Photo Credit: Matthew Murnaghan/NASCAR
Just how good is the racing in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series right now? Try nine lead changes in the final 21 laps at Autodrome Chaudiere last Friday night.
Alex Labbe and Cayden Lapevich went back and forth over the final stretch of laps, both aiming for their first career victory in the series. When the checkered flag flew, it was Labbe picking up the win, 0.331 seconds ahead of Lapcevich.
“It was a pretty intense finish – we didn’t have it easy,” Labbe told OnPitRoad.com. “It was a lot of fun at the end with Cayden Lapcevich. We had a pretty good fight going. It’s really great to win at my home track and I had a lot of fun time there.”
Labbe put his No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa/Cyclops Gear/Lou’s BBQ Ford out front initially, though a bump from Lapcevich’s No. 76 OhswekenSpeedway.com Dodge got him up in the higher groove, setting up the back and forth battle the fans were treated to.
“It was pretty intense,” Labbe commented. “I passed him on the inside initially, and then he gave me the bumper to get me outside and got back inside of me. I was on the outside for the last 25 laps, at least, and it was pretty good. Every time I thought I was clear, he was there again. He gave me a good run at the end. It was good hard racing.”
“I mean, it was definitely pretty intense out there,” Lapcevich told OnPitRoad.com. “He got to the outside and I could’ve squeezed him in the wall there, but I didn’t want to win like that. I think we put on a great show and to come away second like that isn’t bad. I don’t feel like we gave one way. I know we were in great contention for a win, but the battle was awesome. I’d do it all over again.”
For both drivers, it marked a continuation of a strong start to their 2016 campaigns. Lapevich currently leads the standings by six points ahead of Andrew Ranger following a fourth at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
“Like I said earlier, it’s a huge confidence booster to look at the points and see my name at the top of the best in Canada,” Lapcevich commented. “It’s also another thing that’s pushing us to get race-to-race without much of a sponsorship. It’s helping, bringing the attention of potential sponsors to us. Really hoping that I could push forward more and really continue that.”
Meanwhile, Labbe currently sits third in points, eight markers back of Lapcevich.
“We’re pretty happy,” Labbe said. “Our Can-Am Ford is fast every time we go out on track. We qualified on pole at the first race in Mosport and ended up fifth. We were leading with a lap and a half to go, but lost all my visibility so slipped back. We were close to a win down there. Came back to Sunset – qualified second behind Cayden and we were running second, and we had an incident with a slower car that resulted in some damage causing us to finish eight laps down in 15th. It was pretty heartbreaking as we had a fast car.
“We came back this weekend and qualified on pole with a new track record, and led the most laps – the weekend can’t get any better than that.”
Both drivers will now head to Circuit ICAR this weekend, looking for another pair of strong finishes. Labbe has previous experience on the road course, with finishes of sixth (twice), 11th and fourth at ICAR in his four previous starts.
“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “I’ve raced the track a couple times so it’s not a new track to me. I think we’ll be pretty strong there. I’ve had a couple of good runs. We’ve worked on the car, have it rolling way better than last year and improved at Mosport, so I think we’ll be pretty good. I think we’ll be in the top-three in the end.”
Meanwhile, this will mark Lapcevich’s first trip to ICAR in a season where the original schedule only included two of the first three races this season – CTMP and Sunset Speedway – as a result of a lack of sponsorship.
“I’m pretty hoping that we can make ICAR, but at the same time, whatever happens, happens,” Lapcevich said. “I’ve already ran more races in the series than I was supposed to. We didn’t expect to start out this year as good, but ICAR is looking pretty bright right now I’d say.”
