Stephen DiCaprio is inducted into the Hall of Fame as the fifth member and higher seed of the 2014 class. Stephen was clearly the favorite to enter since he set a new record for most league votes with 22. He joins his teammate Dean Higley from Racing Traditions, Inc. who entered last year. They are the first teammates to go into the Hall and are currently the only ones inducted.
Stephen has had a long career in Lucky Dog Racing, finding success in all three series that he races in. He also participates in many of the other fantasy sports leagues sponsored through Lucky Dog Racing and other sites as well. Stephen has also served on the council since 2008 when he took over as vice-president. With all the time devoted to fantasy sports, Stephen still has the time to devote to his family as well.
Stephen joined Lucky Dog Racing late in the 2005 season. His first race was September 9, 2005 at Richmond in the inaugural season of the Busch series. He finished in a very respectable 4th place. He didn't have to wait too long to move up to the Cup series. In those days, available spots came much more frequently. His first Cup race was on October 30th, 20015 at Atlanta. He had a tougher start to his Cup career after finishing 24th. He did manage a top 5 in his only four starts of the season. In the Busch series, he picked up his first career win in the final race of the season at Homestead. He also had a 2nd and 3rd place finish in his first 8 starts.
The following year, Stephen was able to run his first full seasons. He had a decent rookie Cup season, qualifying for his first Chase and finishing in 15th place. He also finished in 7th place in the Busch series, starting an ongoing consecutive top 10 streak.
In 2007, Stephen joined the inaugural season of the Truck series and would be running in all three series at once. He had a good first season after finishing in 10th place. He also finished 2nd place once during the year. He another good season in the Cup series, making the Chase and finishing in 7th place. No sophomore blues for Stephen that year. Stephen also won the first Chaser Eraser game as well.
In the Nationwide series he finished the same as the Cup series, 7th place. Despite the success, this year was the only season that he did not find victory lane once when running all three series.
2008 was a breakout year for Stephen. He decided to sit out the Truck series and focus mainly on the Cup and Nationwide leagues. It showed too because he was able to finish second in both leagues, the closest that he's come so far to getting a championship. He also found victory lane twice in each of those series.
That season was the first for the multi-car teams. Stephen joined with Matt Sealey, Nathan Helton and Dean Higley to form Racing Traditions, Inc. 2008 was the first of three championships for the team.
He participated in the LROC series for the first time after winning the Chaser Eraser the previous season. It wasn't exactly anything to write home about, he finished 17th out of 19 players. You can't win them all! Stephen would make the LROC series again the following year after winning the Streak to the Finish forum game. He had a better finish of 9th place his second time out.
In 2009, Stephen rejoined the Truck series to run all three again... four including the LROC series. It was another good year, he finished 9th in the Cup series, 5th in Nationwide and 10th in the Truck series. He found victory lane once each in the Cup and Nationwide series. He celebrated a 2nd team championship and even ended up winning the baseball league on Yahoo.
Stephen had his 2nd best Cup season in 2010 after finishing in 3rd place despite not finding victory lane that year. He led the league in most of the season records that year. He also celebrated the third and final championship for Racing Traditions, Inc. with the original lineup. He did win a race in the Nationwide series and finished in 5th place both in the Nationwide and Truck series.
In 2011 Stephen saw a decline in his performance. He missed the Chase for the first time, ending a 5 year streak. He hasn't been able to make the Chase again before his entry into the Hall of Fame. He did win the best of the rest award and found victory lane twice though. Stephen found the most wins in the Nationwide series by winning four races, his largest season total in any series. Still, he only managed to finish in 8th place. His Truck series performance suffered the most after finishing in 29th place. Stephen also participated in the LROC series but this time representing The Cool Pool. He had his best finish of 6th place.
2012 was a real test for Stephen, he lost two teammates as Nathan Helton and Matt Sealey decided to leave the week. Instead of folding up shop, Stephen took over as owner of RTI and keep the three time championship team in operation. He and Dean added Jose Rodriguez later in the season. The turmoil seemed to hurt Stephen's performance though, he finished 26th in the Cup series, his worst finish since going full time. He did manage to find victory lane twice though. He had better luck in the Nationwide series after finishing in 2nd place, matching his best finish. He also found won two races in that series. He also finally found victory lane for the first time in the Truck series, allowing him to join the triple win club.
In 2013 Stephen finish a little better in the Cup series but not by much, he finished in 24th place. Still he went to victory lane twice again for the third consecutive year. Stephen also added Paul Scannell to his team as well. He ended a five year streak of winning in the Nationwide series but did finish in 7th place. He nearly won the Truck championship but finished 10 points behind Brian Blair. He did get to win a second baseball championship though.
As Stephen enters the Hall of Fame for 2014, he has bright days ahead. He looks to improve his Cup performance and make the Chase once again to show that he is a contender. His team also has a new look with Jessy Turgeon coming onboard to replace Jose Rodriguez. He has plenty of experience which will help him be even more successful. He is on the edge of winning a championship in Lucky Dog Racing and it could happen any time now.
Stephen was voted into the Hall of Fame after a total of 9 votes. 3 of the votes came from committee members while 6 came from the league (22 actual votes).
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Career Highlights
2005-2013 Seasons
Cup Series
Finished 2nd place in 08
Won team championship in 08, 09 & 10
Finished in the top 10 four times
2 time All-Star winner
292 starts
9 victories
42 top 5's
83 top 10's
Made the Chase five times
1 time Best of the Rest Winner
Nationwide Series
Finished 2nd place in 08 & 12
Finished in the top 10 eight total & consecutive times
283 starts
12 victories
52 top 5's
99 top 10's
Truck Series
Finished 2nd place in 13
Finished in the top 10 five times
144 starts
1 victory
14 top 5's
36 top 10's
LROC Series
Qualified for the series 3 times (twice with LDR)
46 starts
12 top 5's
25 top 10's
Other Accomplishments
Won the Streak to the Finish in 08 & 10
Won the Yahoo Baseball Championship in 09 & 13 |
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