Camirand Launches NASCAR Canada Season With Victory

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — The 2025 NASCAR Canada officially launched its season on Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the Clarington 200.

Defending champion Marc-Antoine Camirand, driving the No. 96 GM Paillé / Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet, claimed the first win of the year following a race marked by dramatic overtakes and multiple changes of leaders.

Kyle Steckly started strong from pole position, after securing the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award with a lap time of 1:22.264 in Saturday’s Qualifying session. However, the young MBS Motorsports driver faced early challenges in his No. 22 MBS Motorsports / Sierra Excavating / APC Chevrolet. This allowed Alex Tagliani to surge to the lead in his No. 80 St-Hubert / UPS Store / Bet GRW Chevrolet.

The first caution of the race came on Lap 5 following an incident involving Matthew Scannell’s No. 99 Nitro 54 / Main Street Logistics / Rack.ca Dodge in Turn 3, forcing his early retirement from the event. Steckly’s race came to an early end as well when he was forced to take the No. 22 machine back to the garages because of damage he picked up on Lap 14. He’s one of the twelve drivers who did not finish.

Cautions continued to shape the race, including a restart incident in Turn 1 involving Brent Wheller commanding the No. 81 Industrial Deck Equipment/Arbon Equipment Dodge, Domenic Scrivo in the No. 69 MBS Motorsports/Sierra Excavating/Bolton GM Chevrolet and Mathieu Kingsbury aboard the No. 9 Duroking/BFL Canada Chevrolet. As this was unfolding, Tagliani’s Chevrolet stalled in Turn 5 due to an electrical issue. Through the race, Alex Guénette, at the helm of the No. 39 GL Électricité-Automatisations / Bet GRW Chevrolet, and Sam Fellows, No. 87 AER / Polysleep / Novus Auto / Mobil 1 Chevrolet, battled for position, with Guénette briefly climbing to second place.

Meanwhile, Gary Klutt showed strong pace in his No. 59 Autologic / Hofmann Plastics Dodge despite hitting the tire wall in Turn 9, which slowed his momentum. Halfway through the race, Malcolm Strachan, who started 11th on the grid in the No. 98 Curb Records / Darkhorse Trailers / Strode’s Ford, led the field, but eventually fell back in the order.

With 3 laps to go, Klutt gained the lead, setting up a late-race fight between himself, Camirand, and Strachan. On the final lap, Camirand made the decisive move in Turn 3 and took the win.

Camirand, who was fastest in Practice earlier in the weekend, praised his team’s efforts. “It was a good way to start the season,” he stated. “The pace was fast early on, but the car wasn’t ideal. After our fuel stop, we made some adjustments, and the car really came alive. I’m proud of what the team accomplished all weekend.”

Gary Klutt made a strong push leading in the final laps before Camirand overtook him in Turn 3 on the final lap. “We were a bit off in qualifying, but the team executed our pit strategy really well,” Klutt said. “We had a shot at the win, but Marc-Antoine had the better pace at the end.”

Strachan delivered a standout performance, leading laps and ultimately finishing third. “The strategy worked out perfectly today. After a few restarts, we got a bit of a lead, and I was hoping it would stay green. We led a bunch of laps. I’m overjoyed to be in the top 3.”

Alex Guénette and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin completed the top five.