Jeff Lapcevich updates us on the racing exploits of his son Cayden Lapcevich

I just wanted to let you know what Cayden has been up too. We went to the Motorama event in Harrisburg, PA this past weekend. It is an indoor event that features Motocross, ATV motocross, quarter midget racing, go kart racing, trial bikes, robot wars, show cars, tuner wars, vendors, and more. It's a really cool deal.

(PHOTO IS OF CAYDEN LAPCEVICH AND MIKE LOESCHER AT THE FINISH LINE RACING SCHOOL IN NEW SMYRNA, FLORIDA. CREDIT: JEFF LAPCEVICH)

All in the same building, your $16 ticket allows you to walk from one event to another, all in different arenas, to take in different events. It was a two day show that started early Saturday morning, closed at 11pm, opened at 8am Sunday and went into the early evening.

Anyways, our heat race lineups were by order of pre entry. There were 21 cars in the Jr. Honda class. They were divided into three 7 car heats. Cayden started 6th in the first heat and was shuffled back to last by turn two.

I was a little concerned because at six years old he still gets frustrated by little things but he really surprised me. He took off like Jr. Hanley through a pack of street stockers and was leading the 15 lap race by about the 9th or 10th lap.

There was a caution with three to go and after it went green he opened up a straightaway lead in the three laps and went on to a very dominating win. This finish put him on the pole for the 25 lap A-Main.

We had an early practice session on Sunday morning and we tried a new gear that really seemed to help. He was really comfortable so we opted to skip the second practice session and save our stuff for the main event.

At the start of the A-Main Cayden checked out and by lap 15 he had lapped up to 4th place but was slowed by more lapped cars which allowed the 2nd place car to close the gap and eventually take the lead in a hairy lapped car / race leader deal. Cayden cleared the traffic and settled comfortably into 2nd place and began to challenge for the lead again with four laps to go.

While coming off turn two on the 23rd lap he brushed the left rear of a lapped car with his right front and sent himself into a spin. The poor guy was devastated but Sherri and I were high as kites.

He went on to finish 3rd and collect some valuable experience. It was by far the best he had ever driven and he was really aggressive passing cars which in the past had been his weak spot.

Now he is learning when to go and when not to which has proven to be very tricky to teach a little guy. We're learning that some things he is just going to have to learn for himself. As I write this it just occurred to me the similarities between this race and the Vancouver Cascar race in 2002 where I thought I had my first big win in the bag.

I think I'll pull that DVD out for him to watch tonight because he did take the loss pretty hard. That's a lesson I wish I had learned at six. Our next race probably won't be until the Oswego season starts in April but if we do go to another indoor event this winter I'll let you know. (end)

Thanks to Jeff Lapcevich for taking the time to forward some news on Cayden's early steps in motorsports! (Greg)