Stayner, ON – Scott Tapley, driver of the #78 Arctic Snowplows, Stayner Travel Trailer @racingratchet Chevy Silverado moved into the lead of two championships, GT Sprints presented by CSC Racing and Lubrico Warranty V8 Trophy Races in the GT3 category, this past weekend during the BARC Touring Trophy Races held at the fast and flowing Canadian Tire Motorsports Park grand prix track.
Tapley, set his fastest ever lap time of 1:31.41 during Race One on route to class victory over seasoned rivals including Martin Martin in his #77 Chevy Monte Carlo. Following class victories in Races 1 and 2, Tapley was in a good position to continue the streak into the feature race of the weekend. However, in order to avoid an incident in Turn 3 early in the race Tapley was forced onto the grass, losing a number of positions before safely returning to the track.
“I saw Peter’s (Koleros #13) BMW wiggle and spin at the entrance of Corner 3, I had to go wide and into the grass to avoid contact with him” recounted Tapley. “I managed to keep it off the wall, while “cutting the grass” with my front splitter, and returned it safely to the track, but Gunter (Schmidt) and Martin (Martin) both got by”.
After a long caution period only three minutes remained in the race, Tapley restarted fourth in class when the green flag flew.
After slight nose-to-tail contact with third place Martin Martin when the field “checked up” in Corner 3 of the last lap, Tapley ducked into the inside of the #77 of Martin in the final turn, making it to the stripe in third place.
“I felt bad for the contact I made with Martin in Turn 3 everyone checked up and I had no place to go” explained Tapley. Despite the contact with his friend, Tapley was elated to extend his podium finish, having not finished off the podium since 2010 when Tapley was first united with the #78 Chevy Silverado.
You can follow the Ratchet Racing Crew on Twitter @racingratchet throughout the season and as they prepare for the Ted Powell Memorial Race on August 24-25 at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
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