GREAT CANADIAN RACE WEEKEND DELAWARE SPEEDWAY HOSTS THREE-DAY EXTRAVAGANZA
By Bryce Turner he Great Canadian Race Weekend at Delaware Speedway played host to three days of championship celebrations, including finales for two of the top touring series in the country.
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NASCAR PINTY’S SERIES The 250-lap Pinty’s Fall Brawl headlined Sunday action, on September 24, with the NASCAR Pinty’s Series concluding its 14-race season. Treyten Lapcevich entered Delaware in position to clinch the championship at the start-finish line, but still had some work to do in chasing single-season records. “It’s a really nice feeling, knowing that we only have to start the race to win the championship,” said Lapcevich. “But at the end of the day, we want to go for the win…we’ve been able to work on the car throughout these longer events and always be there at the end. Just staying patient again, that’s the game plan.” For defending champion Marc-Antoine Camirand, he entered the finale with more points, wins, podiums, Top-5 finishes, Top-10 finishes, and a better average finish, through 13 races, than he had in the 13 races on last year’s schedule, but was about to finish runner-up in the standings. “I’m happy for (Lapcevich), he deserves it, he works hard,” said Camirand. “We’re not going to win the championship this year, but with the season that we had, I’m really proud of what we did.” Kyle Steckly started on pole, with 22 Racing teammate Lapce-
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vich joining him on the front row. Before the drop of the green flag, Andrew Ranger pulled to the pits with a flat tire, continuing a season worthy of ‘unluckiest driver of the year’ honours. Lapcevich led 15 laps after an early caution, before Steckly took the top spot and drove away. Multiple drivers encountered issues during the green flag run, including L.P. Dumoulin making an unscheduled pit stop and Camirand becoming the race’s first retiree, with an engine issue after 41 laps. Donald Theetge ran towards the front early, before quickly dropping back and nearly being caught by the leader; he was spared by a Lap 54 caution, for Brandon Watson slowing with a flat tire. Steckly continued to lead after a pair of restarts, in dominant fashion, before his race came to an abrupt end, with a mechanical issue on Lap 99. Lapcevich inherited the top spot and led through the mid-race break. The incoming champion was challenged on restarts, but was able to pull away on the long run. Two of his challengers had issues with 86 to go, when Kevin Lacroix got into the back of Theetge in turn one, sending Theetge around. Lacroix was handed a stop-and-go penalty for the incident. Both Theetge and Lacroix worked their way back through the field, while Ranger also found himself back in the mix. D.J. Kennington, who had five wins and a 2.5 average finish in 10 prior Delaware races, found himself in contention as well. But in the end, it was Lapcevich who controlled the lead en route to a record-tying seventh win of the season. “Hated to see Kyle drop out there with the rear-end issues, I know
