Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
He’s a winner of the Velocity 250. He’s a winner of the Spring Velocity. He’s won the Garry Reynolds Memorial and Frostoberfest. For 2015 Sunset Speedway Champion Cayden Lapcevich, he was only missing one race of the crown jewels entering the weekend.
Now as he leaves Peterborough Speedway, he has completed the list as he won the Autumn Colours Classic feature with a cross-over pass on Matt Bentley.
RELATED: Friday/Saturday Qualifying Recap
When the feature started, it’d be Cayden Lapcevich and Matt Bentley starting on the front row virtue of their 1-2 finish at the Chase for the Colours event. With qualifying complete over Friday and Saturday, Randy Rusnell would start third ahead of Fedele DiBello, Joe Adams, Ken Grubb, Donny Beatty, Coltin Everingham, Ken McNicol, Shawn Arnott, Todd Davenport, Howie Crowe, Adam Misener, Jade Franklin, Luke Gignac, Rob Richards, Steve Adams, Dan Archibald and Tom Podd.
Lapcevich would take the early lead ahead of Bentley, Rusnell, Adams, Grubb, Beatty, McNicol and Davenport. Grubb would get alongside Adams for fourth on lap four, but was unable to complete the pass.
The caution would then fly on lap nine for a piece of debris laying on the track that fell off of Franklin’s car after he made contact with someone. With 41 laps to go, Lapcevich led Bentley, Rusnell, Adams, Grubb, McNicol, Arnott, Davenport, Beatty, DiBello and Everingham.
Lapcevich would get a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Bentley and Rusnell while Penny and Arnott would take separate trips down pit road in the span of a lap. Franklin would then go for the spin at lap 15, with no yellow flown.
Things would then get interesting at the front of the field through lap traffic as Chris McDonald would hold up Lapcevich, which allowed Bentley to get by him for the lead at lap 17. The caution would then fly three laps later as DiBello and Archibald would collide in turn three and four, ending both of their days.
“Great car, just getting better and better,” Archibald commented afterwards. “Every time I come here, it seems to be that car that wrecks me. You got a guy that wants to drive like a meatball.”
With 30 laps to go, Bentley led Lapcevich, Rusnell, Grubb, Davenport, McNicol, Josh Maitland, Beatty, Arnott, Adams, Misener, Crowe, Liscum, Adams, Everingham, Franklin and Richards.
Bentley would get a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Lapcevich as Adams worked his way back to the front runners over the course of the run. The caution would then fly on lap 30, though, as McDonald stopped on the frontstretch. Franklin would then head down pit road, done for the event. With 30 laps to go, Bentley led Lapcevich, Rusnell, Adams, Grubb, McNicol, Davenport and Beatty.
“We were pouring oil all over so motor is probably done,” Greg Franklin, Jade’s dad and crew chief said. “Very disappointed but that’s racing. Nothing much you can do about that.”
Bentley would get a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Lapcevich while Crowe headed down pit road at lap 33. The caution would then fly five laps later for Beatty spinning in turn two. With 12 laps to go, Bentley led Lapcevich, Rusnell, Grubb, Joe Adams, McNicol, Davenport, Everingham, Gignac, Billy Zardo, Misener, Steve Adams and Maitland.
The first attempt at a restart would see Bentley jump the start. The second attempt went cleaner, but the caution would fly a lap later as McDonald would spin in turn one. The restart would bring forth a battle for the lead, with Lapcevich pulling the crossover move down the backstretch to take the lead ahead of Bentley. The caution would then fly at lap 44, though, as McDonald and Podd would spin in turn one.
The restart would come a lap later as the cautions were counted, with a pair of cars going around on the backstretch – no caution flown, though.
Cayden Lapcevich would then lead the rest of the way to score the victory ahead of Matt Bentley, Randy Rusnell, Ken Grubb, Ken McNicol, Todd Davenport, Luke Gignac, Coltin Everingham, Billy Zardo, Adam Misener, Donny Beatty, Kevin Gallant, Rob Richards, Tom Podd and Josh Maitland.
