ASA Southern Super Series
It's Down to Bubba Pollard, Hunter Robbins for Southern Super Series Championship
Aug 17, 2022
The most dramatic NASCAR Pinty’s Series season in quite some time took a few more dramatic turns in the aftermath of the inaugural event on dirt at Ohsweken Speedway on Tuesday.
First, Treyten Lapcevich won for the second time this season, and did so by outdueling dirt ace Stewart Friesen head-to-head at his home track. After spending a large part of the race respectful battling nose-to-tail, the figurative gloves came off during an overtime finish, with both drivers slamming doors to the checkered flag.
It was an impressive statement from the 18-year-old in defeating a Truck Series regular with both World of Outlaws and Super DIRTcar victories at Ohsweken to his resume.
"All those restarts, I was getting a little nervous, It’s not easy having Stewart Friesen on your heels," Lapcevich said. " So, just drove it for all I had, and we came up number one."
Friesen respected the effort from the youngster.
He did everything he needed to do and probably a little bit more," said Friesen, who was racing as a teammate to Lapcevich at 22 Racing on Tuesday night. "It is what it is. I knew if I could just control his exit a little bit off of two and off of four we could inch ahead. And we were (ahead) and he crossed me up and it was what it was. Wild finish."
The race was a crash fest of sorts, with race director Chris Wright choosing to keep his finger off the caution button, even as the leaders barreled down on a spun car stopped in the middle of the corners. There were that many spins though.
Up front, the likes of Lapcevich, Friesen, DJ Kennington, MA Camirand and local racer Jake Sheridan in his Pinty’s debut kept things clean.
The race also featured another chapter in a potentially brewing feud between Gary Klutt and Kevin Lacroix as the two came together on several occasions Tuesday night following their famous finish at Mosport in May.
By virtue of their fourth and sixth place finishes, Camirand and Kennington left The Big O in a championship tie with three races remaining at Circuit ICAR, Mosport and Delaware Speedway respectively.
But that wasn’t the only significant championship development. More on that after the results.
- Treyten Lapcevich
- Stewart Friesen
- Jake Sheridan
- Marc-Antoine Camirand
- Alex Tagliani
- DJ Kennington
- Andrew Ranger
- Ken Schrader
- Gary Klutt
- Brandon Watson
- Kevin Lacroix
- Dave Bailey
- Aaron Turkey
- Larry Jackson
- Sam Fellows
- Dexter Stacey
- Bryan Cathcart
- LP Dumoulin
- Michael Goudie
- Wallace Stacey
- Raphael Lessard
- Trevor Monaghan
- Glenn Styres
- JP Bergeron
A major points shakeup occurred the morning after the race as Alex Tagliani won an appeal an against a NASCAR penalty for an incident between himself and Brandon Watson on July 23 at Edmonton International Raceway.
Tagliani appeared to retaliate against Watson for an incident between them earlier in the race. That previous incident damaged the 22 Racing entry driven by Tagliani but he limped it around the race track until the final laps -- connecting with Watson who was running inside the top-five.
NASCAR docked Tagliani 12 points for intentionally damaging a competitor’s vehicle. The appeal was heard on Wednesday and Tagliani won.
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The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered an appeal of a behavioral penalty issued on July 26, 2022 to driver Alex Tagliani.
The penalty concerns the following sections in the 2022 NASCAR Rule Book: Section 12.8.1 Member Conduct Guidelines C-4. The penalty was a loss of 12 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Championship Driver points and probation through Dec. 31, 2022.
Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:
1. That the Appellants did not violate the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.
2. That the Panel rescinds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR.
The Appeals Panel members for this hearing:
- Mr. Tom DeLoach
- Ms. Cathy Rice
- Ms. Shawna Robinson
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Translation: Tagliani gets his 12 points back and he’s suddenly right back in the championship mix going from 20 points behind Camirand to just eight points back with three races left.
1. DJ Kennington
2. MA Camirand
3. Alex Tagliani (-8)
4. Treyten Lapcevich (-20)
5. Kevin Lacroix (-21)
6. Andrew Ranger (-23)
7. LP Dumoulin (-31)
8. Brandon Watson (-32)
8. Gary Klutt (-33)
10. JP Bergeron (-68)
But there is one more potential championship wrinkle.
Camirand was penalized 12 points at Edmonton as well for an unapproved muffler. That penalty is also under appeal. If Camirand and crew chief Robin McCluskey win their case, they would retake a commanding championship lead.
As always, we all await developments in one of the most interesting stock car seasons taking place on the continent this year.
