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Tag: Andrew Ranger

  • Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

    Alex Tagliani Wins Truck Series Pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

    Alex Tagliani won the Keystone Light Pole Award and set a new track qualifying record at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a lap of 80.558 seconds at 109.889 mph. As he leads the field to green in Sunday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 race, he will also be making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Tagliani competes in the Canadian Tire Series and has one previous start in the series at this track in 2008 where he finished in fifth place. He also competes in IndyCar.

    After qualifying he talked about his preparation for qualifying and racing this weekend.

    “We went out, the truck was fast from the get go,” he said. “We had just one little glitch we had to fix, we had some fuel pressure issues. Basically it took about 25 minutes to fix that and then we went and ran and made sure that everything was good. We parked it before the session was over, the guys were happy enough. We used the second practice getting ready for the race tomorrow.”

    Tagliani also spoke about being part of the Brad Keselowski Racing team saying, “I feel really honored to be here and drive his truck.”

    NASCAR Next driver Gray Gaulding will start beside him on the outside pole. Erik Jones will begin the race in the third position followed by German Quiroga Jr. and Cole Custer to round out the top five.

    Several drivers had difficulties keeping their trucks on the track including third place finisher Jones who went off track during qualifying. Joey Coulter, who drove his No. 21 into the tire barriers, qualified in the 15th position. Ryan Blaney, who will start 14th, got sideways and Matt Crafton had similar issues but will begin the race in eighth place.

    Series’ point leader Johnny Sauter will start the race from the 11th position.

    The Chevrolet Silverado 250 is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET, with television coverage on FOX Sports 1.

    Complete Starting Lineup:

    POS. CAR DRIVER
    1 19 Alex Tagliani
    2 20 Gray Gaulding
    3 51 Erik Jones
    4 77 German Quiroga Jr
    5 0 Cole Custer
    6 53 Andrew Ranger
    7 54 Darrell Wallace Jr
    8 88 Matt Crafton
    9 17 Timothy Peters
    10 32 Cameron Hayley
    11 98 Johnny Sauter
    12 31 Ben Kennedy
    13 9 Brennan Newberry
    14 29 Ryan Blaney
    15 21 Joey Coulter
    16 8 John Hunter Nemechek
    17 13 Jeb Burton
    18 99 Bryan Silas
    19 2 Tyler Young
    20 35 Mason Mingus
    21 7 Ray Courtemanche Jr
    22 50 T.J. Bell
    23 63 Scott Stenzel
    24 8 B J McLeod
    25 36 Justin Jennings
    26 6 Norm Benning
    27 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb
    28 0 Caleb Roark
  • Andrew Ranger To Run Full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Schedule

    Andrew Ranger To Run Full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Schedule

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignleft” width=”112″][/media-credit]GC Motorsports International, formally known as Go Canada Racing, has announced that they’ve partnered with Dave Jacombs Racing to form GC Motorsports Canada. They also announced that the primary driver for the team will be Andrew Ranger, who will be running the full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule in 2012.

    “I am very excited about our organizations working together. I got to know Steve and the team last year and was really intrigued by what they were trying to put together,”Jacombs says. “Over the last few months Steve and I came to the conclusion that working together could accelerate the growth of both programs. Long term, I see us having dominant programs in multiple series on both sides of the border.”

    Ranger, the two-time series champion, will also run select NASCAR Nationwide Series races, including the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.

    “I am really looking forward to competing for my third NASCAR Canadian Tire Series championship,” the Quebec native says. “It will be great working with Dave again, and I am really looking forward to get back behind the wheel in the Nationwide series. GCMI is developing a very strong strategy to grow the team and I think I am at the perfect point of my career to grow with them.”

    Steve Meehan, who originally formed Go Canada Racing, is looking forward to what this year has to bring.

    “We feel we have a very formidable program by balancing experienced drivers with younger up-and-coming drivers,” Meehan says. “This multi-driver and multi-tier approach to our program will allow us to continue to build a very strong program that will enable an evolution to competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In addition, it will allow us to develop marketing partnerships all across North America.”

  • Race No. 9 of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Season: NAPA Autopro 100 in Montreal

    For race no. 9 of the 12 race schedule, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be heading to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the NAPA Autopro 100. This marks the fifth and final road course for the Canadian Tire Series drivers this year and fifth time they’ve been to this particular track in series history.

    In two of the races on the 2.709-mile road course, Andrew Ranger has two victories, including one last year that came as a result of a  controversial last lap wreck.

    On the last lap, Ranger and Jason Bowles went into turn 10 side-by-side, where contact forced Ranger outside of the racing groove. Then down in turns 13 and 14, contact was made sending Bowles into the wall.

    “I don’t talk a lot about it,” Bowles said recently. “I know what he did. He knows what he did and things like that come back to you at some point.”

    Bowles, a native of Ontario, California, is looking for his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victory after competiting in the NASCAR K&N West Series and winning four road courses as well as the 2009 championship. This weekend’s race will mark his fifth start in the Canadian Tire Series.

    Ranger, meanwhile, is looking for his 14th Canadian Tire Series victory and 11th road course win. He has one road course victory this year, which came at Toronto in July. The 2-time series champion is an accomplished road racer as to go with the wins in 2008 and last year, he finished second in 2007 and 2009 in Montreal.

    The only other two drivers to win at Circuit Gilles Villenueve are J.R. Fitzpatrick and Kerry Micks.

    Fitzpatrick, a native of Cambridge, Ontario, won the 2009 NAPA Autopro 100 while finishing 18th last season due to mechanical problems early in the race. He has led the most laps at Montreal (42) and five of his six career wins have come on road courses.

    Micks, a native of Mount Albert, Ontario, won the first race in Montreal in 2007 and has since scored a pair of thirds, along with a sixth last season. Micks has two road course victories.

    Though the driver to watch this reason is Robin Buck, who is a road course instructor. Earlier this season, he scored his first Canadian Tire Series victory at Circuit ICAR in June, followed by a win at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres on August 7th. He has had success at Montreal, too, as he finished third in both 2007 and 2010.

    As the seaosn draws to a close, everybody will also have their eyes on the championship as Scott Steckly comes into this weekend leading D.J. Kennington by 47 points.

    Steckly’s best finish at Montreal came in 2008 when he finished second, to go with the fifth in 2007 and fourth last year. The 2008 series champion has been on a roll as he has finished inside the top five in seven of the last eight starts.

    Meanwhile for Kennington, the defending series champion, he finished fourth in Montreal three consecutive times before finishing 28th in 2010.

  • Robin Buck Conquers GP3R 100 at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres in the rain

    Being a road course instructor has it perks as Robin Buck was able to use those skills on his way to dominating the GP3R 100 at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres on Sunday. This marks the second win of the season for the driver from Campbellville, Ontario.

    Buck quickly made his way to the front, passing L.P. Dumoulin on lap six and led the rest of the event on the 1.53-mile temporary street course. Dumoulin was able to take the lead early in the going on lap two when pole sitter Andrew Ranger made a pit stop due to not having good visibility. Ranger was able to work his way back through the field and finish in second after winning the three previous races at Trois-Rivieres.

    The event saw two cautions as the first was for J.R. Fitzpatrick and Dave Thorndyke making contact on lap 11, followed by a second caution at lap 35 for debris. The second caution set up a green-white-checkered finish in the 40 lap race, in which Buck was able to hold off Ranger.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly finished third after solidly running in the top 10 throughout the entire the race following a 20th place finish in Saskatoon. Jeff Lapcevich finished fourth, followed by Dumoulin, Jason White, Derek White, John Farano, DJ Kennington and Dave Connelly. With his finish of third, Steckly extended his points lead to 47 points over Kennington.

    The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is in action next on Saturday, Aug. 20 for the NAPA Autopro 100 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

  • Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

    Two in a Row: Andrew Ranger Wins NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Streets of Toronto 100

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    After qualifying in the second position, everybody knew that Andrew Ranger would be strong so it was no surprise when he won the Streets of Toronto 100.

    Ranger took the lead on lap 12 after Jason Bowles, who started on pole and led the opening 11 laps, had a spark plug problem. The result was Ranger scoring his 18th NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win and second in a row in Toronto while Bowles got an 11th place finish.

    “I’m really happy to be on the podium again like that in first position,” he said. “We came here with the goal to win and its what happened. I really proud for Dave Jacob. He prepared me a really good car this weekend and to have PVH on board and Dodge to do those two events in Ontario and Quebec, I’m so happy just to be here on the podium first. It’s just something that’s unbelievable, but its always been a big goal.

    “I was trying to be patient and my plan was to be behind Jason the whole race and do something at the end, but I think Jason had something with his engine and I was able to pass him on the straightaway. Other than that, I tried to save my car all race long. A couple places where I slide a lot, I burned the rear tire and I was nervous because I knew at the end every time I came here, a caution came out with three laps to go. I was trying to be patient and save my rear tire and it happened again – the caution came out. I was nervous. I saw Scott right there, tried to do a little move on the outside.”

    Series points leader Scott Steckly stayed in the top five the entire race after starting third to finish second.

    “It was a definitely a good day for the Canadian Tire Dodge,” he said. “We ran in the top three all day; we were just patient. I was trying to save the car for the end of the day and we definitely still had a good car at the end. I was better than Andrew in a few spots and thought I might be able to get him there, but all in all, second is a good day.”

    Road course expert Robin Buck finished third, followed by Kerry Micks and D.J. Kennington

    “Well, it was pretty good,” he said. “I knew starting back in seventh I had to be patient. Typically here we get a lot of cautions and the cars go away quick, especially near the end, so my strategy this year has been pretty simple – just be really patient, as long as possible, and its been working out. The Quaker State Dodge did really well today. We passed a lot of cars at the end and a lot of breaks, just watching for other people’s weak spots on the track and making our moves when I had to. At the end, I think Micksy must’ve had a problem or something because he came in, just slowed up and was able to get by him.”

    After making the engine change yesterday before qualifying, Mark Dilley came home to a sixth place finish, followed by L.P. Dumoulin, Dom Thomson Jr., Peter Klutt and Brad Graham.

    Championship contender J.R. Fitzpatrick looked to finish second late in the going, however had to come to pit road under the final caution for a flat tire. As a result, he finished 19th, which has him now sitting third in points, 108 points behind Steckly. Kennington moved to second behind Steckly, now 80 points back.

    The race had three full course yellows, while having a bunch of minor incidents in between.

    The first full course yellow came out on lap three when Joey McColm made heavy contact with the turn five wall after contact with another car. Under this caution, Steve Mathews brought his car down pit road and parked it due to breaking an axle.

    The second full course yellow came out on lap 12 when Isabelle Tremblay and Dexter Stacey wrecked while battling for 14th. Tremblay was done for the day, while Stacey continued soildering on to a 12th place finish. Under this caution, the No. 3 team made a driver change as Kevin Dowler jumped in the ride, replacing Jason Hathaway, who broke his wrist a couple weeks ago. Hathaway was credited with a 20th place finish.

    The last full course caution came on lap 31 when Jason White stalled in turn eight and had to be pushed off of the track.

    The next race for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series is the A&W Crusin’ The Dub 300 at Motoplex Speedway and Event Park on July 23rd.

  • NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

    NCAT: Jason Bowles Wins The Pole For The Streets of Toronto 100

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    Jason Bowles ready to go out and practice.

    Jason Bowles, the one lone non-Canadian driver in the 33 car field, won the Keystone Light Pole Award with a lap of 1 minute, 16.260 seconds to break Andrew Ranger’s track record.

    “It was a good lap,” he said. “When we first went out, there was a little bit of speedy dry on the track, so it was a little bit tricky to get through that section on the second lap. But the car’s pretty good. It’s good to have Fuel Doctor on board this week and get the pole for them, our first one of the year. My guys have brought me a great car. I think it’s going to be a great race. Andrew and Scott will be tough tomorrow. We’re going to go out and I think we’re ready.”

    The pole marks the first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series pole for the driver from Ontario, California. Bowles has been a successful road course racer as he has nine K&N Pro Series West wins on road courses.

    Ranger, who set the record at 1:16.659 last year, qualified second for this weekend’s race with a fast lap of 1:16.526.

    “Well, I think its been alright,” he said. “I think we have a really good car. Jason is a little bit quicker than us, but its going to be a good race tomorrow. It’s a long race, a lot of things can happen here in the streets in Toronto. But above that, I think we’ve got a really good car for tomorrow.”

    The pair, Bowles and Ranger, finished 1-2 in last year’s race with Ranger coming out the winner.

    Points Leader Scott Steckly, meanwhile, qualified third with a lap of 1:17.002.

    “It was just another qualifying run,” he said afterwards. “Toronto isn’t one of our best tracks, that’s for sure. We put a lot of extra resources in it trying to get better here and car’s been good here so far so we’re just happy to be starting upfront.”

    Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr. rounded out the top five. Defending series champion D.J. Kennington qualified sixth, followed by Robin Buck, Peter Klutt, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jeff Lapcevich. Louis-Phillippe Dumoulin was the highest rookie in 11th.

    After crashing during practice, John Farano, Noel Dowler and Ray Courtemanche Jr. did not  attempt to qualify as they were still repairing their cars.  Hugo Vannini and Kennington were also involved in wrecks, however both made a qualifying attempts with Kennington ending up 6th and Vannini in 30th. Kennington’s team continued repairs after qualifying, which could see Kennington starting at the rear as a result of unapproved changes.

    Many teams experienced mechanical difficulties during practice as Micks stalled during practice, Mark Dilley made an engine change although he qualified 14th and Jason White changed a drive train before qualifying 18th. None of the above will have to drop the rear as their changes were made before qualifying and therefore don’t fall under the Canadian Tire Series Impound procedure.

    The race is set for 2pm EST on Saturday, with it being shown on TSN on July 17th.

  • Race #5 for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Streets of Toronto 100

    Race #5 for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Streets of Toronto 100

    While it marks the 25th anniversary of the event, this is only the second year that the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series has raced on the streets of Toronto alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series and others. The temporary-street course, which is 1.755-miles in length, runs through Exhibition Grounds and along one of the best known streets in Toronto – Lakeshore Blvd.

    Last year, it was Andrew Ranger taking the pole with an average speed of 80.820mph and winning the race with an average speed of 69.065mph.

    Ranger is one of the strongest road course racers in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series as he has nine wins in 17 series career road course starts. Three of those wins came last year as along with Toronto, Ranger was able to win Montreal and Trois-Rivieries. Ranger will definitely be a driver to expect in the top three as in those 17 starts, he has only finished outside the top three twice – sixth at Mosoprot in 2008 and 21st at Circuit ICAR this season. The 2-time series champion also has made starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this year on the road courses so he comes in Toronto prepared.

    Another driver who has ran in the Nationwide Series and has been strong on the road courses in the series is J.R. Fitzpatrick, who finished eighth in last year’s event. His road course stats rank right up there with Ranger as he has five of his six Canadian Tire Series wins have come on the road courses.

    “The (Honda Indy Toronto) is definitely a big event for all of us,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a big stage and everyone wants to put on a great show for the fans.”

    So far this year, the 23-year old has legged four consecutive top-10 finishes and sits second in the standings, 48 points behind Scott Steckly.

    Steckly is more of an oval racer, though hasn’t done that bad this year as he finished second and fifth in the two road-course races this year.

    “It’s a very important race for us,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of cars at Toronto so we definitely don’t want to get a DNF. The road courses attract a lot of cars so we need a good solid finish here at Toronto. We definitely are going to try for a very first road course win. It’s definitely very important for our sponsors to be in Toronto racing at the Indy so we’re looking for great things this weekend.”

    Last year, the 2008 series champion finished 11th in Toronto, though will be looking for his 10th series victory after scoring the win in the season opener at Mosport.

    A lot of eyes, though, will be on Robin Buck as the road course instructor scored his first series victory on June 5th at Circuit ICAR and finished third in the June 26th event at Mosport.

    The Streets of Toronto 100 will see a series-high count so far this year of 36 cars with a mix of series veterans, road course veterans and rookies. With the Toronto track being a challenging course, it’ll be crucial to survive first to win, but watch out for plenty of action. Practice and qualifying is set to be held on July 8th with the race on July 9th. The race will be aired on TSN on July 17th at 5p.m. EST.