Preview – NCATS at Circuit de Trois-Riviere on Sunday July 30, 2015 NASCAR RACE: JuliaWine.com Le 50 Tours PLACE: Circuit de Trois-Rivieres (Que.) DATE: Sunday, Aug. 2 TIME: 2:10 p.m. ET BROADCAST: RDS2 – Live; TSN – Sat., Aug. 15, 1:30 p.m. TRACK LAYOUT: 1.53-mile, 11-turn temporary street course 2014 POLESITTER: Marc-Antoine Camirand 2014 WINNER: L.P. Dumoulin EVENT SCHEDULE: Saturday – Practice 10:35-11:15 a.m., Final Practice 1:15-1:55 p.m., Qualifying 5 p.m.; Sunday – Driver Autograph Session 12:20 p.m. TRACK TWITTER: @GP3R EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #JuliaWine50 FAST FACTS The Race: The JuliaWine.com Le 50 Tours will be the eighth of 11 events on the 2015 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 schedule, and the final of four dates in the province of Quebec. The Procedure: The maximum starting field is 34 cars, including provisionals. The first 29 cars will have secured starting positions through NASCAR Road Race style group qualifying and the remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 50 laps (76.5 miles/123 kilometers). The Track: The temporary street course of Circuit de Trois-Rivieres is an 11-turn, 1.53-mile circuit. In Trois-Rivieres – differing from many road course tracks – the cars race in a counter-clockwise motion as on oval tracks. The track’s trademark is the Porte Duplessis, a narrow concrete gateway the cars pass through in Turn 3. The History: The Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres (GP3R) began in 1967 when racing-passionate members of the Club Autosport Mauricien decided to organize a race in the streets of the city. Inspired by the Monaco race, Mr. Jean E. Ryan, Leon Dufour and Yves Girard, plus a committee of about thirty people, organized the event that has now become a unique event in North America. It is the oldest street course in North America and this year is the 46th edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. Pole Winners: The first eight Trois-Rivieres races have produced four different pole winners. Alex Tagliani set the series’ circuit qualifying record in 2013 at 67.080 seconds (82.111 mph). Race Winners: Andrew Ranger has won four of the eight all-time GP3R Canadian Tire Series events, including three in a row from 2008-10. Trois-Rivieres native L.P. Dumoulin is the defending race winner. JuliaWine.com Le 50 Tours Notes: Ranger’s Remarkable GP3R Record: Quebec native Andrew Ranger has a podium spot locked down at Circuit de Trois-Rivieres. The road course ace has won four of the eight all-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 races on the 1.53-mile street circuit, and finished second in the other four races. Ranger also enters Trois-Rivieres as the series’ most-recent winner as he reached Victory Lane last week on the oval at Quebec’s Autodrome St-Eustache. Steckly Streaking: Scott Steckly has won the pole three races in a row, and will look to make history this week at Trois-Rivieres as the first driver in series history to record four-consecutive poles. J.R. Fitzpatrick, with the last two events in 2012 and the 2013 opener, was the last driver to capture three-consecutive poles. Fitzpatrick also did it in 2007 and Don Thomson Jr. accomplished the feat in 2008. Camirand Coming On: In his first full season on the Canadian Tire Series, Quebec racing veteran Marc-Antoine Camirand is hitting his stride. Camirand enters Trois-Rivieres – where he earned his first Canadian Tire Series start in 2013 as the winner of that year’s sportsman division race – on the heels of three-consecutive top-five finishes on ovals. Last week at St-Eustache Camirand crossed the line third to match his overall career-best, and set a new personal oval mark. He was last year’s JuliaWine.com Le 50 Tours polesitter. Debuts for Harvey, de Quesada: Charles Harvey of nearby Terrebonne, Quebec, will attempt to make his Canadian Tire Series debut at Trois-Rivieres. Carlos de Quesada of Gainesville, Florida, will also look to become the second American to race in the series this year, following Kevin O’Connell of Houston, Texas, who competed in the season-opener.
