GRIMSBY, ON- Sunset Speedway Super Stock division standout Cayden Lapcevich will make his first career OSCAAR Modified start this weekend, as part of the 16th annual Don Biederman Memorial weekend.
The third-generation driver will campaign a Troyer chassis jointly owned by Hamilton, ON-area competitors Terry Baker and Kevin Job.
“This is such a huge opportunity”, exclaimed Lapcevich when asked of his upcoming tour debut. “I’m counting the days. I feel like I’m waiting for Christmas morning. Terry & Kevin have been friends of my family for as long as I can remember, and I’m honoured that they think enough of me as a driver to let me race their car”
Coined ‘The Prodigy’, Lapcevich is the son of current NASCAR Canadian Tire Series star Jeff Lapcevich. The Grimsby, ON driver is a Sunset Speedway standout, already securing a pair of Super Stock feature victories this season at the Innisfil-area 3/8 mile.
“I’m real interested in seeing how the Modified responds”, explained Lapcevich. “I’ve never so much as sat in one, so I have no idea if I’ll be able to run Sunset the way I do in my Super Stock, or if I’ll have to attack the track completely different”
“Sunset’s definitely home and I think I know the track as well as anybody on the tour, but I might be hitting the reset button this weekend and learning my way around all over again”
Though the Baker Performance of Hamilton No. 26 will be foreign to Lapcevich, the 14-year old is only three seasons removed from a Quarter Midget career that took him across North America en route to 7 National Championships.
“It’s been a while since I’ve raced anything with open wheels, but that’s the kind of experience you never really lose”, said Lapcevich. “When you’re racing anything without fenders, you have to be mindful of what’s around you, and you have to have a tonne of respect for the guy racing beside you. That’s the most important thing I learned from my Quarter Midget racing, and it’s definitely something I’ll be applying to the way I race the Modified this weekend”
When asked if his appearance in an OSCAAR Modified could turn into a regular occurrence, the high-school student is careful to play his cards close.
“Right now, our goal as a team is just to stay on the track and get as much seat time as possible. In anything. As long as I’m learning and getting better, then I’m doing my job. I just love racing. I’ll drive anything if given the opportunity”
Cayden’s OSCAAR Modified Tour debut will be made possible thanks to support from Baker Performance of Hamilton, Tim Hortons, Troy Cove Marine, Springers Meats, EPIC Racewear by OnePromo.ca and Cathcart Trucking.
Fans can follow Cayden on Twitter @CaydenLapcevich or at his official Cayden Lapcevich Racing page on Facebook.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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