Doug Coby Sends Tommy Baldwin to Riverhead Victory Lane
May 15, 2022
After stalking the leaders for 250 laps, Treyten Lapcevich took advantage of contact during NASCAR Overtime to win the NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250, his first career NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory.
Lapcevich was third on the final restart but shot to the lead when Marc-Antoine Camirand drove leader Raphael Lessard up the track in Turn 1. Lapcevich held off Lessard for the win, much to the approval of his home track crowd.
“Those last two laps were wild,” Lapcevich said in Victory Lane. “Marc got into him in (Turns) 1 and 2, I just had to take advantage and then keep Raphael behind me. It feels great to finally put this RGC Sports / Qwick Wick / FBM No. 20 in Victory Lane. I came close so many times last year, but this one was just meant to be.”
Prior to the late action, Camirand had put on a speed clinic, dominating much of the race. He tracked down E3 Spark Plugs Pole sitter Brandon Watson on Lap 39 and led 203 of the next 206 laps. The only thing that seemed to slow him down were cautions.
“The first halfof the race was really good for us,” Camirand said. “With 15 or 20 to go, the car started getting loose and Raphael started catching me a little bit. When the yellow came out, I knew I could be in trouble, and he got a good restart.”
Camirand held the inside lane for the first four restarts, hooking his car to the bottom of the track each time. Both Lapcevich and Lessard tested Camirand from the outside, hanging side by side for several laps before Camirand’s No. 96 GM Paille Chevrolet would pull away.
The race changed after a Wallace Stacey spin on Lap 237. Lessard was able to wrestle the lead away on Lap 245 and seemed on his way to Victory Lane until a Sam Fellows spin set up the Overtime finish.
Lessard restarted on the inside for the first time but couldn’t make it out of Turn 1 unscathed. In a desperate move, Camirand dove to the bottom of the track but ended up with his car’s nose in the driver’s side door of Lessard’s No. 8 Transit / Fast Eddie / RJ Investissement Chevrolet.
“Second place sucks,” Lessard half-joked after the disappointing finish. “The second half of the race, I was just trying to keep the pressure on Camirand because he was the class of the field. At the end, I thought I made a clean pass on him, but he just dive-bombed me really hard in Turn 1.”
Watson led a career-high 38 laps but spun on Lap 53 dropping to the back of the field. But the two-time APC champion put on quite a show racing his way back into the top three. Watson’s car seemed to be sliding through the turns, showing off the Stayner, Ontario native’s aggressiveness and car control.
Only five cars finished on the lead lap, with Watson, Camirand and Kevin Lacroix finishing behind Lapcevich and Lessard. Gary Klutt finished sixth followed by Alex Tagliani, J.P. Bergeron, L.P. Dumoulin and Mark Dilley. The NASCAR Pinty’s Series heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) next for the Ebay Motors 200 on Sunday, May 22.
NASCAR Pinty's Series
Sunset Speedway
May 14 2022
- Treyten Lapcevich
- Raphael Lessard
- Brandon Watson
- Marc-Antoine Camirand
- Kevin Lacroix
- Gary Klutt
- Alex Tagliani
- JP Bergeron
- LP Dumoulin
- Mark Dilley
- DJ Kennington
- Andrew Ranger
- Sam Fellows
- Bryan Cathcart
- T.J. Rinomato
- Wallace Stacey
- Larry Jackson
- Dexter Stacey
- Glenn Styres
- Brett Taylor
