The already highly competitive NASCAR Pinty’s Series will be joined by a new full-time driver in 2023 in the person of the very talented Alex Guénette.
Winner of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières last August, the Terrebonne resident hit it off with owner Ed Hakonson’s team, led by former Ontario driver Jason Hathaway.
In an interview with the Journal, Guénette was delighted to have reached an agreement that would allow him to drive the number 3 car in all championship events for the next two years. He is therefore leaving the team of Dave Jacobs, for whom he gave his first victory in the Pinty’s Series in almost six years at GP3R.
“It’s an offer I couldn’t refuse financially,” Guénette explained. In the past, this team didn’t necessarily have the right drivers to win. But she is determined to give me the means to achieve my ultimate goal. »
The 26-year-old’s ambitions couldn’t be clearer.
“I’m aiming for the championship and nothing else,” said Guénette, who clinched her first regular drive in the country’s toughest stock car series. In 2022 it was limited to just four events (all on the road circuit) in a 13-stage calendar.
With the help of Labrosse
Guénette enlisted the services of Alan Labrosse as an advisor in his search for sponsorship and in developing his motorsport career.
The reputation of the former owner of the Autodrome Saint-Eustache is well established. He was the manager of several renowned pilots, including Patrick Carpentier and Andrew Ranger. More recently he was involved in the career of Raphaël Lessard before being unfairly evicted by young Beauceron’s family.
“Two important partners, whose identities I cannot reveal at the moment, have embarked on my new adventure. All I can say is that these are two companies with strong roots in Canada that have never supported me in the past,” said Guénette.
Photo courtesy of NASCAR
Alex Guénette celebrated his GP3R successes like a NASCAR driver!
The click of the GP3R
We knew he was talented but in GP3R he made his mark by winning after an incredible finish to the race.
“People will say that I took advantage of a collision ahead involving brothers Jean-François and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin and Marc-Antoine Camirand, but people forget that I was second for much of the race lag,” says Guénette.
“Later, at Mirabel, I started from the back at the start to finish third. I had already started talks with some teams for 2023 before the GP3R. What’s certain is that the win didn’t hurt. But above all, I showed that I can be just as successful on oval courses as on street courses,” he emphasizes.
In the Xfinity series at Daytona?
Guénette has also confirmed that he will be attending the Snowflake 100, a major stock car event (in the Late Models category) taking place on December 3rd in Pensacola, Florida.
Better still, a presence in the Xfinity series for the opening event of the 2023 season, scheduled on the eve of the famous Daytona 500, really isn’t out of the question.
“We are in talks with sponsors and negotiations are going well,” he concludes.
Guénette is no stranger to the NASCAR Cup antechamber, having made four starts there in 2016. He also raced three times in the Vans series in 2013 and 2014. In the Pinty’s Series, his record includes one win and four other podium finishes from 33 appearances spread between 2013 and 2022.