September 14, 2020 – Milverton, ON, CANADA – The Pinty’s FanCave Challenge wrapped up at Canada’s Crown Jewel with the Motomaster 125 and the Pinty’s 125 on Saturday culminating in mixed results for J.R. Fitzpatrick, driver of the #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro.
Near perfect weather set the stage for the final two races of the condensed six race Pinty’s FanCave Challenge series. Drivers, crew, and NASCAR Pinty’s Series officials all missed seeing the enthusiastic fans in the stands and being able to connect with them and thank fans for their continued support during this challenging year.
After testing last week at Jukasa Motor Speedway, the 32-year-old from Cambridge, Ontario felt his #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro would be competitive right out of the hauler. Although Fitzpatrick earned fifth fastest during the official NASCAR Pinty’s Series shakedown session he knew there was room for improvement to be able run upfront.
In the Motomaster 125, the first of the twin 125 races the #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro started on the outside of the first row. With no openings to take advantage of the lower groove Fitzpatrick fell back to eighth and quickly began his charge towards the lead pack. With 20 laps to go Fitzpatrick had reeled in the No. 17 machine of DJ Kennington but was unable to make the pass before the checkered flag flew earning Fitzpatrick a fifth-place finish.
After a short break to rehydrate and make some final adjustments to the #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro Fitzpatrick would start from the fifth row for the final race of the 2020 season, the Pinty’s 125.
Struggling with handling early on around Jukasa Motor Speedway’s 0.625-mile oval, Fitzpatrick seemed to be unable to mount another midrace charge to the front. At just over the halfway mark of the race the No. 84 got together with Fitzpatrick’s No. 24 machine on the backstretch to bring out the fifth caution of the race. Fitzpatrick brought the #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro into the pits for damage assessment and repairs.
With 43 laps to go the race was red flagged due to a multi-car wreck on the backstretch that Fitzpatrick was able to avoid. Making up ground with the average green flag run being only 12.7 laps was a daunting challenge. Fitzpatrick would cross the Start/Finish line two laps down in eleventh.
“We rolled the dice on a few changes for the second race to try to get a better drive out of the corners, but they weren’t as compatible as we’d hoped with the late day cloud-cover and cooling track temperature. I’m pretty happy with our fifth-place finish in the first race and genuinely had a ton of fun coming back to the NASCAR Pinty’s Series after being away for the past six years.” said the driver of the #24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro.
Fitzpatrick added; “Thanks to the NASCAR Pinty’s Series fans, drivers, teams and officials for the warm welcome back to the series and especially Scott Steckly, 22 Racing and to team-partner PartyCasino.fun for making these last four races possible and so much fun.”
Fans should keep an eye on 22 Racing’s and J.R. Fitzpatrick’s social media for some upcoming PartyCasino.fun giveaways and make sure to tune-in to NASCAR Pinty’s Series races on TSN/RDS.
NASCAR Pinty’s Series fans can follow J.R. Fitzpatrick on twitter at @J_R_Fitzpatrick, on Facebook at J.R Fitzpatrick and on Instagram at @jrfitzpatrick.
The Motomaster 125 will air on TSN on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m. ET, and the Pinty’s 125 will air on TSN on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 5 p,m. Each race also will air on RDS/RDS2, and MAVTV in the United States. Fans in the United States can stream races after they air on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
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J.R. Fitzpatrick Photo Credit: 22 Racing
#24 PartyCasino.fun Chevrolet Camaro Photo: Jerry Hall