Music: {allcanada} News & Notes: Ranger Back Home

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Having a home is important and nowhere is Andrew Ranger more at home than behind the steering wheel of a race car, especially in Canada.

After spending the 2010 and 2011 seasons picking up starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menard's, the 25-year-old native of Roxton Pond, Que., is back with a full-time ride in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in which he won championships in 2007 and 2009.

"I'm really happy to be back in the Canadian Tire Series," said Ranger. "It's a place where I'm very comfortable."

He again is aligned with team owner Dave Jacombs with whom Ranger won his Canadian titles. In the offseason Jacombs joined forces with GC Motorsports International to form GC Motorsports Canada. GCMI, formerly Go Canada Racing, competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in which Ranger will make a number of starts.

"It's great to be back with Dave Jacombs and a team that I know," the No. 27 Dodge/GC Motorsports Dodge driver said. "I get to try for another championship and make some Nationwide (Series) starts."

As the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series' all-time leader in wins at 14, Ranger has been particularly tough to beat on road courses within the borders of his home province, where he has rock star-type popularity. In 11 Quebec road-course starts, he has driven to Victory Lane six times – three each at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres (Que.). His start last season in the series' inaugural event at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, Que., looked to be headed in that direction, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

After competing in an ARCA event the night before and missing qualifying, Ranger had to start the ICAR event from the rear of the 27-car field. He picked his way through traffic on the 15-turn, 2.113-mile track and took the lead on Lap 28 of the 30-lap race, but he made contact with fellow Quebecer and former teammate Alex Tagliani which was deemed excessive by NASCAR officials resulting in an aggressive driving penalty and a finish in 21st place.

"Let's just say I hope this one turns out better," Ranger said.

It's hard to bet against the winner of 11 Canadian Tire Series road-course races, especially in Quebec.

Race:	ICAR Lucas Oil Grand Prix presented by Budweiser
Place:	Circuit ICAR, Mirabel, Que.
Date:	Sunday, June 3
Time:	1:30 p.m. ET
TV Schedule:	TSN, Sat., June 16, 12:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, Wed., June 27, 10 p.m. ET
Track Layout:	2.113-mile road course
2011 Winner:	Robin Buck
2011 Polesitter:	Alex Tagliani
Event Schedule:	Saturday: Practice, 11:10-11:40 a.m.; Final Practice, 12:30-1 p.m.; Qualifying, 4 p.m.; Sunday: Driver Autograph Session, Noon; Opening Ceremonies, 1 p.m.
Track Contact:	Roxanne Langelier, (514) 955-4227, rlangelier@circuiticar.com
NASCAR IMC Contact:	Shon Sbarra, (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com, Twitter: @ShonSbarra

EVENT SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST

FAST FACTS
Race: This event is the second of 12 races on the 2012 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule and the second of five road-course races this season. This is the series' second visit to the track.

Procedure: The starting field is 30 cars, including provisionals. The first 25 cars will qualify through NASCAR Road Race (group) qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 30 laps covering 63.37 miles.

Track: Circuit ICAR is a modern complex for motorsports located 20 minutes north of Montreal, Que., located on the grounds of the Mirabel Airport. The complex has over three kilometers of road circuits with multiple configurations, a .25-mile drag strip, skid pad, drift park, autocross track and a 1-kilometer karting track designed by Jacques Villeneuve.

The Records: The single-lap qualifying record is held by Alex Tagliani and was set on June 4, 2011 at 78.828 mph (96.499 seconds). The 30-lap race record was established on June 5, 2011 by Robin Buck, he completed the event in 1 hour, 13 minutes, 35 seconds for an average speed of 57.246 mph.

The History: Last season was the series' inaugural visit to the track. Quebec native Alex Tagliani won the pole a week after starting the Indianapolis 500 from the pole position. In the race, Tagliani and J.R. Fitzpatrick waged a spirited battle at the front while Andrew Ranger was working his way from a start at the rear of the field. Ranger caught the leaders with a handful of laps remaining, but was penalized for aggressive driving after getting tangled up with Tagliani. Robin Buck assumed the lead and went on to win his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race followed by Scott Steckly and Don Thomson Jr.

RACE NOTES
Right At Home: Up to 14 Quebec natives are expected to enter the ICAR Lucas Oil Grand Prix presented by Budweiser. Elie Arseneau, Jean-Francois Dumoulin, Alex Labbe, Michel Pilon and Dexter Stacey will be making their 2012 season debut while Steve Côté, Dave Coursol, Ray Courtemanche Jr., Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, Andrew Ranger, Martin Roy, Isabelle Tremblay, Hugo Vannini and Derek White competed in the season opener on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. Labbe will be making his series debut.

In Search Of: Circuit ICAR is looking to have a Quebec driver finish in the top three. Last year's race on the grounds of the Mirabel Airport is the only time on a Quebec road course that a native of the province didn't place in the top three in a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event. In the other 10 – five each in Montreal and Trois-Rivieres – road-course races in Quebec at least one native son finished inside the top three.

A Leg Up: Getting off to a quick start in the point standings is the first step to a good season. Three times – 2007, 2008 and 2011 – in the Canadian Tire Series has the points leader following the season's second race gone on to win the season title. J.R. Fitzpatrick comes into this race with a five-point advantage over D.J. Kennington. Fitzpatrick was last atop the standings following the Barrie (Ont.) Speedway event on Sept. 11, 2010.

Two In A Row: Not only did the Canadian Tire Series open the season on a road course this season, but it is followed up with a second road-racing event at Circuit ICAR. The series makes its 2012 oval-track debut on June 16 on the half-mile track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and visits the ovals at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway on June 23 and Motoplex Speedway in Vernon B.C., on July 14 before returning to Edmonton (Alta.) City Centre Airport on July 22 after a year's absence to take on the new road-course configuration.

Groundbreaking Night: On Friday, June 1, Circuit ICAR is set to host its first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event prior to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series teams rolling into the paddock area on Saturday morning. It's rare for a road course to be a part of NASCAR's weekly racing program, normally contested on short-track ovals, but even rarer for the competition to take place under the lights. ICAR joins Barrie Speedway and Edmonton (Alta.) International Raceway as Canadian venues on the Whelen All-American Series.

VORTEX BRAKE PADS 200 WRAP-UP
Role Reversal: The 2011 season opener was held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont., but on the half-mile oval as opposed to the 2.459-mile road course this year. Last season, J.R. Fitzpatrick started from the pole while Scott Steckly took the checkered flag. On May 20, the two drivers swapped their roles with Fitzpatrick picking up his third career victory on the road course.

Streak Ended: Fitzpatrick's win in the Vortex Brake Pads 200 behind the wheel of a Chevrolet snapped a streak of 17 consecutive wins in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series by a Dodge. The streak began on Aug. 29, 2010 with Andrew Ranger's win at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and ended with D.J. Kennington's season-ending victory last year on Sept. 24 at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, Ont.

7 Up: Steckly collected his seventh series career pole position while Fitzpatrick earned his seventh career Canadian Tire Series victory.

Mark Equaled: With his third victory on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Fitzpatrick equaled the series record of Ranger (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Circuit de Trois-Rivieres ) and Kennington (Barrie Speedway) for most wins at a track.

UP NEXT: Speedway 200
Just a few weeks removed from opening the 2012 campaign on the 2.459-mile road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont., the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the complex to tackle the half-mile oval. Last season, Scott Steckly kick started his championship season with a victory there.

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