GRIMSBY, ON- Third-generation star Cayden Lapcevich has been a busy man through the month of August, logging dozens of laps at a number of speedways in a variety of different racecars. Most recently, ‘The Prodigy’ enjoyed an eight day stretch in which he claimed his fifth win of the Sunset Speedway regular season on August 15th , locked himself into a front-row starting spot at the lauded Autumn Colours Classic at Peterborough Speedway and turned heads with a valiant effort in his second career APC United Late Model Series appearance.
“Our schedule has been crazy busy lately – but it’s the best kind of busy,” says Lapcevich with a wide smile. “I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given this season. I’m living the dream right now. This is the best year I’ve ever had as a stock car racer, and I owe all of it to my sponsors and the people around me. I feel so fortunate every time we sign in at the back gate at one of these speedways”
Lapcevich’s dominating performance at Peterborough Speedway’s ‘Chase for the Colours’ event on August 22nd served as his most recent headline grabber. The Grimsby, ON driver led all 40-laps of competition, turning away a very game Matt Bentley in the dying laps of the feature, to earn a pole starting position at October’s famed 50-lap Autumn Colours Classic.
“The ‘Chase’ worked out just about exactly the way we hoped it would,” explains the third-generation racer. “When we were sitting in the lineup area, Dad and I were talking and figured the best way to go about things was to get out front right away and try to stay in front of whatever craziness was going to happen. This car rolls the center really well and doesn’t tend to eat up tires too badly, so we knew if I could just keep the same pace all night we’d be alright”
“Locking into ‘the Classic’ is enormous,” continues Lapcevich. “I’ve had to come from deep in the field there before and it’s incredible how fast you can run out of laps trying to pass these guys. 50-laps to go through some of the absolute best in the province isn’t nearly enough time”
“It’ll be exciting this year to experience it from the front of the field. Because I’m sure if we’re fortunate enough to get out front and lead some laps, then 50-laps will feel like forever”
Lapcevich would make a quick turnaround, heading to Sunset Speedway on August 23rd to drive for car-owner Terry Baker in the 7th round of the APC United Late Model Series at Sunset. Unfortunately, after battling for position early in the event, a piece of nosecone would become lodged in the scrub rail of Lapcevich’s No. 26. After pitting to remove the piece, Lapcevich would be tasked with driving from the rear of the field and would find himself tangling with veteran Dwayne Baker before he could reach the front of the pack.
“The APC [Series] event was a tough one to swallow,” offers Lapcevich. “There was so much bad luck that led to us DNFing that race, and I felt awful for Terry, my Dad and everyone else that slaved all day to give us such an awesome car. As soon as they gave me the word to come to pit road and restart at the tail, my heart sank, because I knew how tough it was going to be to back through that pack”
“It was just a rough deal for everyone involved. But, I promise, we’ll be back in a Pro Late Model sometime soon. That series hasn’t seen the last of us”
This weekend, Cayden will turn his attention back to the Sunset Speedway Super Stock division on Saturday, August 29th. With only three points nights remaining in 2015, ‘The Prodigy’ will enter Saturday’s race with a whopping 49-point lead over his closest pursuers.
“At Sunset these days, raceday is just all about not making mistakes,” says Lapcevich. “We have a huge points lead right now, but that could disappear in a hurry if I start making bad decisions”
“There’s still a long way to go, and there are some really good guys trying to catch me. So I’ll be unloading this week as though we have a 1-point lead, because I want to stay hungry to keep these guys behind me.”
In addition to his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series committments at Sunset, Lapcevich will practice his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series ride at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Saturday afternoon before starting scratch in Pinty’s presents the Clarington 200 on Sunday.
For details on Saturday’s event at Sunset Speedway, visit www.SunsetSpeedway.ca.
Cayden Lapcevich’s 2015 efforts are powered by Tim Hortons, Castrol, Cathcart Trucking, Springers Meats, EPIC Racewear and Troy Cove Marine.
Fans can keep up with ‘The Prodigy’ by following him on Twitter @CaydenLapcevich and visiting the official Cayden Lapcevich Racing page on Facebook.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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