Ranger excited about returning home for NASCAR events

MONTREAL – Who says you can never go home? Andrew Ranger may beg to differ, as the well-travelled resident of Roxton Pond, Que., is back in La Belle Province to compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide and Canadian Tire Series events at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

And, no doubt, he will be greeted as a returning hero.

Now in his fourth season at the wheel of a full-bodied stock car following a two-year, 27-race stint in the Champ Car series, Ranger has found his calling – as his multiple race victories and championships have proven.

Two Canadian Tire Series titles earned in the No. 27 Dave Jacombs-prepared Ford have led to a season competing in the NASCAR K&N (East) division, as well as a handful of races in the Canadian Tire Series.

"We lost our Tide and Wal-mart sponsorship after seven years and I wasn’t sure of my future," Ranger said. "Then Steve Hebert called me and asked if I was looking for a ride for 2010."

Taking up the offer from Vermont-based MDS Motorsports, Ranger travelled to the team’s race shops and closed the deal to run in the American series. Shortly thereafter, Waste Management Services came on board as their primary sponsor, and then the Dodge Dealers of Quebec joined forces with Jacombs Racing, providing financial support for five races in the NASCAR Canadian branch.

Quickly settling into the new venture, the now 23-year-old Ranger earned a fifth-place finish at the Martinsville half-mile paper-clip oval.

On his return to Canada, he claimed the pole position in the Canadian Tire Series event at Mosport International Raceway, where he finished second to longtime rival J.R. Fitzpatrick.

Back in his MDS mount, a trip to Sonoma, Calif., yielded his first career K&N (West) victory, which he backed up with another road-course win at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

Jetting back and forth across the border, the No. 27 Dodge took both the pole position and win in the Canadian Tire Series race at the Toronto Honda Indy and duplicated that effort in this month’s Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, his third consecutive win on that street-course layout.

The Trois-Rivieres victory gives Ranger an outstanding 10 wins and 17 podiums in his 18 road-course starts in NASCAR.

He was third in Montreal’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series race in Montreal last year, having led 10 laps, trailing only Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose.

Riding this wave of success, Ranger is anxiously awaiting this weekend’s return to his "home" track, for what will be the seventh Nationwide start of his career.

Doing double duty, the local hero will pilot the No. 27 Baker-Curb Racing Dodge Charger in the Nationwide main event, and will battle in his Dodge Dealers of Quebec ride in Saturday’s Canadian Tire Series feature.

"Ambrose and Edwards will be tough to beat in the Nationwide race," he said.

"And I think that J.R. (Fitzpatrick) and I will be the ones to beat in the Canadian Tire Series.

"Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a fun track to race on. I have some tricks that I can use, but they’re my little secrets."

Following the Montreal event, Ranger will make three more appearances in the K&N (East) series and hopes to make a trip to Phoenix Raceway in November.