Pinty’s Series Stat Advance: Riverside

Analyzing the Bumper To Bumper 300

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2015 NASCAR Pinty’s Series will return to Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, on Saturday for the annual Bumper To Bumper 300. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the series and selected drivers at the track:

Bumper To Bumper 300 Setup:
• Antigonish’s own Donald Chisholm won this race in 2014 after starting on the pole at Riverside, a track owned by his family.
• Mark Dilley is the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all nine NASCAR Pinty’s Series events at the track and won the inaugural event in 2007.
• Andrew Ranger leads Cayden Lapcevich by just five points with four races remaining on the schedule, while Alex Tagliani is 27 points out. 

At Riverside International Speedway:
History
• Opened in 1969 as a .333-mile scaled version of Tennessee’s .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway.

• Played host to the former NASCAR North Tour in the early 1980s.
• Was completely rebuilt in 2006.
• Mark Dilley won the inaugural NASCAR Pinty’s Series race at Riverside on Sept. 16, 2007. Peter Gibbons captured the first Riverside pole.

Notebook
• The previous nine events have produced seven different race victors, led by D.J. Kennington and Scott Steckly with two triumphs between them.
• There have been five different pole winners in nine events, topped by three from Scott Steckly.
• Four drivers have participated in all nine previous events, and three of them (D.J. Kennington, Jason Hathaway and Mark Dilley) are expected to extend the streak this week.\
• The race has twice been won from the pole: Steckly-2011, Donald Chisholm-2014
• Dodge has been the winning manufacturer in six events.
• The first six editions of this event took place in September. The race date moved to August in 2013.

Riverside International Speedway Data
Race #:  9 of 12
Track Layout:  .333-mile oval
Banking/Turns:  14 degrees
Banking/Straights:  Frontstretch – 6 degrees, Backstretch – 5 degrees
Race Length:  300 laps (99.99 miles).
Telecast:  TSN – Sunday, Aug. 28, 12:30 p.m. ET; RDS2 – Fri., Sept. 16, 8:30 p.m. ET

Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Race Winner:  Scott Steckly, Dodge, 56.355 mph, 1:46:24
2015 Pole Winner:  D.J. Kennington, Dodge, 83.083 mph, 14.429 secs.
Qualifying Record:  D.J. Kennington, Dodge, 83.083 mph, 14.429 secs., Aug. 15, 2015

Active Category Leaders at Riverside International Speedway:
Wins

1. D.J. Kennington … 2
2. six drivers with … 1

Poles
1. D.J. Kennington … 2
2. three drivers with … 1

Top Fives
1. Mark Dilley … 7
2. D.J. Kennington … 6
3. Donald Chisholm … 3
    Andrew Ranger … 3

Top 10s
1. Mark Dilley … 9
2. D.J. Kennington … 6
   Jason Hathaway … 6

Laps Led
1. D.J. Kennington … 480
2. Andrew Ranger … 254
3. Donald Chishom … 115

Laps Completed
1. Mark Dilley … 2,695
2. Jason Hathaway … 2,447
3. Donald Chisholm … 2,213

Select Driver Highlights:
Donald Chisholm (No. 89 Nova Construction Ford)

• Has a win, a pole and eight top 10s in 18 career NPS races.
• The win and pole came in this race in 2014. Has five top 10s and an average finish of 10th in nine events at Riverside, his family’s track.
• This will be his first series appearance of 2016.

Mark Dilley (No. 02 Johnsonville/Leland/Avenue Auto Parts Ford)
• Has three wins, three poles, 35 top fives and 55 top 10s in 95 career starts.
• Has competed in four of eight events this year, all on ovals, and ranks 13th in points with a pair of top fives.
• All of his wins and poles have come on ovals, where he has 44 top 10s and an average finish of ninth in 70 starts.
• Won the series’ inaugural event at Riverside (2007) and has posted top 10s in all nine events with a series-best average finish of fourth. 

L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge)
• The 2014 NPS Champion and 2011 Rookie of the Year has four wins, a pole, 27 top fives and 42 top 10s in 67 career starts..
• Has a win (2014-Auto Clearing Motor Speedway), 19 top 10s and an average finish of 10th in 34 career oval starts.
• Has an average finish of 13th and a best result of sixth (2014) in five previous races at Riverside.

Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet)
• Has eight wins and 70 top 10s in 117 career starts. Is one of two drivers that have run every race in NPS history.
• Seven of his eight wins have come on ovals. His lone road course win came at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last year.
• Has a win (2013), six top 10s and an average finish of eighth in the nine Riverside races.

D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge)
• The 2010 and 2012 NPS champion. Maintains series records for top fives (75) and top 10s (97), and is one of two drivers to start each of the 117 all-time events.
• Ranks second in series history in wins (19), laps led (2,797) and ranks fifth in poles (11).
• Sits seventh in points after eight races with seven top 10s and a best finish of third at CTMP.
• Is the only driver with two wins (2010, `12) at Riverside, where he’s registered six top fives and an average finish of 10th with a pole (2009).

Gary Klutt (No. 59 Poolsuppliescanada.ca/Bothwell-Accurate/CTL Dodge)
• Has a win, a pole and 15 top 10s in 24 career NPS starts. Both the pole and win came in last year’s season-opener at CTMP.
• Has six top-10 finishes in 11 career oval track starts.
• Has a pole (2015-Sunset Speedway), six top 10s, an average finish of 12th and a best result of sixth (Sunset) in 12 oval appearances.
• Finished eighth in his first start at Riverside last year.

Alex Labbe (No. 36 Can-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear Dodge)
• Has one win (Chaudiere – 2016) five poles, nine top fives and 14 top 10s in 23 career starts.
• This will be his second start at Riverside. He finished second in 2014 in his only other start at the track.

Kevin Lacroix (No. 74 Bumper To Bumper/Total/Go Fast Dodge)
• Has two poles, three wins, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 14 career starts.
• Recorded two wins in seven starts during his debut season in 2015. Won road races at Circuit ICAR and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres. Won last weekend at Troi-Rivieres for the second year in a row.
• Is the first driver in series history to record two victories in rookie season.
• Became the first driver in the history of the series to win a caution-free race last season at ICAR in his first start at the track.
• This will be his first start at Riverside.

Cayden Lapcevich (No. 76 Fastline Motorsports Dodge)
• Has made 14 career starts in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and recorded his first career win at Wyant Group Raceway in July.
• Enters this race second in the points standings, five points out of first place.

Andrew Ranger (No. 27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 champion is the series’ all-time leader in wins at 22 and has the record for most poles with 19. Has 53 top fives and 77 top 10s in 91 career starts.
• Has five wins, 35 top 10s and an average finish of seventh in 46 career oval races.
• Has a win (2009), three top 10s and an average finish of seventh in five Riverside races.

Alex Tagliani (No. 18 EpiPen/Riobel/Complexe JCP/Juste du Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, six poles and 15 top fives, 24 top 10s in 40 career NPS starts.
• Three of his five wins at have come on the ovals (Sunset Speedway 2015-16, Edmonton).
• This will be his first start at Riverside.

Up To Speed:
• The 2016 season is the first for new series sponsor Pinty’s and the 10th overall for the Canadian-based NASCAR division.
• The 2016 schedule features 12 races at 11 different tracks across five provinces and a return to the road course in Toronto as part of the IndyCar weekend in July.
• Quebec native Andrew Ranger took the lead on the penultimate lap of the season opening race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park to score the win.
• Alex Tagliani made Quebec drivers two-for-two this season after he won the Leland Industries 300 at Sunset Speedway for his third career series victory.
• Alex Labbe won from the pole last weekend in an exciting finish with rookie Cayden Lapcevich. It was Labbe’s first career win.
• Andrew Ranger retook the points lead and also became the first multi-race winner of the season with his third win at ICAR two weeks ago.
• Alex Tagliani was able to hold off Andrew Ranger in a green-white-checkered finish in the series return to the road course in Toronto for his second win of the season.
• Alex Tagliani took the lead on Lap 88 and remained out front the rest of the way to score his second consecutive win and third of the season at Edmonton. Tagliani will try and become the first driver since Scott Steckly in 2013 to win three NPS races in a row.
• After finishing second twice earlier this season, Josten’s Rookie of the Year contender Cayden Lapcevich scored his first series win at Wyant Group Raceway. He also became the youngest winner in the history of the series.
• Kevin Lacroix set a new track record in qualifying and went on to lead every lap at Trois-Rivieres to pick up his second straight win at the historic road course and third win of his career.

Sources: Tim Southers/NASCAR PR