J.R. FITZPATRICK’S ENCORE

Maturing Racer Wins Second Apc Title

Story by Bryce Turner

Witha re-kindled love for racing, J.R. Fitzpatrick ended 2022 with his second career APC Series championship. Fitzpatrick started the year with a fourth-place finish at Sunset Speedway, before grabbing three straight wins, at Flamboro, Peterborough and Delaware speedways. He considers Flamboro to be his home track and wasn’t too surprised about his first two victories, but he didn’t see the Delaware win coming, after surviving a late-race crash right behind him.

“When you win one you think ‘that’s good, I stayed out of all the trouble, had a good car,’” said Fitzpatrick. “Then you win the second and you’re like ‘oh, maybe we got lucky,’ then the third, you’re like ‘holy crap, we’re really on a roll.’”

Fitzpatrick gained a reputation for being an overly-aggressive driver early in his career, when he raced in CASCAR and the NASCAR Pinty’s Series (NPS), but his 2022 season saw more of a balance between aggression and patience.

The Cambridge, ON driver decided to start racing more conservatively after his early season success, to avoid putting himself in a bad spot in the championship battle. But after a fourth-place at Flamboro, that mindset changed with a rough day at the beach.

Fitzpatrick was battling with race leader Ryan Kimball at Sauble Speedway when he made contact with the left-rear of Kimball’s car, sending Kimball spinning. The series penalized Fitzpatrick by sending him to the rear; the driver battling back to finish tenth. Fitzpatrick felt that the conservative driving style ended up hurting him in that race, so the pressure was on for the next event, at Sunset.

“We went to Sunset on full attack-mode and, sure enough, we won that,” said Fitzpatrick. “Then we went back to Sauble and all we had to do was keep (Kyle Steckly) in front of us or behind us…sure enough, we go to Sauble, and the exact same situation happened to him that happened to me.”

Fitzpatrick finished third at Sauble, while Steckly made contact with another driver and finished 11th. That gave Fitzpatrick a comfortable points cushion entering the finale, at Delaware, where a blistered tire caused some stress as the laps wound down.

He started eighth and ran inside the top-five for most of the race before dealing with vibrations, which felt like a flat tire.

“The wheel was shaking so bad and I started thinking about everything,” said Fitzpatrick. “I started counting down myself, how many laps to go, and it takes forever when you’re waiting. I knew, with one to go, Kyle was one or two (spots) in front of me and I knew we would be fine, even if the tire did blow out, I could’ve made it still.”

By moving over every time that another driver got close, Fitzpatrick nursed the car home in seventh-place, good enough to clinch the title. The accomplishment was even more special after a rough 2021 season.

“Last year, with the season I had, I fell out of love for racing,” said Fitzpatrick. “I was frustrated, I felt like maybe I lost my passion for the sport a little bit, spending all the money and the time and just having no result, so it definitely affected me quite a bit.”

Thanks to the help of Taylor Holdaway, the spark was re-ignited in Fitzpatrick.

“When (Holdaway) called me to give feedback on his program, it really brought my spirit and passion back to life for racing because I just had a ton of fun and he was a great guy to be with,” said Fitzpatrick. “It just reminded me of what racing’s all about. It’s a community, it’s a family and it was all worth it; I’m really glad I came back.”

Fitzpatrick says he’ll defend his title in the APC Series next season, while he also hopes to do some road racing. He added that he’s always trying to find his way back into an NPS car. IT