Since joining the NASCAR Pinty’s Series in 2020, Treyten Lapcevich has been a household name – a side-effect of a championship-winning family, and strong runs driving for Scott Steckly, one of the series’ most successful drivers.
However, the stock for the Grimsby, Ontario-native has dramatically increased in the first two weeks of the Pinty’s Series season, as he looks to join his brother, Cayden, as a NASCAR International champion.
Sunday’s event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP), proved just how serious the 19-year-old driver is about his championship hopes in 2023, picking up his second win of the year in a last-lap move on Marc-Antoine Camirand.
For the majority of the race’s second half, Lapcevich was clicking off laps in third place, behind the two strongest cars in Sunday’s 25-driver field, Marc-Antoine Camirand, and Gary Klutt.
When Klutt’s No. 59 Dodge started to fade in the race’s closing laps, both Camirand and Lapcevich were able to take advantage, spitting the 30-year-old driver back to third, and out of contention for the victory, barring a last-lap disaster.
Then, over the final five laps, Lapcevich, who won the season-opener at Sunset Speedway last weekend, began to hunt down Camirand, the defending champion of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series.
As the leaders drove under the white flag, Lapcevich had closed the one-second gap to be directly on the rear bumper of Camirand, knowing that he would have to make his move in the final corner, as many drivers have successfully – or unsuccessfully – done in the past.
Camirand, in search of his third victory at CTMP, drove a very defensive line into Turn 10, in hopes of keeping the 22 Racing driver behind him. That didn’t work, as Lapcevich used his bumper to move the No. 96, driving by on the right side and scoring the victory.
The victory marks the fourth for Treyten Lapcevich in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, and his first on a road course. With the victory, Lapcevich has now won on three of the four-track types in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series – short track, road course, and dirt track.
Marc-Antoine Camirand suffered a near-loss for the second weekend in a row, finishing in the runner-up position, while Gary Klutt ended up finishing third, significantly behind the top-two finishers.
Kevin Lacroix, who started the afternoon near the front of the pack battling for the lead, rebounded to finish fourth after having a gas can leave his pit stall during his pit stop, forcing him to serve a pass-through penalty.
Despite some damage to the left front of LP Dumoulin’s No. 47 Dodge, the former series champion was able to complete the top five in his WeatherTech-sponsored entry.
Alex Tagliani, DJ Kennington, Dexter Stacey, JP Bergeron, and Daniel Bois completed the top-10 in Sunday’s 51-lap event from CTMP, the first of two races at the Bowmanville, Ontario road course.
