CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series
Episode 7 of 'Road to Glory' Now Available
Aug 5, 2026
Jared Odrick tackles a new challenge this weekend, making his NASCAR Canada Series debut in Le 45 Tours CarGurus in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.
Odrick, a seven-season veteran of the National Football League before embarking on a career in motorsports, currently sits second in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Pro/Am Driver's Championship in the No. 00 Pop Art Snacks/BLACK Underwear Chevrolet Camaro.
This Saturday and Sunday, August 8-9, Odrick teams up with BC Race Cars and BLACK Underwear for his NASCAR debut during the historic and celebrated Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres weekend.
It's an event Odrick experienced in the past, competing in a Mercedes GT4 car in FEL Motorsports in 2024. That experience was an eye-opening one, and Odrick has hoped to return in a NASCAR Canada Series entry since that trip.
"We, my wife and I and some of our racing effort came here in 2024," Odrick told Racing America about Trois-Rivieres. "We had an opportunity to race a GT4 Mercedes here back in 2024. We did this race really not knowing much about its history, its tradition or how rowdy the NASCAR [Canada] Series up here gets on this track and what it means to these drivers.
"I did a GT4 race, but it was only four of us in our class. It was fun, it was great, right? There was enough for a podium, but it was nothing like 30 NASCAR cars ripping around and fighting for position. I did my two GT4 races and then my wife and I went up into the stands with the French-Canadian fans and watched the race.
"What we witnessed was just such an engaged community, engaged in a great sense of tradition, right? It was hot, it was fast and it was high stakes and it was foreign, right? All of those things gave us a sense that we were learning something or discovering something, at least for us. As soon as we saw that NASCAR race compared to the one we just did, we both like looked at each other and were like, damn, that's really cool. It almost felt like, man, if we came back here, we should be in a stock car."
Odrick left intrigued not just by the competition of the NASCAR Canada Series on the tight, 1.53-mile street circuit, but also the passionate Quebecois fans attending the Grand Prix each year.
"I think what creates community in these like sporting situations, these competitive situations, is when the crowd reflects what's on the track and when the track reflects what's in the crowd," Odrick explained. "There is a call-and-response between everybody instead of people being spaced out, not knowing anything. People definitely had favorites. It wasn't just family sitting up in the stands, it was fans, people followed this stuff. It feels like we drove into like one big tribe of people called Quebecers, right?
"It's a very tight-knit culture. It feels like, as soon as you don't speak French first, you know, you give yourself up as an outsider. So we do our best to say, you know, 'bonjour,' and then plow through in English, or, 'Bonsoir,' and then plow through in English. You have to enter their door respecting the French."
Odrick fully expects this weekend to be a learning experience. While he has turned laps on this circuit, as well as the Exhibition Place circuit that formerly hosted Honda Indy Toronto, this will be Odrick's first-time competing in the NASCAR Canada Series against a field of 30-plus competitors.
"I imagine I'm going to be taught a thing or two," Odrick said. "These guys are tough up here. They've been running this race for a long time. This is a bunch of men who have fought to be in their seat. Not to say that the young men that I compete with and against in Trans Am TA2 aren't doing the exact same, but these guys have time under tension. These guys have driven these cars, this platform, and this is their race. This is like the street race of Quebec.
"It's more than a rite of passage. It's a part of their culture and history and tradition, so. The stakes feel raised and I'm honored to be a part of it and honored to be able to team up with BC Race Cars, who is a former TA2 team, and really get after it this weekend."
Similar to the TA2 car he is accustomed to, the NASCAR Canada Series machine is limited in its technology. After testing the car ahead of his series debut, the BC Race Cars team shared photos of the test on social media.
Odrick emphasized that the NASCAR Canada Series car is an even more primitive, old-school racing experience, with less downforce and bias-ply tires on the NASCAR Canada Series entry.
"It's really analog," explained Odrick. There's no data in the car. There's no video in the car. It's against the rules. It's a lot of analog. It's feel. I think we get to measure RPM and speed, but that's it. Everything else, I'm going to have to communicate as a driver, which makes my palms sweat a little bit, but that's like the good sweat, right? I have to do more this weekend. I really have to lock in and be in every moment so that I can give positive feedback."
"There's no front splitter on these things. There's no big wing on the back. We're on a bias ply tire and you're sliding around. This thing moves, and if you're not okay sideways, you're not okay driving one of these. That's what I got to introduced to really quick at the test. I'm in no way am I degrading the potential performance, because I obviously haven't raced this yet, this platform, but the TA2 makes this feel like a stock car on dirt."
"When something goes off in your head where I now see my home, my base, my 'every day,' which is my TA2 car, in a different light. It's one of the best feelings in the world because you feel like you learn something new. If you use this information right, things could go even better when we get back into the car."
The NASCAR Canada Series also introduces some new wrinkles in terms of competition and format. Along with the potential for a live pit-stop and a "choose rule" on restarts, the 45 Tours CarGurus will also feature the debut of "Omnifab Sprints."
Similar to the format seen used by the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway each year for the Daytona 500, qualifying will determine the front row for Sunday's 45-lap main event. The rest of the starting lineup will be determined through a pair of 15-lap duel races on Saturday.
"The sprint format is going to be new for me," said Odrick. "Choosing your lane on a two-by-two restart is going to be new for me. A potential pit stop. It's all going to be new for me. We were able to practice a pit stop, but all the other stuff we weren't able to test. It's definitely going to be trial by fire with how fast and experienced these guys are up here."
Odrick hopes some of the lessons learned this weekend can follow him to the TA2 entry, with that series' next event in roughly one month's time at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario.
"I feel like those are the moments where you learn, where the light bulb goes off," said Odrick. "That's why I'm here, man. I feel blessed to have this opportunity with BC and them wanting me in the car and being able to do something like this. To be afforded the opportunity to learn is a blessing in and of itself."
"We have the pleasure of working with Pop Art for the rest of the 2026 season, and BLACK Underwear will be coming on to support our NASCAR Canada efforts up here. They, along with Pop Art, will be continuing their support on the Trans Am side for the rest of the year."
For more information about this weekend's 45 Tours CarGurus, visit nascar.ca and gp3r.com.
The next event for The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli and CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series is scheduled for September 3-6 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
-Photo credit: Chris Clark
