Pit Box: NASCAR Pinty's Series Kicks Off Season At Sunset Speedway Saturday
Pit Box: NASCAR Pinty's Series Kicks Off Season At Sunset Speedway Saturday
The NASCAR Pinty's Series is set to open the 2022 season at Ontario's Sunset Speedway on Saturday night.
The NASCAR Pinty’s Series opens the 2022 season Saturday night with the NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250 at Sunset Speedway. The series returns to a traditional schedule for the first time since 2019 after pandemic restrictions limited competition to 16 races in Ontario and Quebec for the past two years.
This season will feature 13 races in five provinces on the most diverse tracks in NASCAR –Canada’s top short tracks, world-renowned road courses and street courses and the series’ long-awaited debut on dirt.
A strong field features upwards of 20 drivers who plan to compete full-time in 2022. Among them are reigning champion L.P. Dumoulin, Andrew Ranger and D.J. Kennington (who have eight championships among them), veterans Alex Tagliani and Kevin Lacroix, and up-and-comer Treyten Lapcevich.
Raphael Lessard, who will run all oval track races in the No. 8 Ed Hakonson Racing Chevrolet, swept both races at Sunset in 2021. The 21-year-old phenom has won three of his five career Pinty’s Series starts.
| Race | NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250 |
| Date / Start Time | Saturday, May 14, 2022 / 7 p.m. ET |
| Track / Location | Sunset Speedway (Innisfil, ON) |
| TV | TSN5 (Sunday, May 22 / 4 p.m. ET – leading into the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas) RDS2 (Saturday, June 4 / 7 p.m. ET) |
| Live Stream | Canada: TSN.ca/ TSN app USA: FloRacing |
| Schedule | |
| 9:30 a.m. | Garage Opens |
| 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Practice |
| 5 p.m. | E3 Spark Plugs Pole Qualifying |
| 5:40 – 6:20 p.m. | Autograph Session (on track) |
| 6:35 p.m. | Driver Introductions |
| 7 p.m. | NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250 |
| Competition | |
| Track Layout | 1/3-mile paved oval |
| Laps / Miles | 250 laps / 83.325 miles |
| Qualifying Format | Single car; two laps |
| Starting Lineup Procedures | 1-17 Fastest 17 cars in qualifying 18-19 Provisional spots based on 2021 owner standings 20-21 Provisional spots based on 2021 driver standings 22 Past champion provisional |
| Race Procedure | The race will be run in two segments with a five-minute break around Lap 125. There will be no live pit stops. |
| Tire Allotment | Three sets – practice, qualifying, race. Teams must start the race on the tires they qualify on. |