London, ON — Louis-Philippe Roy punched his ticket to the 2022 National Driving Championship after capturing the Ontario Regional Driving Championship at The Raceway at Western Fair District on Wednesday (May 11).

Roy led all drivers in wins with three in the nine-race contest, finishing with 79 points. He persevered through a first-over grind with also-eligible draw-in No Time At All ($15.60) to land his first win on the night before scoring back-to-back wins at the conclusion of the card with Dabunka ($27.40) and Willywin ($5.40).

Louis-Philippe Roy after winning the 2022 Ontario Regional Driving Championship. Carter Gimblett photo.

Roy, who began driving in 2008 and has 1,940 wins to his record, advances to the 2022 National Driving Championship in November at Century Mile alongside runner-up Doug McNair, who finished second with 60 points.

A 32-year-old resident of Guelph, Roy made his way to Ontario after starting out his driving career in Quebec. Once he made the move to compete on the Woodbine Entertainment circuit, he quickly rose to the top of the standings. Roy won the O’Brien Award as Canada’s Driver of the Year in 2018 and 2019, and he will make his first appearance in the National Driving Championship after qualifying for the event in 2018 but then stepping away due to other commitments.

Roy and McNair will compete with the top two finishers of the remaining three regional qualifiers at the 2022 National Driving Championship at Century Mile in November for an opportunity to represent Canada in the 2023 World Driving Championship in Italy.

Canada’s most recent World Driving Championship win came courtesy of James MacDonald in 2017.

“I’ll be pretty excited, especially when I qualified *in 2018) but Doug ended up taking my spot and winning the Canadian title and then going to Sweden with James. I saw them going and I had a little pinch (of envy),” said Roy after his ORDC win. “I’ll be happy to be competing in the National Driving Championship. We’ll have some good competition. (Doug) is a great driver and it’s always good to compete against him.”

The final leaderboard of the Ontario Regional Driving Championship is as follows:

Louis-Philippe Roy – 79 points
Doug McNair – 60
Colin Kelly – 49
James MacDonald – 45
Brett MacDonald – 44
Travis Henry – 40
Bob McClure – 36
Austin Sorrie – 34
Trevor Henry – 33