Cayden Lapcevich picks up second feature victory of season at Sunset Speedway

After winning the Spring Derby 50 to start the season, Cayden Lapcevich would pick up his second victory of the season after a thrilling late-race battle with Lane Zardo.

Lapcevich kicked off the night in victory lane by winning the first heat ahead of Paul Geniole Jr., Mike Weeda, Chris Howse, Johnny Morrison, Coltin Everingham, Matt Bentley and Adam Martin.

The second heat didn’t go smoothly as Dan Archibald and Randy Rusnell got into a bit of a battle for second spot on lap seven that bottled up the field, causing Nick Tooley to get into Mike Weeda. Zardo would take the win ahead of Rusnell, Archibald, Steve Cashmore, Tyler Liscum, Weeda, Tooley and Stan Coe.

Matt Bentley would take the victory in the b-main as he debuted his brand new McColl Racing Enterprises Super Stock on Saturday night with his first start of the season. Coe finished second ahead of Tooley and Martin.

The “Dash for Cash” wouldn’t go smoothly as Morrison would spin Cashmore on lap two, with Weeda catching a piece of it as well. Lapcevich took the victory ahead of Rusnell, Zardo, Archibald, Weeda, Howse, Geniole Jr., Liscum, Weeda, Morrison, Cashmore and Everingham.

With qualifying in the books and the help of some special fans from the grandstands, the field would be set for the 30 lap feature. The fan partnered with Nick Tooley would draw ‘1’, putting Tooley on the pole in his No. 82 Simcoe Mobile Wash, X-Copper, Davidson Trailers, Suter’s Auto Service, The Playdium Store and Total Lubricants Super Stock. Steve Cashmore would start second, followed by Matt Bentley, Coltin Everingham, Dan Archibald, Ross Evans, Mike Weeda, Stan Coe, Johnny Morrison, Chris Howse, Cayden Lapcevich and Randy Rusnell. Lane Zardo would start 14^th as last week’s feature winner, followed by Paul Geniole Jr. and Adam Martin. Tyler Liscum drew 15^th starting spot, though failed to start the feature due to over-heating issues.

When the green flag flew, Tooley would jump out to the early lead ahead of Cashmore while Everingham, Archibald and Evans ran three-wide for third. Everingham would fall to fifth as Archibald and Evans continued to battle. They’d continue racing each other, while making it three-wide with Cashmore for second at lap five. With the speed that Evans and Archibald had, they’d both get by Cashmore and then split Tooley to make it a three-wide battle for the lead at lap six. Tooley would fade back to third while Evans and Archibald continued their battle on lap seven, with Archibald taking the lead in his No. 07 Steve’s Towing and Wix Filters Super Stock on lap eight.

Archibald would begin to stretch his lead a little ahead of Evans, Weeda, Morrison, Zardo and Rusnell while Tooley and Cashmore battled for seventh at lap 10. Lapecevich would begin his charge, moving into seventh past them both on lap 11 as Cashmore now ran eighth with Tooley in ninth.

At lap 15, Archibald and Evans still held down the top-two spots as Zardo moved into third with Rusnell in toe, kicking Weeda back to fifth. Lapcevich had continued his charge, running sixth ahead of Morrison while Bentley and Cashmore battled for eighth. Lapcevich would get by Weeda for fifth before the first caution flew at lap 17 for Howse spinning in turn two. Everingham would use the caution as an opportunity to come down pit road for adjustments. With 13 to go, Archibald led Evans, Zardo, Rusnell, Weeda, Lapcevich, Morrison, Bentley, Cashmore, Tooley, Coe, Geniole Jr., Martin and Howse.

The first attempt at a restart brought the second caution as Evans got a bad restart, spinning around. Weeda would get into the right side of Evan’s car, leaving Morrison nowhere to go but into the back of Weeda. Morrison would be done for the night with the front end all bent up; Evans would also pull his car off the track, done for the night. Now heading into the restart, it’d be Archibald with Zardo alongside, followed by Rusnell, Weeda, Lapcevich, Bentley, Cashmore, Tooley, Coe, Geniole Jr., Martin, Howse and Everingham.

The second attempt at a restart went much smoother with Zardo taking the lead in his No. 46 Royal Purple, Holmes Foundation, Wolf Janitorial, National Exhaust, and Better Contracting Monte Carlo ahead of Archibald and Rusnell, when the caution flew once again for Cashmore and Coe getting together. With 12 laps to go, Zardo would restart as the leader ahead of Archibald, Rusnell, Lapcevich, Weeda, Bentley, Tooley, Geniole Jr., Howse, Martin, Coe, Cashmore and Everingham.

Zardo would get a good restart, escaping with the lead as Rusnell got alongside Archibald for second. The pair went into turn one consumed with each other battling for the spot, leaving the high-side open for Lapcevich to sneak by them both and take the second spot. Rusnell would clear Archibald down the backstretch, getting alongside Lapcevich for second at lap 19. The pair battled side-by-side for second till the caution at lap 24 for Howse going around. With seven laps to go, Zardo led Lapcevich, Rusnell, Archibald, Weeda, Geniole Jr., Bentley, Coe, Tooley, Cashmore, Martin, Everingham and Howse.

Once the green-flag flew, the battle kicked off between Zardo and Lapcevich as they raced each other side-by-side for the next four laps for the lead, getting the crowd on their feet as they took in the action.

Cayden Lapcevich would clear Zardo with two laps to go and held on to complete the hat trick in his No. 76 Tim Hortons, Troy Cove Marine and Springers Meats Toyota. It marks the second straight week that a driver has pulled off the hat trick as Zardo accomplished the feat last week.

Lane Zardo would finish second, followed by Randy Rusnell, Dan Archibald, Paul Geniole Jr., Mike Weeda, Stan Coe, Matt Bentley, Steve Cashmore, Nick Tooley, Adam Martin, Paul Howse and Coltin Everingham.