AVONDALE, N.L. — Treyten Lapcevich sailed away with his third win of the season at Eastbound International Speedway in a spectacular 250-lap event.
Out of the first four events of the year, Lapcevich has an average finish of 1.25 and has led a total of 590 laps, 69 of which came during the Pro-Line 250.
“We had to earn that one, that’s for sure,” Lapcevich said. “We never stopped adjusting, came down during one caution, and made a lot of adjustments at the break too.”
The only race that Lapcevich has not won this season was the previous race at Autodrome Chaudiere, which was won by defending champion Marc-Antoine Camirand.
“We had to serve a penalty because I jumped the initial start,” said Camirand, after finishing second. “We made an adjustment at the halfway break, and then the car was a lot better.”
Lapcevich was able to survive a late-race restart with five to go, holding off the No. 96 GM Paillé/Chevrolet Canada Chevrolet of Camirand, who restarted alongside Lapcevich and Alex Labbe in the No. 24 Evirum/Home Hardware Ford.
Labbe, making his first start of the season, subbed for Thomas Nepveu who had a previous racing commitment, finished second, barely beating Camirand to the line.
“We didn’t need that long red flag, I felt like the tires cooled off. It took a little for my stuff to get going,” Labbe said. “But we fought hard, I think I got second place by like 0.005 of a second, it was a big drag race off of four on the last lap.”
J.P. Bergeron, who finished 10th in the No. 1 Prolon Controls/Rousseau Metals Ford, sustained major damage following a crash with the No. 23 Oceanex/Miller Lite/Make-A-Wish/Wing N It Chevrolet of Brandon McFarlane. Both crews made repairs to their cars and were able to continue, but multiple drivers who led laps during the race faced problems.
Pole sitter Donald Theetge in the No. 80 Groupe Theetge Inc/XPN Chevrolet, retired from the race after only 57 laps, marking his second retirement due to rear-end issues in two races. Andrew Ranger, a teammate to Camirand, had several problems throughout the day, including a spin on lap 64, and eventually finished 17.
During the spin, Ranger was able to avoid contact and get the car going in the right direction without the need for the officials to throw a caution. The No. 9 Leland/GMS/RGC/Shear Metal Products Chevrolet of Bandon Watson spun out with 30 to go after leading 33 laps earlier in the day.
Following the spin, the No. 9 ended up leaking fluid on the track causing a long red flag to clean up.
Alex Guenette came home fourth, with Kevin Lacroix in fifth after he led the most laps of the race.
Alex Tagliani, Larry Jackson, L.P. Dumoulin, Dexter Stacey, and J.P. Bergeron rounded out the top-10.