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It appeared that the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus would prevent any racing in Ontario during the 2020 season.
However, Track Management at Jukasa Motor Speedway, Flamboro Speedway and Sauble Speedway, along with APC Series
Officials, were able to work with all levels of government to make events possible – albeit with a reduced list of events.
The APC United Late Model championship for Pro Late Models was scheduled to conduct ten rounds this year. However, the risk of the Coronavirus infecting participants and fans would require some significant adjustments. The calendar would be reduced to just five races over four weekends. The season would kick-off in early August at Jukasa Motor Speedway with the Dayco 75 presented by Pennzoil. The event was initially slated to include two contests on the same day, but a tire shortage prevented this from happening. The next race, called Stewart’s 100, presented by Quaker State, will be conducted at Sauble Speedway. Round three is hosted by Flamboro Speedway. The race will be sponsored by London Recreational Racing and presented by Shell Rotella. The series returns to Jukasa Motor Speedway for the final weekend of competition. There will be two contests – the Pennzoil presents the Spectra Premium 75 and the Jukasa 75. Due to the government’s limits on social gatherings, none of the events can be attended by fans. However, qualifying and the races can be viewed on Facebook or YouTube at GForce TV.net. The series rules remained unchanged from last season with the cars constructed to specifications and controls 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. To determine the starting order of the race, drivers participate in a qualify session. Positions one to ten are inverted according to points and season attendance is used to establish the final grid. 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. The final weekend of the 2020 APC United Late Model Series was held at Jukasa Motor Speedway. The event would consist of two seventy-five-laps race around the 5/8-mile semi-banked oval. Round four was sponsored by Spectra Premium and presented by Pennzoil. The finale received backing from Qwickwick. Saturday’s first race was scheduled to start at 5:10 pm. After the contest, the cars were impounded until the 8:00 pm finale, with teams allowed to make minimal adjustments. In between the final two rounds, races were held for the Knightworks Design OSCAAR Hot Rods, McColl Racing Enterprises Super Stock Series and OSCAAR Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC Modifieds.
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A field of thirty-one APC United Late Model Series enters corner four at Jukasa Motor Speedway for the penultimate round of the championship. On the pole is the fifth-fastest qualifier, Gary Adriaensen, in the No. 55 London Drive Systems sponsored Chevrolet SS. Sharing the front row with Adriaensen is the No. 52 Pride Seed / Vibrant Farms Ford Fusion of Jake Sheridan, who qualified ninth fastest. |
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On Saturday evening at Jukasa Motor Speedway, Jo Lawrence kept the APC series streak alive – six different champions in as many years. Lawrence entered the finale with two victories and led the title chase by a single point. Driving the No. 78 APC / Pennzoil sponsored Chevrolet Camaro, last year’s Rookie champion swept the weekend. He was third fastest in practice, but qualified on the pole and won both races. |
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The series 2017 champion, Brandon Watson, drove the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro. With two rounds remaining, Watson trailed the point’s leader, Jo Lawrence, by one-marker. Watson had one win and two runner-up finishes. He gave notice early by setting the quickest time in practice. Watson moved to the lead in race one but could not hold off Jo Lawrence. In the finale, a flat tire resulted in a seventh-place finish. |
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Pete Shepherd earned fifth and seventh-place finishes in the first two rounds of the APC series. By the time the championship visited Sunset, Shepherd and his crew were coming to grips with the No. 22 APC Chevrolet Camaro – he finished third. If the two main combatants for the title faltered, he could capture the title. But that was not the case; Shepherd scored third and second-place finishes during the final weekend. |
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In round one at Jukasa Motor Speedway, Gary Adriaensen finished twentieth. Driving the No. 55 London Drive Systems sponsored Chevrolet SS, he started the penultimate race of 2020 on the pole. Taking advantage of his good fortune, Adriaensen led laps-4 to 29 and had his best result of the year – seventh place. After the inversion, he was gridded ninth for the finale and finished in the fourth position. |
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The top-three finishers for the penultimate round of the 2020 APC United Late Model Series. As luck would have it, these three drivers topped the point standings. In the center is the championship leader and race winner, Jo Lawrence. On the right is the series 2017 titleholder and runner-up finisher, Brandon Watson. The final position is occupied by the third-place finisher, Pete Shepherd. |
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The pace lap for the final round of the 2020 APC United Late Model Series. The top-15 finishers from the first race of the weekend were inverted for the finale. Starting on the pole was the No. 93 Chevrolet of Carson Nagy. Beside Nagy was Patrick Freel in the No. 18 Chevrolet SS. Freel would lead the first seven-laps before finishing in the fourteenth spot. Nagy would drop down the order at the start and finish twenty-second. |
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There were five drivers with a mathematical chance of securing the 2020 APC title. However, they would have to rely on the misfortune of the points leaders. One of the five competitors was Treyton Lapcevich, who trailed Jo Lawrence by twenty-two markers. Although Lapcevich, driving the No. 32 Ace Services Toyota Camry, started sixth for round four, he would not be a factor and collected eighth and nineteenth place finishes. |
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The inaugural series champion, Dale Shaw, wasn’t having a banner season but ended on a high note. Shaw managed two top-10 finishes in the final weekend at Jukasa, but did not enter the Sauble event and was twenty-fourth at Sunset Speedway. Driving the No. 83 Wellington Systems Chevrolet, he started eighteenth and finished ninth in round four. In the finale, Shaw moved from seventh to finish in the third spot. |
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Front-runner, Shae Gemmell drove the No. 3 North Country sponsored Chevrolet SS. Gemmell opened the2020 season with a sixth-place finish followed by a third at Sauble Speedway. Unfortunately, in the crash-filled Sunset event, he was twentieth. Gemmell recorded a pair of fifth-place results in the final weekend of competition, which bumped him to fourth in the final championship standings. |
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The final competitor with a mathematical chance of securing a second title was the defending champion, Matt Pritiko. Pritiko opened 2020 with a third-place result and always finished in the top-10. The driver of the No. 21 Global Warranty Toyota Camry was twenty-five points out of the top spot. He started round four in fifth but finished tenth. Pritiko’s season ended with a hard hit on lap-66 of the finale. |
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The final podium of the season for the 2020 APC United Late Model Series. In the center is the newly crowned champion and race winner, Jo Lawrence. Lawrence’s run to the crown included a very impressive four victories in five starts with his worst result being a second-place finish. Standing on the left is the runner-up, Peter Shepherd, who would finish third in the standings. In the final position is Dale Shaw. |
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| FINISH | START | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Jo Lawrence | Pennzoil / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 2 | 8 | Brandon Watson | Shear Metal Products / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 3 | 7 | Pete Shepherd III | APC Auto Parts Centres / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 4 | 10 | JR Fitzpatrick | Cambridge Rigging/Equipment Express / Chevrolet | - |
| 5 | 4 | Shae Gremmell | North Country Property / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 6 | 14 | Darrell Lake | Custom Fluid Power / Ford Mustang | - |
| 7 | 2 | Gary Adriaensen | London Drive Systems / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 8 | 1 | Jake Sheridan | Pride Seed/Vibrant Farms / Chevrolet | - |
| 9 | 18 | Dale Shaw | Wellington Systems / Chevrolet | - |
| 10 | 5 | Matt Pritiko | Global Warranty / Toyota Camry | - |
| 11 | 12 | DJ Kennington | Castrol Edge / Dodge | - |
| 12 | 16 | Lane Zardo | KRM Medweld / Ford Mustang | - |
| 13 | 25 | Shawn Chenoweth | London Recreation Racing / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 14 | 22 | Patrick Freel | Air Liquide London / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 15 | 17 | Carson Nagy | Queenston Chevrolet / Chevrolet | - |
| 16 | 26 | Shawn McGlynn | Latem Industries / Chevrolet | - |
| 17 | 19 | Piper Adams | Big Box Mobile / Chevrolet | - |
| 18 | 23 | Andrew Gresel | Gallinger Ford Lincoln / Ford Mustang | - |
| 19 | 6 | Treyten Lapcevich | ACE Services / Toyota Camry | - |
| 20 | 31 | Steve Arrand | Arrand Insurance Specialist / Chevrolet | - |
| 21 | 15 | Mat Box | Maple City Tire / Ford Fusion | - |
| 22 | 11 | Ryan Kimball | SMG Motorsports/APX Racewear / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 23 | 29 | Tyler Di Venanzo | Retail Design Group / Chevrolet | - |
| 24 | 24 | Eric Dalla Riva | SDR Seating/Shaw Chassis / Chevrolet | - |
| 25 | 21 | Danny Benedict | Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 26 | 28 | Tom Gibbons | Tom Gibbons Concrete Finishing / Chevrolet | - |
| 27 | 30 | Jason Lidster | Southwinds Roofing / Toyota Camry | - |
| 28 | 3 | Josh Stade | Tiremaster/MEI Paving / Toyota Camry | Did Not Finish |
| 29 | 20 | Hudson Nagy | Northern Performance / Chevrolet | Did Not Finish |
| 30 | 13 | Shane Maginnis | Frenbrook Homes / Chevrolet Camaro | Did Not Finish |
| 31 | 27 | Ray Morneau | Xpress Group/Hallmark Memorial / Chevrolet SS | Did Not Finish |
| FINISH | START | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Jo Lawrence | Pennzoil / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 2 | 13 | Pete Shepherd III | APC Auto Parts Centres / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 3 | 7 | Dale Shaw | Wellington Systems / Chevrolet | - |
| 4 | 9 | Gary Adriaensen | London Drive Systems / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 5 | 1 | Shae Gremmell | North Country Property / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 6 | 5 | DJ Kennington | Castrol Edge / Dodge | - |
| 7 | 14 | Brandon Watson | Shear Metal Products / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 8 | 19 | Treyten Lapcevich | ACE Services / Toyota Camry | - |
| 9 | 8 | Jake Sheridan | Pride Seed/Vibrant Farms / Chevrolet | - |
| 10 | 3 | Shawn Chenoweth | London Recreation Racing / Chevrolet Camaro | - |
| 11 | 22 | Ryan Kimball | SMG Motorsports/APX Racewear / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 12 | 12 | JR Fitzpatrick | Cambridge Rigging/Equipment Express / Chevrolet | - |
| 13 | 23 | Tyler Di Venanzo | Retail Design Group / Chevrolet | - |
| 14 | 2 | Patrick Freel | Air Liquide London / Chevrolet SS | - |
| 15 | 4 | Lane Zardo | KRM Medweld / Ford Mustang | - |
| 16 | 24 | Eric Dalla Riva | SDR Seating/Shaw Chassis / Chevrolet | - |
| 17 | 20 | Steve Arrand | Arrand Insurance Specialist / Chevrolet | - |
| 18 | 10 | Darrell Lake | Custom Fluid Power / Ford Mustang | - |
| 19 | 26 | Tom Gibbons | Tom Gibbons Concrete Finishing / Chevrolet | - |
| 20 | 16 | Shawn McGlynn | Latem Industries / Chevrolet | - |
| 21 | 6 | Matt Pritiko | Global Warranty / Toyota Camry | - |
| 22 | 1 | Carson Nagy | Queenston Chevrolet / Chevrolet | Did Not Finish |
| 23 | 25 | Danny Benedict | Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet SS | Did Not Finish |
| 24 | 29 | Hudson Nagy | Northern Performance / Chevrolet | Did Not Finish |
| 25 | 17 | Piper Adams | Big Box Mobile / Chevrolet | Did Not Finish |
| 26 | 27 | Jason Lidster | Southwinds Roofing / Toyota Camry | Did Not Finish |
| 27 | 21 | Mat Box | Maple City Tire / Chevrolet | Did Not Finish |
| 28 | 18 | Andrew Gresel | Gallinger Ford Lincoln / Ford Mustang | Did Not Finish |
| - | - | Ray Morneau | Xpress Group/Hallmark Memorial / Chevrolet SS | Did Not Start |
| - | - | Shane Maginnis | Frenbrook Homes / Chevrolet Camaro | Did Not Start |
| - | - | Josh Stade | Tiremaster/MEI Paving / Toyota Camry | Did Not Start |
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