track for the first time in 2012 in its next outing on Saturday, June 16 on the Speedway at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont.
