 By Adam Ross - GRIMSBY, ON – Jeff Lapcevich capped off his 2011 race season with a ninth place finish in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Kawartha 250 Saturday night. The team fought handling issues on the Tim Hortons-sponsored Dodge throughout the practice session, but by race time the car was much faster.
“We’ll take a ninth place finish after the day we had,” said Lapcevich. “We chased the handling of the car, and I think we finally got it right for the race.”
Lapcevich qualified just outside the top 10 to start the race, and he was able to move forward in the early laps. Contact on the race track forced the team to adjust its strategy, and Lapcevich had to make numerous additional pit stops.
“We tore up the body on the car in a couple of different mishaps,” said Lapcevich. “Once we had to make extra pit stops it was tough moving up from the back.”
Lapcevich managed to fight through traffic to battle into the top 10 again, but he couldn’t get any further than ninth at the finish.
“Today’s race is pretty indicative of our season,” said Lapcevich. “We fought to get the car right, and then circumstances outside of our control caused problems.
“The team didn’t give up, and I’m pleased with the effort we put out. We were fast nearly everywhere we went this season.”
Fastline Motorsports hired veteran crew chief Tim Ellas to prepare the Tim Hortons Dodges, and the decision was proven right with speed on the tracks.
“We worked well with Tim this year,” said Lapcevich. “He made a big difference on the team, and I’m excited to get ready for next season.”
Jeff will now focus on his boys’ racing efforts with the team’s quarter midgets. Sons Cayden and Treyten race year round throughout North America.
For more information on Jeff Lapcevich and his team Fastline Motorsports visit www.LapcevichRacing.com.
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