CANUCKS AT SPEEDWEEKS: CAYDEN LAPCEVICH

Canadian NASCAR champion transitions to the role of ARCA crew chief

Sometimes the best opportunities are unexpected; for Cayden Lapcevich, that opportunity advanced his career ahead of the ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Lapcevich – a former NASCAR Pinty’s Series champion – approached Venturini Motorsports during the off-season, looking for a road mechanic or car chief role, after a friend told him to contact the team.

He was brought in for a second interview but was not offered either job – instead, he was asked to become a crew chief.

When Lapcevich joined Venturini at the start of January, he already had some relevant experience for the new role. The former championship-winning driver served as crew chief in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series last season and in marquee events, such as the Snowball Derby and All American 400. Still, the move to ARCA provided a challenge for the 23-year-old.

After just a week and a half to prepare for a test at Daytona, he shifted focus to intermediate and short track cars; as he worked away, he didn’t realize that February 18 was fast approaching.

“You get about a week out from Daytona and you’re like ‘oh crap, it’s here,’” said Lapcevich. “You turn your focus back to your speedway car for the week, but it snuck up on me pretty quick…I just needed to manage my time better and be more prepared.”

The race itself focused primarily on fuel mileage decisions for Lapcevich. He finished 23rd, with driver Toni Breidinger, where being at Daytona was not lost on him.

“You roll through the tunnel and there’s campers everywhere…it was a pretty surreal moment, you just didn’t want to blink,” said Lapcevich. “Once that race started, it was kind of surreal to just be sitting up there, on top of the pit box, with all my resources in front of me.”

Arca Resources A Plus

One of the key differences for Lapcevich is those resources. With ARCA considered one of the top feeder series to NASCAR’s three national divisions, it has the advantage of extra resources compared to other regional NASCAR tours, such as the Pinty’s Series. Lapcevich says that manufacturer support is a huge tool that’s now at his disposal.

“(Venturini) has full backing from Toyota, so we have sim time and a little bit of wind tunnel time and if Toyota offers it, we have use to it basically,” he said. “With Toyota, they’re constantly updating us on stuff they find on Xfinity Series cars and stuff like that. Being able to use my resources and kind of having an open door to them has been really cool so far.”

Lapcevich also gives credit to his fellow crew chiefs at Venturini, who he says are really smart and experienced and are good people to lay back on.

A big focus for Lapcevich this season will be keeping up with his primary workload, though he still plans to have a busy schedule. He says that he’ll run a few modified races in the U.S., while potentially being a crew chief for other events.

“I’m trying to take every opportunity I can to both drive and crew chief,” said Lapcevich. “I feel like the more I can be at the race track, the better it makes me, so I’m trying to keep all my weekends scheduled and not have an off weekend.”

While funding prevented his driving career from progressing further through the ranks, Lapcevich hopes to work his way up the ladder to the Cup Series, as a crew chief, similar to fellow Canadian Cole Pearn. Pearn raced against Cayden’s dad Jeff in CASCAR before ultimately becoming a crew chief for Furniture Row Racing.

“This ARCA deal has kind of been one of those where I feel like it’s a bit more than what I was ready for,” said Lapcevich. “But I’ve never turned down an opportunity where it was going to challenge me to work hard. I’m using my resources as much as I can, I’m always taking notes and learning.”

While he acknowledges that Pearn’s engineering degree may have made him more prepared in his Cup Series journey, Lapcevich hopes that his on-the-job experience will give him what he needs to succeed.

“I’ve never turned down a challenge and I’m open to learning and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it,” he concluded. IT