DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2017 NASCAR Pinty’s Series will begin its annual western swing in Saskatoon and will feature something totally new for the series this season. This year, Wyant Group Raceway will be the first stop on the trip west and it’ll also be the first time in the history of the series that it will conduct a doubleheader on the same night. The Velocity Prairie Thunder Twin 100s will be held on Wednesday at Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series and selected drivers at the track:

Velocity Prairie Thunder Twin 100’s Setup:

• This will be the first time in the history of the NASCAR series that there will be a doubleheader on the same night with the running of the twin 100-lap events.
• The track will be the first stop on the annual western swing this season after being the final stop over the previous three seasons.
• Of the five races held so far this season on the 2017 NPS schedule, two have been on oval tracks with Alex Labbe and Cayden Lapcevich scoring the wins.

At Wyant Group Raceway:

• The track opened in 2006 and is currently owned by a group of racing enthusiasts and operated by a mostly volunteer staff.
• Has played host to the NASCAR Pinty’s Series each year since 2009.
• That 2009 inaugural event was the first appearance for the series in the province of Saskatchewan.
• Scott Steckly won the inaugural 2009 race, and was victorious again there in 2013 and 2015.
• The previous eight events have produced five different pole winners and race winners.
• Mark Dilley, Jason Hathaway, D.J. Kennington and have participated in all eight previous events, and Kennington is the only driver expected to extend the streak this week.
• Dodge has been the winning manufacturer in all eight previous events.

Wyant Group Raceway Data

Race #: 6 & 7 of 13

Track Layout: .333-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: progressive from 5-11 degrees
Race Length: Each race: 100 laps – 53.6 kilometers (33.3 miles)
TV Coverage: TSN – Saturday, Aug. 5, Noon ET; RDS – Sunday, Aug. 20, 5 p.m. ET

Qualifying/Race Data

2016 Race Winner: Cayden Lapcevich
2016 Pole Winner: Andrew Ranger
Qualifying Record: Scott Steckly, Dodge, 82.020 mph, 14.616 secs., July 16, 2014

Active Category Leaders at Wyant Group Raceway:

Wins

1. D.J. Kennington … 2
2. L.P. Dumoulin … 1
3. Cayden Lapcevich … 1

Poles

1. D.J. Kennington … 2
2. Andrew Ranger … 1

Top Fives

1. D.J. Kennington … 5
2. Mark Dilley … 4
3. Andrew Ranger … 3

Top 10s

1. D.J. Kennington … 7
2. Mark Dilley … 6
3. Andrew Ranger … 5

Laps Led

1. D.J. Kennington … 336
2. Andrew Ranger … 183
3. Cayden Lapcevich … 108

Laps Completed

1. D.J. Kennington … 1,951
2. Mark Dilley … 1,946
3. Noel Dowler … 1,490

Starts

1. Mark Dilley … 8
2. D.J. Kennington … 8
3. Noel Dowler … 6

Select Driver Highlights:

Mark Dilley (No. 02 Johnsonville/Leland/Dickies Ford)

• Has three wins, three poles, 36 top fives and 58 top 10s in 100 career NASCAR Pinty’s Series starts.
• All of his wins and poles have come on ovals, where he has 47 top 10s and an average finish of ninth in 74 starts.
• Has participated in all eight previous events at Wyant Group Raceway, where he’s posted six top 10s, an average finish of sixth and a best result of second in both 2012 and 2013.

Noel Dowler (No. 53 MFP/Empire Mechanical Dodge)

• The Sherwood Park, Alberta native has made 52 series starts with 1 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes.
• Finished third at Barrie in 2012 for his best finish to date.
• Has made six starts with four top-10 finishes and he came home ninth last season at WGR.

J.F. Dumoulin (No. 04 Spectra Premium/Bernier/BellemareDodge)

• Has six top-five and 24 top 10s in 41 career NPS starts.
• 2017 will mark the second season J.F. will compete full-time in the series. He competed in all 11 events in 2015 in his best season to date finishing the year with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.
• Has made two starts at Toronto finishing 10th last season for his best finish to date on the road course.

L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)

• The 2014 NPS Champion and 2011 Rookie of the Year has four wins, one pole, 33 top fives and 49 top 10s in 76 career starts.
• Enters this week third in the season standings with three top-five and four top-10s finishes this season.
• Has an average finish of seventh in five WGR appearances, highlighted by his first career oval win in 2014. He finished second in this race last season.

D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge)

• The 2010 and 2012 NPS champion maintains series records for top fives (79) and top 10s (105), and is the only driver to start each of the 126 all-time events.
• Ranks second in series history in wins (19), laps led (2,938) and ranks fifth in poles (11).
• Sits sixth in points after five races with two top-five and four top-10 finishes so far this season.
• Has two wins (2010, `12), two poles (`10, `11) and an average finish of fifth at WGR, where he’s finished in the top-10 in seven of the eight previous events held there.

Gary Klutt (No. 59 Pioneer Family Pools/PoolSuppliesCanada.ca Dodge)

• Has a win, two poles and 20 top 10s in 31 career NPS starts. He won the pole and his lone win in the 2015 season-opener at CTMP. His other pole came at Sunset Speedway also in 2015.
• This will be the driver’s third start at the track. He finished seventh last year.

Alex Labbé (No. 32 Cam-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear/Lou’s BBQ Ford)

• Has two wins (First came at Chaudière – 2016) with five poles, 15 top fives and 21 top 10s in 32 career starts.
• Scored his second NPS race win race in the series’ return to Delaware Speedway.
• Labbé sits second the points standings 13 points behind leader Kevin Lacroix (222-209).
• He finished third in his first start at WGR last year.

Kevin Lacroix (No. 74 Bumper To Bumper/Total/Go Fast Dodge)

• Has three poles, seven wins, 11 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in 23 career starts.
• Only driver to recorded two wins in seven starts during his rookie season in 2015. Won road races at Circuit ICAR and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres.
• Won from the pole at CTMP in last month’s season opener and enters this race winner of two races in a row series taking his second career win at Circuit ICAR three weeks ago and scoring his first win in Toronto 10 days ago. He also leads by points standings by 13 points (222-209) over Alex Labbé with the back-to-back wins.
• He finished eighth in his first start at the Saskatoon track in 2016.

Cayden Lapcevich (No. 76 Fastline Motorsports Dodge)

• The defending NPS champion has four wins, 12 top-five, 18 top-10 and one pole in 23 career starts.
• Became the youngest champion in the history of the NPS last season at 16 years, 10 months and 16 days. He also became the youngest race winner in the history of the series with his victory at Wyant Group Raceway last July.
• Recently named a member of the NASCAR Next class highlighting young and up-and-coming talent within NASCAR.
• He scored his first NASCAR Pinty’s Series at WGR last season en route to winning the series championship.

Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge)

• The 2007 and 2009 champion is the series’ all-time leader in wins at 22 and holds the record for the poles with 21. Has 55 top fives and 82 top 10s in 100 career starts.
• Finished second in last year’s final season standings.
• Currently holds the series’ record for consecutive wins at a track with three (ICAR, 2012-14; Trois-Rivieres, 2008-10).
• Scored his first pole award at the track last season and finished fifth. In his four other appearances at the track he’s registered finishes of eighth, sixth, fourth and third.

Alex Tagliani (No. 18 Lowes Canada/EpiPen/St.Hubert Chevrolet)

• Has five wins, eight poles and 19 top fives, 31 top 10s in 50 career NPS starts.
• Four of his five wins at have come on the ovals (Sunset Speedway 2015-16 and Edmonton 2008 & 2016). His lone road course win came last season in Toronto.
• Finished fourth in 2016 and seventh in 2015. He also came home fifth in his first career appearance at WGR in 2014.

Other Driver Notes

• Armani Williams will make his second career start in the first race at WGC. The rookie and NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine participant made his NPS debut last month at Delaware Speedway finishing 11th. He’ll drive a car owner by series veteran car owner and engine builder Doug Kennington.
• Adam Martin will make his first start at the track this week.

Up To Speed:

• The 2017 season is the second for series sponsor Pinty’s and the 11th overall for Canada's national stock car championship series.
• The 2017 schedule features races cross five provinces and featured a return to Delaware Speedway for the first time since 2013 earlier this season.
• Quebec native Kevin Lacroix won from the pole at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in May for his third career series win.
• Alex Labbé made Quebec drivers two-for-two this season after he won the CHOKO/Fast Eddie 250 at Delaware Speedway for his second career series victory.
• Defending series champion and current NASCAR Next member Cayden Lapcevich took the lead late from Alex Labbé to score his first win of the season at Autodrome Chaudière.
• Kevin Lacroix used some muscle to make the pass in NASCAR overtime to score his second win of the season and second at Circuit ICAR. He won there during his rookie season in 2015.
• Kevin Lacroix took advantage of some contact between contenders Andrew Ranger and Alex Tagliani early in the race and withstood a late challenge by Marc-Antoine Camirand, before he also crashed out of the race, to win his second consecutive series race and third of the season in Toronto 10 days ago.