For a moment, it looked like GM Paillé’s promising race had gone south in a hurry.

But the cars underneath both Andrew Ranger and Marc-Antoine Camirand were too strong to be pinned down, as they wound up coming from the rear in the second half of the QwickWick 250 to claim the top two spots, with Ranger earning his first win of the season and second at Autodrome Chaudière. Camirand came home runner-up behind the No. 27.

It wound up coming down to overtime for the third straight NASCAR Pinty’s Series race, as the teammates lined up on the front row. Ranger got a great jump, cleared Camirand for the lead and earned the win as a caution came coming to the line.

The win was three-time champion Rangers 31st overall and marks his fourth consecutive season with a win (14 of 15 overall). It was also his sixth consecutive top 10 finish at Chaudière.

Both Ranger and Camirand dominated the opening 150 laps, with the latter claiming the top spot 34 laps in and holding it until the halfway break. But that’s where things got a bit messy for the GM Paillé duo.

As the caution came out and the pace car picked up the field, Camirand ducked onto pit road, with nobody following. The next lap, the remainder of the field pitted during the mandatory halfway break, but Ranger stayed out, opting to pit the following lap by himself.

Before going back green, officials determined both Camirand and Ranger would be penalized for not pitting on the proper laps and restarted at the tail end of the field.

But they made quick work through the field, climbing to sixth and seventh in 25 laps. 40 laps later, they entered the top five and about 10 laps after that, Ranger took the lead from DJ Kennington with ease and never relinquished it.

Kennington, LP Dumoulin and Alex Tagliani rounded out the top five with defending race winner Raphael Lessard, Gary Klutt, Brett Taylor, Brandon Watson and Simon Dion-Viens completing the top 10.

Following a late-race issue, Kevin Lacroix came home 13th, Donald Theetge was 21st (first start of the season) and Treyten Lapcevich (engine issue) 22nd. The 23-car field was the largest in the series since 2019.

Following finishes of 12th and 24th to open the 2022 season, Ranger climbs to ninth in the point standings as Kevin Lacroix and Alex Tagliani are now tied atop the points standings.

The QwickWick 250 will air on TSN on Saturday, June 18 at 3 pm ET; it airs on RDS2 on Friday, June 27 at 8 pm ET.

The NASCAR Pinty’s Series heads next to Eastbound International Speedway on Saturday June 25 for the Pro Line 225 presented by QwickWick, the fourth race of the 2022 season.