Two nights ago, Treyten Lapcevich saw a NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory at Ohsweken Speedway disappear due to contact with a slower car. He wasn’t about to relive that nightmare on Wednesday night.
Lapcevich dominated Wednesday’s Pinty’s 100 at Ohsweken to earn his sixth victory of the 2023 season, but it wasn’t without a bit of late-race drama.
After starting from the pole, Lapcevich was in control of the Pinty’s 100 for most of the race, but a spin by Aaron Turkey in Turn 2, with 16 laps remaining, nearly derailed his perfect night. Lapcevich had to make an evasive maneuver to miss Turkey, which allowed second-place Kyle Steckly to briefly take the race lead.
The situation was eerily similar to what happened on Monday, when contact with a slower car cost Lapcevich the race lead and allowed NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader to earn his first NASCAR Pinty’s Series triumph.
This time around, Lapcevich wasn’t going to be denied. He quickly got back in his groove and regained the lead from Steckly three laps later. He held on for the closing laps to take home the $25,000 top prize as he further padded his lead at the top of the series standings.
“I can’t say enough about these 22 Racing guys,” said Lapcevich in victory lane. “I feel like we had one get away from us on Monday. To come back here today and just have an amazing car…we lost the lead momentarily there, but we kept our heads down and we were able to get it back.”
For Steckly, a runner-up result was more than he could have hoped for, considering he wasn’t originally scheduled to compete at Ohsweken. The son of four-time NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion Scott Steckly, the 18-year-old was the crew chief for Schrader when he won on Monday evening.
With Schrader unable to return for Wednesday’s rescheduled event, Steckly got the call to drive the No. 22 APC/Pennzoil Chevrolet as a teammate to Lapcevich. A mechanical issue during his heat race forced him to start from the rear, but he stormed through the field and was up to second with 61 laps left.
He spent the rest of the race following in Lapcevich’s tire tracks, hoping for an opportunity to pounce. That opportunity came with less than 20 laps left, but he was unable to keep Lapcevich behind him after taking the lead and settled for a career-best runner-up finish.
“That was awesome,” said Steckly. “We were slowly learning the whole day. We unfortunately broke a part at the end of the heat and had to start from the back. Coming from the back was a blast. I’m just so thankful for all these 22 Racing cars. All the guys, they bring awesome cars to the track every week and it shows.
“Not quite what Kenny (Schrader) got on Monday, but we’ll be happy with second.”
Andrew Ranger crossed the finish line third, followed by J.P. Bergeron, with a career-best finish of fourth and D.J. Kennington in fifth, for his 200th start. L.P. Dumoulin, David Hebert, Larry Jackson, Kevin Lacroix, and track owner Glenn Styres rounded out the top-ten.
The NASCAR Pinty’s Series returns to action on Saturday, August 26 with the running of the Evirum 125 at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, QC.
Lapcevich Penalized After Ohsweken
Lapcevich’s team received a P2 level penalty after Monday’s race due to the following infraction:
20.E.12.1- Rear Coil Springs – Coil spring rubber inserts not to exceed two full coils of the rear coil spring at any time, acceptable to NASCAR Officials, will be permitted.
The penalty was a loss of six NASCAR Pinty’s Series Championship Driver and six Owner Points, and a $1,000 fine, with crew chief Jeff Lapcevich suspended from the NASCAR Pinty’s Series until fine is paid and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31, 2023.
- By Adam Fenwick/NASCAR
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