2019 Sunset Speedway

The APC United Late Model championship for Pro Late Models debuted in 2015. As evidenced by its growth, the Ontario series has proven to be very popular with competitors and fans.

The 2019 season kicks off on the Victoria Day Weekend at Sunset International Speedway. In June the teams will make their way to Flamboro Speedway, Jukasa Motor Speedway and Delaware Speedway. The following month the series will make a second visit to Flamboro. The championship will also return to Jukasa but the race is being held on a Thursday evening. In early August, the drivers and their crews will visit Sauble Speedway for races on Friday and Sunday. The month will end with another visit to Sunset for the penultimate round. The finale will take place at Delaware Speedway.

The series cars are constructed to specifications and rules common to most stock car series. The chassis is a tube frame covered with fiberglass bodies. Depending on the engine choice, a car can weigh as much as 2800-lbs. Crate motors from General Motors (GM 604 & GM 602) and Ford (347) are used in the series. To regulate expenses, competitors use a spec tire from American Racer and Bilstein A2 shock absorbers. There are also rules which restrict the options available for transmissions, ignition components, body material, brakes, etc.

Cars that qualify in positions one to ten are inverted according to points and season attendance. Before each race, the cars are fitted with a new set of American Racer tires, receive a technical inspection and are impounded until the start of the event.

Round nine of the APC season would take place on the 0.333-mile oval at Sunset Speedway. Competitors would race for one-hundred-laps in the AP 100 presented by Pennzoil. The first caution came out on lap-8 but the remainder of the race would run without an incident.

The pace lap at Sunset Speedway for the penultimate round of the APC United Late Model championship. Starting on the pole is Jordan Sims in the Sims Countertops Ford Fusion. Sims scored his first series win at Sunset in May. Sharing the front row with Sims is the 2015 APC titleholder, Jason Shaw driving a Chevrolet prepared by Shaw Motorsports. After the initial caution period, there would be ninety-two-laps of green racing.

The APC series point leader, Matt Pritiko won his third race of the season. Pritiko qualified fourth quickest in the No. 21 Toyota Camry with backing from Global Warranty and started ninth. He chased down the leaders and on lap-69, Pritiko passed Dale Shaw for first place. He would go unchallenged and pull away from the field for the victory. Pritiko heads to Delaware Speedway with a twenty-eight-point lead over Treyten Lapcevich.

At Sunset Speedway, it appeared that the 2015 APC United Racing Series champion, Dale Shaw might get his first victory of the season. Shaw qualified seventh fastest and started on the outside of the front. He passed the pole-sitter, Jordan Sims early in the event, however, Shaw lost the left rear shock absorber. He was no match for the hard-charging, Matt Pritiko and surrendered the lead to finish in second place.

Treyten Lapcevich finished third and after the points were tallied, he was second in the standings. Mathematically, Lapcevich can win the championship but it will be a tall order as he must overcome a deficit of twenty-eights points. To earn the title, Lapcevich will have to score the maximum number of points in the final and Pritiko will have to finish lower than twenty-third and not obtain any bonus points.

Ten drivers participated in the last chance race. The nineteenth fastest qualifier, Tom Gibbons in the Faust Construction sponsored Chevrolet started on the pole. Next to Gibbons is Nick Goetz in the No. 24 Great Lakes Concrete Ford Fusion. Gibbons would lead flag-to-flag and started the feature in twenty-third place - he finished seventeenth. Blair Wickett and Tyler Di Venanzo failed to qualify for the main.

During the final practice session, it became evident to Jake Sheridan and his crew that there was a motor issue with the No. 52 Vibrant Farms Chevrolet. Rather than changing the engine, a new car was entered in the event. In qualifying, Sheridan recorded the twelfth quickest time. The decision ‘paid off’ as he moved through the field. At the checkered flag, Sheridan had advanced eight positions to finish fourth.

Sunset Speedway has been a good track for Jordan Sims this year. The Sault Ste. Marie resident won the season opener at Sunset which was also his first APC victory. Sims was fifth quickest in qualifying and after series officials finalized the grid, he started on the pole. He was unable to hold off Dale Shaw and lost the lead early in the contest. Sims could not maintain the pace of some of the faster cars and finished sixth.

Josh Stade had a great qualifying session at Sunset Speedway. Stade was third on the grid driving the No. 17 Toyota Camry with backing from Tiremaster. However, his good fortune didn’t last long. Just eight laps into the race he was involved in an incident with Shae Gemmell and JR Fitzpatrick. Stade suffered the most damage but after several pit-stops, he was able to continue and salvage a thirteenth-place finish.

Entering the penultimate round, Shae Gemmell was in contention for the 2019 championship. He trailed the points leader, Matt Pritiko, by just five markers. Qualifying did not go as anticipated and Gemmell started sixteenth on the grid. His title aspirations came to an end on lap-8 when he tangled with JR Fitzpatrick and Josh Stade. After numerous visits to the pits, Gemmell would finish in twenty-fifth place.

The top three finishers for round nine of the APC United Late Model championship. In the center is the winner of the AP 100, Matt Pritiko. This was Pritiko’s third victory of the season and gave him a comfortable lead in the title chase with just one race remaining in 2019. To Pritiko’s right is the 2015 APC champion and runner-up finisher, Dale Shaw. Completing the top three is Treyten Lapcevich – now second in the standings.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	RETIREMENTS
1	9	Matt Pritiko	Global Warranty / Toyota Camry	-
2	2	Dale Shaw	Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet	-
3	8	Treyten Lapcevich	ACE Services / Toyota Camry	-
4	12	Jake Sheridan	Pride Seed/Vibrant Farms / Chevrolet	-
5	10	Jordan Howse	Stewart's Equipment / Chevrolet	-
6	1	Jordan Sims	Sims Countertops / Ford	-
7	11	Gord Shepherd	Locking Business Machines / Ford	-
8	5	Danny Benedict	Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet	-
9	17	Shawn McGlynn	Blast Floor Coating / Chevrolet	-
10	19	Billy Schwartzenburg	Spira Fire Protection / Ford Fusion	-
11	4	Andrew Gresel	Gallinger Ford Lincoln / Ford Fusion	-
12	13	Ryan Kimball	AP Racing Engines / Chevrolet	-
13	3	Josh Stade	Tiremaster/MEI Paving / Toyota Camry	-
14	6	Jo Lawrence	McColl Racing Enterprises / Dodge	-
15	15	Junior Farrelly	Tired Iron Equipment Services / Chevrolet	-
16	18	Mat Box	Maple City Tire / Chevrolet	-
17	23	Jade Franklin	Gibbons Concrete Finishing / Chevrolet SS	-
18	14	Lane Zardo	National Exhaust / Chevrolet SS	-
19	20	Shawn Chenoweth	London Recreational Racing / Chevrolet	-
20	7	JR Fitzpatrick	Cambridge Rigging / Ford Mustang	-
21	24	Jamie Cox	London City Chrysler / Dodge	-
22	21	Patrick Freel	Air Liquide London / Chevrolet	-
23	25	Nick Goetz	Great Lakes Concrete / Ford	-
24	22	Hudson Nagy	JUKASA Motor Speedway / Chevrolet	-
25	16	Shae Gemmell	Searles Motor Products Chevrolet / Chevrolet	-
26	26	James Horner	Custom Forming / Chevrolet	-
-	28	Tyler Di Venanzo	Retail Design Group / Chevrolet	Did Not Start
-	29	Blair Wickett	Cambridge Auto Repair / Chevrolet	Did Not Start