Story By: ADAM ROSS / OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY – OHSWEKEN, ONT – Treyten Lapcevich will make his only NASCAR Canada appearance this year when he tries to defend his victory at Ohsweken Speedway in the series’ only dirt race.
Thunder on the Grand is Ohsweken’s three-day mid-season extravaganza featuring NASCAR Canada, big horsepower sprint cars and flat track motorcycles over three days from Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, July 13th, 2024.
Lapcevich has shown great prowess racing on the clay, and track owner Glenn Styres is backing the Grimsby youngster to show up and wow the fans.
Lapcevich won the inaugural Canadian NASCAR dirt race in 2022 with a late-race pass on Canadian sensation Stewart Friesen. He finished runner-up to NASCAR legend Ken Schrader in his second attempt in 2023, and then he found victory lane again in the second half of last year’s double header.
“Treyten Lapcevich will definitely sell tickets for us when he returns to the Big O,” said speedway General Manager Clinton Geoffrey. “The crowd erupted in 2022 when he beat Friesen to the checkered flag, and our fans know this is their only chance to see him race at home this year.”
Lapcevich executed the most successful season in NASCAR Canada history last year winning more than half of the races on route to his first series championship. He rode that success to a big opportunity in the United States this year.
Lapcevich recently announced he will compete full time for Chad Bryant Racing in the ultra competitive zMax Cars tour racing mostly in the southern United States. The move is his next progression towards racing stardom for the driver yet to celebrate his 20th birthday.
Making his Ohsweken return even more special this year is the announcement that his crew chief for the event will be older brother Cayden Lapcevich. Cayden won the NASCAR Canada championship at just 17 years old before turning his attention to working on race cars rather than driving them.
Lapcevich is crew chief in the ARCA Menards Series for superteam Venturini Motorsports working with popular driver Toni Breidinger. Lapcevich is no stranger to turning wrenches on NASCAR Canada cars as he served as crew chief for Canadian legend Andrew Ranger in recent years.
“We are proud to host a homecoming for the Lapcevich boys,” said Geoffrey. “Any time our locals see success on racing’s biggest stages it is special to have them return to their roots.
“Treyten has plenty of laps here at Ohsweken in both the NASCAR stock cars and our own crate sprint cars racing for Glenn Styres Racing.”
This year’s NASCAR Canada portion of Thunder on the Grand is packed into one day with practice, qualifying, and the feature event taking place on Thursday, July 11th.