Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
After last year’s thrilling battle for the championship right down to the final feature of the season, all eyes were on the St. Onge Recreation Super Stocks to see whether they could repeat the same magic this season. With three features in the books and some thrilling three-wide racing to date, it seems that we’re on par for that course once again.
Defending Series Champion Cayden Lapcevich has proven very early this season that he is the driver to beat as he has finished each of the three features thus far in the top-three finish for the best average finish with a 1.67. He won the opening night feature, leading flag-to-flag after drawing the spot for the event. He then finished third in the second feature, before returning to victory lane a couple weeks ago. The most recent victory was tougher as he had to come up through the field, before out-dueling Randy Rusnell in the closing laps for the victory.
Interestingly, though, he hasn’t posted a top-five finish in a heat or Dash for Cash event. It seems that Lapcevich has simply mastered getting it done when the most points are on the line over the course of a night.
Going into the season, Lapcevich had stated that he would be unable to chase after the division championship due to his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series commitment. However, re-analyzing the schedule and the rule that allows you to have a driver replace you for a night and score you points, caused Lapcevich to re-evaluate that statement and since commit to the full schedule. Based on his strong start to the season, he’s going to be tough to beat.
However, he can be beat. There are two drivers who have also reached victory lane in feature events thus far this season.
Lane Zardo won the second feature of the season after a thrilling performance, in what looks to be the best feature of the season thus far, that saw him go from the 16th starting spot to the lead with 12 laps to go. Zardo made his way through the field, going three-wide on a couple different occasions to get through the lap traffic. The feature was capped off with a thriller late when Lapcevich made contact with Zardo’s back bumper, while Zardo was battling side-by-side for the lead with Matt Bentley. As a result, both Zardo and Bentley going up the track sliding, with both drivers managing to keep their cars off of the wall and going straight.
Zardo has been solid thus far as well as he boosts the second best average finish of the season thus far with a 3.33 after finishing second, first and seventh in the three features. Zardo looked to have a car to contend for a top-five in the third feature, but an early-race incident set him back deep in the field.
While Lapcevich hasn’t performed in the qualifying races, Zardo has performed in those races. He is one of three drivers to have posted a top-five in both Dash for Cash events, scoring a victory in the first one. He also is one of three drivers with a pair of heat wins, and has finished top-five in each of his three heats to date so far. He also ran the Hoosier Spring Velocity 50-lap invitational mid-month, finishing third.
Matt Bentley is the other feature winner thus far this season, but his win didn’t come on a points night. Instead, Bentley started on the pole for the Spring Velocity and led all 50 laps en route to scoring the victory. He has performed in regular night competition, currently holding down the 3.67 best average finish at a fourth with finishes of sixth, second and third. He has also finished top-five in both Dash for Cash events, scored a Dash for Cash win, scored a pair of heat wins and finished top-five in each of his three heats to date.
Over the past couple of seasons of competition, the Super Stock drivers have seen five or six different drivers reach feature victory lane over the course of a season. So who could become the fourth different feature winner of the season?
Randy Rusnell currently has the fourth best average finish with a 4.67 after finishes of third, ninth and second. He was running top-five in the feature on the second night, but got out of line and fell back, unable to make the spots back up before the checkered flag. Rusnell knows how to win, having picked up a pair of heat victories thus far this year. He has also won the championship at Sunset Speedway twice – 2012 and 2013 – and did so with multiple trips to victory lane over the season.
Adam Martin is searching for his first career win in his sophomore season, and so far, he’s been solid. He has the fifth best average finish thus far with a sixth after finishing eighth, sixth and fourth in the three features. He has also posted a top-five finish in both of his Dash for Cash appearances, and finished top-five in each of his three heats. Based on all early indications, he could be the break-out star of the season.
While a lot of focus is put on the heats and main features, the b-mains sometimes get lost in translation. Both of those races thus far have seen excitement, with two different drivers reaching victory lane. Ryan Semple got his first win of the season on opening night, while Coltin Everingham picked up his first career victory in the second round. Semple started off the season real strong, posting a fourth and a fifth in the first two nights of competition. The third feature didn’t go his way, though, as contact mid-race resulted in a DNF due to a broken suspension part. Meanwhile, Everingham is having a solid third season of competition, with a best finish of 11th on the second night. If he can get the pieces to fall his way one night, he could easily break into the top-10.
With a division that includes a star-studded line-up of over 20 drivers, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the weeks moving forward.
