Lapcevich salvages top-10 in Barrie NASCAR race; Late mishap foils podium effort for Grimsby racer

September 13, 2010, GRIMSBY, ON –Jeff Lapcevich suffered heartbreak for the second straight race on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Saturday night seeing a stellar run go sour just moments from the end. The Grimsby, racer charged to second place in the Wild Wing 300 at Barrie Speedway with less than 50 laps remaining, but contact with a competitor forced him out of the top five. He eventually finished eighth.

Lapcevich used determined driving and a great race strategy in his Tim Hortons Chevrolet to advance from his 12th starting spot on the grid. Late race cautions bunched the field together leading to problems for the veteran.

“We didn’t need those late cautions,” said Lapcevich. “Bucket (Rob Torrey, Lapcevich’s crew chief) made great calls in the pits, and I think we had a strategy that would have led to a top three finish.

“The car was as good as we’ve ever had it at Barrie Speedway, but things didn’t go our way after the late restart.”

Things started to unravel for Lapcevich while trying to retain his second position racing on the outside of points leader JR Fitzpatrick. The two made contact sending Fitzpatrick spinning in turn one, and leaving Lapcevich with damage on his machine.

“The car didn’t feel the same after I got together with JR,” said Lapcevich. “We bent the front end with the contact, and it definitely wasn’t the same.”

After the mishap with Fitzpatrick another caution ensued. Lapcevich got shuffled out of the racing groove, and he dropped out of the top five. Lapcevich endured to finish eighth.

“The car was a real handful those last few laps,” said Lapcevich. “I’m glad we held on to finish.”

The next stop for Lapcevich and the Fastline Motorsports team is Riverside Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where Lapcevich has seen great success.

“We’ve been on the podium there before,” he said. “I think we can contend for a victory. That would be a great confidence builder for this team.”

While Lapcevich has numerous career victories in various premier series in North America, he’s never found victory lane in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. For more information on Fastline Motorsports visit www.LapcevichRacing.com.
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