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[/media-credit]June 18, 2012, GRIMSBY, ON – Jeff Lapcevich scored a season-best fourth place finish in the Clarington 200 NASCAR race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Oval Saturday (formerly Mosport). The result capped off a tumultuous day for the Grimsby racing veteran.
Until moments before the command was given to start engines Lapcevich wasn’t sure if his car would be ready to race. The Tim Hortons #23 Dodge remained on jack stands on pit road with the crew thrashing furiously to repair a mechanical issue discovered during qualifying.
“I felt the clutch slipping when I went to make my qualifying run,” said Lapcevich. “The guys did a great job making repairs to get me on the track. For awhile I wasn’t sure if it would be done in time for the start of the race.”
Lapcevich qualified eighth in the competitive field, but because of the work done on the car he started at the tail end of the line up. He charged through traffic early to compete in the top -10, and even a mid-race skirmish with a pair of competitors couldn’t dampen his day.
“We were racing hard for position,” said Lapcevich. “The contact knocked the front end out of alignment, but it didn’t slow us down much.”
After being turned sideways exiting corner four Lapcevich was collected by Andrew Ranger. The contact knocked his car in the right direction, and everyone continued battling. As laps wound down Lapcevich showed great speed, but without a caution to bunch the field together he finished fourth.
“I think with a caution near the end of the race we might have picked up a couple more spots,” said Lapcevich. “But I’m happy with fourth place, and we should be fast for next week’s race at Delaware Speedway.”
Lapcevich left Canadian Tire Motorsport Park tied for fifth place in the points standings with Quebec racer Louis Phillipe Dumoulin. The series visits Delaware Speedway near London, Ontario, next weekend before heading west for three races in a span of 11 days.
The western swing starts in Vernon, British Columbia, and then stops in Edmonton, Alberta for a road course race before winding up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for a mid-week special. Lapcevich hasn’t competed during the western swing for many years.
“I’m excited to race out west,” said Lapcevich. “The crew is working better than I can ever remember, and the car has been awesome to drive. It should be a fun trip.”
For more information on Jeff Lapcevich and his racing family, visit www.LapcevichRacing.com .
