North Wilkesboro, N.C.: The 2024 zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car Tour season finale has arrived at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway with Canadian standout Treyten Lapcevich and his Chad Bryant Racing team looking to end the season on a high note in Saturday night’s ECMD 125.
After a string of strong performances in both the CARS Tour and NASCAR Late Model competition, Lapcevich and his team rode the momentum to last weekend’s CARS Tour 225 pres. by GeoCut at Tri-County (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
Unfortunately, the weekend proved to be a race worth forgetting. After an incident in practice, the Chad Bryant Racing team rebuilt the car and eventually brought back speed for the race.
While not a contender for the win, the team stayed a factor inside the top five despite pitting early in the race.
Unfortunately, the team ran out of fuel in the closing laps, derailing the remarkable comeback and leaving the team with a frustrating 12th-place finish at the checkered flag.
“Tri-County was certainly rough for us this past weekend,” said Lapcevich. “I am really proud of the whole team for never giving up. We had an abrupt start with an incident in practice on Friday, which led to repairs taking until 3:30 am the morning of the race on Saturday.
“We really struggled throughout practice with something wrong with the car. We threw a lot at it for qualifying, but it still wasn’t right. Made a pit stop in the race, and the car really started to come to life. We were able to work up from about the 26th position into the top five and in contention for a really strong run.
“Unfortunately, on a restart with three laps to go, we ran out of fuel. It just wasn’t our weekend, but we never stopped pushing and still came out with a 12th-place finish when it was all said and done, which, of
course is disappointing – but better than what it could’ve been.”
Knowing their resilient effort from last weekend, Lapcevich is using the strength of the team’s recovery from a series of setbacks as fuel to make a statement with his second CARS Tour win of the season at the historic North Carolina race track.
“It’s definitely important to have a strong run this weekend at North Wilkesboro leading into the off-season,” added Lapcevich. “It’s always great to end the season on a high note and provide a lot of momentum heading into the following year.”
When it comes to a “drop mic” like performance this weekend – Lapcevich and his Chad Bryant-led team know that returning to the track where the team scored their first CARS Tour win earlier this summer could lead to a substantial end-of-the-season celebration season sweep.
“We were really good at North Wilkesboro back in August, grabbing our first win of the season there, so I’m really excited to get back,” added Lapcevich. “Obviously, the track will be a little bit different with the climate, the aging of the new surface, and the different types of cars that will be there this weekend – but that will produce the same challenge for everyone.
“We will be focused on maximizing our practice time and ensuring our car will have speed for all 125 laps.”
Lapcevich, who controls fifth in the driver championship standings, remained vocal about wanting another checkered flag this season, not just for himself or his race team but also for those behind the scenes and his sponsors Evirum and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, who all assisted in making the 2024 season possible.
“I think it would be huge for us to win again at North Wilkesboro just like we did only a couple of months ago, especially heading into the off-season,” said Lapcevich. “I’d really like to make that happen for my sponsors and team, who have all done an amazing job all season.
“We are certainly going to give it our all and see if we can finish off the CARS Tour season on a high note.”
No matter the results on Saturday night, Lapcevich is more than satisfied with the progression of his season and will utilize the offseason not only to reflect on 2024 but also to use it as motivation to make 2025 an even better year.
“I’m really happy with the progress we made this season,” sounded Lapcevich. “I think at the start of the year, there is no doubt they knew we were there, but now we’re in contention week after week, which says a lot about how far we have come since the start of the year.
“This was a new type of car for myself, and pretty much all tracks we have gone to have been new to me; therefore, there has been a ton of learning.
“If we got to start the season again with the experience I’ve got now, I think we could have an even better year – but that is all part of the learning curve.”
After 16 races, Chad Bryant Racing stands sixth in the championship owner standings, just eight points behind JR Motorsports for fifth and a four-point cushion over Kevin Harvick Inc. for seventh overall.
For more on Treyten Lapcevich, like him on Facebook (treyten.lapcevich) and follow him on Instagram (@treytenlapcevich) and X | Twitter (@TreytenL).
The first race of the ECMD 125 at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway commences at 5:35 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 19, 2024, when the green flag waves for the CARS Pro Late Model Tour. FloRacing’s coverage begins at 5 p.m.
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