Clarington, ON – Gary Klutt used an overtime restart to score his second-career NASCAR Canada Series victory in the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). L.P. Dumoulin and Kyle Steckly rounded out the podium in an eventful race.
Klutt started on pole for the Sunday headliner. The 51-lap race followed two practice sessions and qualifying on Saturday, plus a pair of test sessions on Friday, as teams prepared for the first event using tires supplied by American Racer (with the McCreary branding).
Among the changes for 2026 is the introduction of the Choose Rule, giving drivers and teams the option of taking the inside or outside lane on the double-file restarts. There’s also new leadership, with Steve Salvas taking on the Series & Competition Director role, alongside new Assistant Series Director and longtime team owner Dave Jacombs.
Klutt started alongside defending series champion Marc-Antoine Camirand in the CarGurus 200. During pace laps, Kevin Lacroix pulled to pit road from the third row; he was unable to start due to an issue with the right-front of his No. 74 car. He would later join the field.
Klutt pulled ahead at the green flag before Camirand took the top spot entering turn five, on Lap 4. The first caution of the race followed soon after, when Geoff Johnson stalled at the bottom of the Andretti Straightaway on Lap 9.
Some drivers pitted under caution, including Klutt, Alex Tagliani and Dumoulin, while most of the frontrunners stayed out.
Camirand and Andrew Ranger led the field back to green on Lap 13. Later that circuit, Sam Fellows spun coming out of turn 10, following contact from Will Larue. Fellows was able to get back going once traffic cleared, allowing the race to stay green.
Green-flag pit stops followed soon after, with Camirand and Steckly pitting on Lap 17, Ranger on Lap 18 and Larue on Lap 20. Dumoulin cycled to the lead, before Klutt made the pass on Lap 22.
Klutt continued to lead as other frontrunners made multiple stops, with drivers only allowed to take fuel or two tires during a single pit stop. On Lap 32, with 20 to go, caution for Mathieu Kingsbury stopped off track after getting into the turn eight tire barriers.
Klutt led a group of drivers onto pit road under the yellow flag, with Josh Hurley taking over the top spot. The red flag ultimately came out to clean up fuel on the track.
Hurley and Camirand led the field back to green with 11 to go, where Hurley had a slow start as Camirand pulled ahead and the field stacked up behind them. Connor Bell sustained heavy damage to the front of his car, while the caution came out later that lap.
Under caution, Glenn Styres went slightly airborne and landed off track after contact from J.P. Bergeron, as Bergeron was warming his tires while Styres was moving past.
Since the yellow flag came out quickly after the restart, the field reset, with Hurley leading them back to green with five to go.
Hurley pulled ahead before Camirand took the lead entering turn two, as Steckly and Tagliani moved into the top-three. At the end of that lap, caution for a multi-car wreck involving Larue, Dexter Stacey, Hurley, Lacroix and others after a three-wide move entering turn 10.
Camirand received a penalty for changing lanes before the start-finish line during the prior restart, dropping him to the back for the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.
Steckly and Tagliani led the field back to green. The drivers stayed close into turn two, where Tagliani wrecked into the wall after the pair made contact.
Steckly and Dumoulin made up the front row for the next overtime attempt, where Steckly pulled ahead in turn three; Klutt moved to second before taking the lead on the straightaway. Klutt went on to grab the victory, followed by Dumoulin, Steckly, Alex Guenette and Ryan Klutt.
“It means the world to my team; we keep showing up every year and trying our best, coming up short one way or another, but so grateful to be out here, getting to do this at the highest level in the country,” said Klutt, who changed his car number for the first time since his last win, from No. 59 to No. 71. “That was my number growing up, racing go karts. I inherited the No. 59 when we started in this series…kind of got lazy and never changed it, but this year we put our foot down and said this would be completely our own.”
The win also comes 11 years to the date of his first victory, on May 17, 2015 at CTMP. He started on pole for that race as well.
Next up for the NASCAR Canada Series is a doubleheader at Autodrome Chaudière on Saturday, June 6.