CLARINGTON, ON – Marc-Antoine Camirand starts his title defense with an early points lead, as he used a last-lap move to win the NASCAR Canada Series opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). The triumph in the Clarington 200, part of the Castrol Victoria Day SpeedFest, came with a familiar sight at the historic track – last-lap contact with the leader.

Kyle Steckly started on pole, driving the No. 22 car out of the MBS Motorsports stable, the same partnership for the famed 22 Racing ride as last summer’s race at the track. On the opening lap, Alex Tagliani took the lead on the Andretti straightaway.

On Lap 6, caution for Matthew Scannell stalled just off track. Tagliani continued to lead through a Lap 14 yellow flag, when Steckly slowed to a stop in the turn five runoff, ending his race early. The incident came after the start of green-flag pit stops.

With drivers having to make separate stops for tires and fuel, the frontrunners needed to make two trips down pit lane under caution, allowing the drivers who already made their first stop to move ahead.

Ryan Vargas restarted out front on Lap 18; Vargas, who’s raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and other NASCAR touring divisions, is driving the No. 28 car for DJK Racing this season. A handful of drivers spun on the restart, in turn one, with Domenic Scrivo stopping with damage to cause a caution.

Vargas and some of the earlier frontrunners pitted, allowing Malcolm Strachan to take the lead. Meanwhile, Tagliani slowed to a stop on the backstretch under the yellow.

Strachan and Alex Guenette pulled away into the top-two spots during the next green flag run. As they stayed ahead, the earlier frontrunners started to chip away, while battling for position amongst themselves.

With 10 to go, Gary Klutt took second from Guenette. Three laps later, Klutt took the lead, with Camirand ultimately passing Strachan for second and applying pressure on Klutt in the closing laps.

On the last lap, Camirand made contact with Klutt in turn three, taking the lead; Klutt briefly went off track but was able to hold onto second. Strachan, Guenette and L.P. Dumoulin rounded out the top-five. Andrew Ranger, D.J. Kennington, Kevin Lacroix, Jason Hathaway and Danny Chisholm completed the top-ten.

“It was a crazy race, the pace of the race was really, really fast,” said Camirand. “We lost a little bit of time on the first tire change, the right side, then I was running mid-pack. We made some adjustments on the car…at the end, I had a good fight with Gary; he opened the door just a bit in corner three and I stuck my nose in; we barely touched; he was losing (the car) a little bit and that was the end of the race.”

Klutt came less than a lap shy of his second career victory, which would’ve come on the 10-year anniversary of his win in the 2015 opener at CTMP. Instead, he finished runner-up for the second straight year in the SpeedFest event.

“There was no battle, he just drove through us, put us in the lawn,” said Klutt, of the last-lap move. “That’s what happened. I’d liked to have raced him to the end but didn’t get a chance to.”

Strachan finished on the podium for the first time, improving his best career finish by six positions.

“It was a great race, finally had an opportunity to get out front and show what we can do,” said Strachan. “Car was really well prepared; Jim Bray put a great car underneath us…just didn’t have quite enough to stay ahead of the leaders.”

Bray, a long-time series owner, got his first podium in the series.

“A wonderful day with a car that we didn’t test, couldn’t get our carburetors back, so running an old carburetor,” said Bray. “If it was three or four laps shorter we would’ve won it, (but) I’m not greedy though, a third is wonderful.”

Next up for NASCAR Canada is Autodrome Chaudière on Saturday, May 31.

To watch our full interviews with the top-three, check out the links below:

Camirand, Klutt, Strachan

In the final NASCAR Cup race on FOX this year, Christopher Bell claimed the checkered flag and a $1 million dollar prize in the All-Star Race on Sunday night. This is Bell’s first win in his fifth appearance in the All-Star Race, having placed no higher than tenth before this.

“North Wilkesboro, how about that one?” smiled Bell. “That right there is absolutely incredible. North Wilkesboro, best short track on the schedule!”

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

He also agreed that the historic short track deserves a points-paying race in the future before shouting out his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew. “Man, they’re the best. There’s nothing else to say. This sport can be so humbling because behind the car, behind the wheel, you’re just a small part of success.

“These boys right here, Adam Stevens [crew chief] on the pit box, all the mechanics, all the engineers that put this thing together, they’re the big picture. I’m the guy that gets to sit up here and talk to you and take pictures, but without them, I’m nobody. I owe it all to these guys.”

Watch: Christopher Bell: ‘Absolutely incredible’ to win All-Star Race

Joey Logano, who was on older tires, tried everything to fend off Bell in the closing laps, but lost the lead after getting pushed up the track in the final ten laps. He expressed frustration with the way he was raced, as well as the promoter’s caution that set up that sprint to the finish. Ross Chastain lurked just behind the two leaders throughout their tense battle and finished third, followed by Alex Bowman in fourth and Chase Elliott in fifth.

Chevrolet also won the Manufacturer Showdown, which is a new award for the All-Star Race in 2025.

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, and Chris Buescher filled out the remainder top ten.

Race recap

Keselowski held the lead from the start, but the field certainly made him work to keep it. Logano battled side-by-side with the RFK Racing driver for several laps, but struggled to actually clear him. 

The first caution flag flew when Daniel Suarez pounded the wall in a single-car incident. On the ensuing restart, Busch made a bold three-wide move for the lead, running the far outside. He nearly pulled it off, but Byron ended up clearing both Busch and Keselowski. Byron enjoyed a few laps out front until the ever-present Logano made his way around him.

The first pre-planned competition came 100 laps into the 250-lap event. Bell won the race off pit road, taking the lead from Logano. He held strong on the restart despite choosing the bottom lane while things got wild mid-pack.

Battling for eighth place on track, Cindric got into the left-rear of Chastain and triggered a wreck collecting both cars. Bell again chose to restart from the bottom, but this time, Logano was ready for him. The two drivers made slight contact as Logano muscled his way back into the lead from the outside.

With 75 laps to go, trouble found the pole-sitter as Keselowski slammed the outside wall.

During the caution, Larson was the only driver to take two tires, taking the lead for the ensuing restart. He was not able to hang onto the top spot, fading back to third.

As the run continued on, those watching awaited the newly introduced promoter’s caution. Michael Waltrip climbed up into the flagstand, as he was given the honor of choosing when it would come. Just as the race entered the final 40 laps, Larson smacked the wall and bent or broke a toe-link. Moments later, Waltrip waved the yellow and then literally dropped the caution flag onto the frontstretch.

The Penske duo of Logano and Blaney chose to stay out on old tires, along with Chastain, Hocevar, and Harrison Burton. Meanwhile, Bell led the rest of the field onto pit road where he collided with Fan Vote Winner Noah Gragson, but his car seemed okay. Larson had an extended stop to repair his car after the wall contact, but it was never the same after that.

This caution set up the thrilling battle for the finish as Logano and Bell went back-and-forth for the race win.

Photos from All-Star Race

Indianapolis – A rookie driver for a brand new team won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 on a strange day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Team Penske was disqualified before the final two rounds of qualifying.

Christopher Bell passed Joey Logano with nine laps remaining and cruised to victory in an action-packed NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night.

In a slam-bang affair that set a record for lead changes, Bell won by 0.829 seconds over Logano to earn his first All-Star Race victory. Ross Chastain finished third, followed by Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott.

Logano elected to stay on track rather than pit during the final yellow. The decision proved to be costly while trying to hold off Bell, who had pitted for two fresh tires.

The field was bunched for the final time on Lap 216 with the “ Promoter’s Caution,” thrown by two-time Daytona 500 winner and Fox Sports personality Michael Waltrip, who dropped the yellow flag on the track. The gimmick to guarantee a late restart was a sidebar to an eventful race.

After lackluster showings in the first two outings on the 0.625-mile oval (including Logano leading 199 of 200 laps to win last year ), the All-Star Race delivered much more action in its third year at North Wilkesboro Speedway. There were 17 lead changes, breaking the mark of 13 (set in 2016) for the most in the event’s 41-year history.

Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski and Logano traded the lead twice in the first 10 laps and often ran side by side for the lead. There were six leaders and 10 lead changes in the first half of the race, which topped the total number of leaders (four) and lead changes (five) in the past two All-Star Races combined.

After leading 62 laps, Keselowski’s bid for his first All-Star Race victory ended with a crash on Lap 177.

All-Star Open results

Capitalizing on pit strategy, Carson Hocevar led the final 46 laps to win the All-Star Open and advance into the NASCAR All-Star Race.

Runner-up John Hunter Nemechek also advanced to the main event by finishing second in the 100-lap warmup race. Noah Gragson won an online fan vote to earn the final transfer spot to the All-Star Race, whose field will include 20 other drivers competing for $1 million over 250 laps Sunday night.

Pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen finished 13th after leading the first 54 laps on the 0.625-mile oval. The New Zealand native, who is in his first full Cup Series season after winning three Supercar championships in Australia, fell from first to sixth on a four-tire pit stop during the halfway caution.

“I don’t know whether to smile or cry,” said van Gisbergen, who is ranked 35th in the points standings with one top 10 this season. “It’s been a dismal year for us, but I feel like we’re getting better every week. This shows it.”

Costly penalty

Ryan Preece finished 11th in the Open after being sent to the rear from second place on a restart with 17 laps remaining. Preece said he unintentionally ran over the commitment line before which drivers must choose whether they are restarting on the inside or outside lane.

“It’s really nonexistent from inside the car,” Preece said. “You can’t see it. I’m frustrated because if you have a situation like that, put a cone out there so we can see it. Our Ford Mustang was super fast, and I think we were the only one that was making some waves. It’s heartbreaking to have a run like that taken away.”

NASCAR repainted the restart commitment line before the start of the All-Star Race.

More money

The All-Star Race winner’s share has been $1 million since the 2003 event, and some drivers have grumbled that an increase for inflation is well overdue.

“I definitely think it should get raised,” 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney said this week. “That’s the only thing about the All-Star Race I’d probably change. I don’t want to get greedy, but I think you can raise it to $3 million.”

Bubba Wallace said he’d suggest $5 million but would be good for a bump to $3 million.

“They’ve got more TV money, so why not,” Wallace said, referring to NASCAR’s media rights raising to $1.1 billion annually in a deal starting this year.

Up next

The Cup Series will race May 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season. Christopher Bell won last year’s race, which was shortened from 600 to 374 miles by rain.

Kyle Larson missed the 2024 race after arriving late because the Indianapolis 500 was delayed by rain. The Hendrick Motorsports star again will attempt to become the fifth driver to race the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, won the All-Star Open race to secure his first career start in the main event. Hocevar marks Chevrolet’s 10th driver in the lineup for the All-Star Race.

How tough was it out there to win that race?

“We were really loose. I had my hands full, for sure. It’s great to be an All-Star, per say, for a night and be able to be in the big show. I’ve watched this race and been a fan for all my life, so to be able to do this and win the Open is super cool. I think it tells a lot about this race team. North Wilkesboro Speedway is incredible. I love everything about this facility.