Kahnawake part of NASCAR champ’s repeat
Marc-Antoine Camirand became the first-ever NASCAR Canada driver to win the series championship two years in a row, something he said he could not have done without his team, which includes Kahnawa’kehró:non Nick McComber and Soot Rice. Courtesy Matthew Manor
Nick McComber grew up a fan of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Now, as a crew member of the now three-time NASCAR Canada series champion Marc-Antoine Camirand, he’s finding himself right in the midst of his team’s own dominant run, as Camirand became the first driver to ever win back-to-back championships in the series.
Camirand’s #96 Paillé Racing Chevrolet confirmed the title by being in the winner’s circle at Autodrome Montmagny on Sunday for the XPN 250, the last race of the season.
Although Camirand had already won four races prior to Sunday, McComber still felt some nervousness prior to and during the race.
“Anything in that kind of race can happen. You get taken out by a contender. The engine blows, the transmission blows, if that happens, there’s no championship after that,” said McComber.
“But we did great, and Marc-Antoine did one hell of a job to pull off the win.”
Camirand qualified second on the 3/8-mile oval, but battled his way to the front, taking the lead on lap 49 of 250 from Donald Theetge.
The goal for the three-time champion going into the 2025 season was to try to become the first repeat champion, and now that it’s actually happened, he couldn’t be happier.
“We’re really proud of the whole team, it’s a huge accomplishment. If we look at all the great drivers that have competed in this series, the fact that no one has been able to do this before us makes us even prouder,” said Camirand.
“Races and championships, they are won at the shop.”
For Camirand, having McComber and car chief Soot Rice part of his team at the shop and at the track means a lot to him. Camirand got his start in NASCAR Canada racing for Derek and Brandon White, doing so from 2013 to 2016.
“Me and this team, we’re not here if Derek and Brandon didn’t give me that opportunity,” said Camirand.
As a result, it was natural for him to include Rice and McComber as part of his crew, having already gotten to know them.
“These are people I really wanted to have on my team. Still today, these are guys that played a part in the success of this team. It’s still so important for me that they are with me on this team,” said Camirand.
It was a tight race at the top of the standings between Camirand, his teammate Andrew Ranger, DJ Kennington, Kevin Lacroix, Louis-Phillipe Dumoulin, and Mathieu Kingsbury, with less than 70 points separating the championship leading Camirand from sixth-place Kingsbury going into the weekend.
“It’s great to see that there’s at least five main teams that are going to be strong contenders for a full season,” said McComber.
“Hopefully NASCAR makes it a little bit easier for other teams to be able to afford to compete all season long, rather than just having a couple of races here and there.”
Camirand and #96 team will be back next season to try to make it three in a row, which would tie him for most championships overall with Scott Steckly.
Sign up for email updates from The Eastern Door
“We’re already back at the shop to start getting ready for next year,” said Camirand.
“We don’t want to take it easy; we want to stay competitive.”
