Cayden Lapcevich only intended to run a handful of races this year and see what happened.
What has happened is the 16-year-old from Grimsby, Ontario, has produced a dream season.
The good times continued Saturday night, as Lapcevich chased down Jason Hathaway in the closing laps to claim the Bumper To Bumper 300 at Riverside International Speedway. It was the second win of the season and left Lapcevich with the NASCAR Pinty’s Series championship points lead with three races remaining.
Lapcevich’s No. 76 Fastline Motorsports Dodge led the final 11 laps after starting ninth. The teen has a top 10 in all nine races this season, and has two wins, two seconds and a third in the five races on ovals.
Lapcevich leads Andrew Ranger by 12 points after Ranger finished 14th.
LP Dumoulin also got past Hathaway in the final laps to take second, while Hathaway came home third. Donald Chisholm, who won the E3 Spark Plugs Pole Award earlier in the day, finished fourth and Dwayne Baker rounded out the top five.
Adam Martin was sixth, followed by Mark Dilley, DJ Kennington, Alex Tagliani and Kevin Lacroix.
Ranger started 14th and worked his way to the front. But contact on Lap 130 while going three-wide with Hathaway and Dumoulin for a top-five spot resulted in a flat tire and he was penalized for intentionally bringing out the caution. He would continue to run into struggles all night and finished 61 laps down.
Similarly, Tagliani was the victim of misfortune after leading a race-high xx laps. He suffered damage while leading after getting hit by the spinning car of Dilley, after the lapped cars of Dilley and Alex Labbe tangled on Lap 230. Tagliani is third in the championship race, 32 points out of the lead.
The Bumper To Bumper 300 will air on TSN on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 12:30 p.m., and on RDS2 on Friday, Sept. 16 at 8:30 p.m.
The NASCAR Pinty’s Series returns to the track Sunday, Sept. 4 for the Can-Am 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
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NASCAR Pinty’s Series-Bumper to Bumper 300 Results
At Riverside International Speedway
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Lap length: 0.333 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (9) Cayden Lapcevich, Grimsby, Ont., Dodge, 300 laps, 58.899 mph.
2. (4) L.P. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivieres, Que., Dodge, 300.
3. (3) Jason Hathaway, St. Thomas, Ont., Chevrolet, 300.
4. (1) Donald Chisholm, Antigonish, N.S., Ford, 300.
5. (13) Dwayne Baker, Barrie, Ont., Dodge, 297.
6. (15) Adam Martin, Ayr, Ont., Ford, 296.
7. (7) Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ont., Ford, 296.
8. (5) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 296.
9. (6) Alex Tagliani, Lachenaie, Que., Chevrolet, 295.
10. (8) Kevin Lacroix, Saint-Eustache, Que., Dodge, 294.
11. (10) Kelly Admiraal, Edmonton, AB, Dodge, 291.
12. (2) Alex Labbe, Victoriaville, Que., Ford, 274.
13. (12) Gary Klutt, Halton Hills, Ont., Dodge, 243, suspension.
14. (14) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Que., Dodge, 239, transmission.
15. (11) Waylon Farrell, Conception Bay South, Nf, Dodge, 223, mechanical.
16. (16) Ian Admiraal, Sherwood Park, Alta., Chevrolet, 53, suspension.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 41 minutes 46 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.358 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: D.Chisholm (82.081 mph, 14.605 seconds)
Caution Flags: 4 for 41 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Chisholm 1-47; D. Kennington 48-59; D. Chisholm 60-65; A. Tagliani 66-138; G. Klutt 139-140; A. Tagliani 141-231; D. Kennington 232-242; J. Hathaway 243-289; C. Lapcevich 290-300.
Standings: 1. C. Lapcevich, 373; 2. A. Ranger, 361; 3. A. Tagliani, 341; 4. L. Dumoulin, 331; 5. K. Lacroix, 329; 6. A. Labbe, 325; 7. D. Kennington, 317; 8. G. Klutt, 297; 9. J. Hathaway, 280; 10. L. Jackson, 217.