STAYNER, ON- Less than a week removed from a frustrating 12th place finish in Round 5 of the APC United Late Model Series at Peterborough Speedway, third-generation driver Brandon Watson is back in the shop and back to work, as his team prepares for Round 6 at Sauble Speedway on August 2nd.
The soft-spoken veteran appeared well on his way to a podium finish at Peterborough, spending nearly the entirety of the race’s first half at the front of the talent-laden field after setting fast time in afternoon qualifying.
However, late-race contact resulted in suspension damage to Watson’s family-owned No. 9. After racing amongst the leaders for the first 70-laps, Watson was relegated to surviving through the race’s later stages with an ill-handling car.
“I’d be lying if I said the drive home didn’t feel a little bit longer than it should have,” shrugs Watson when asked about the frustrating result. “We had a really good car Saturday night – and had a solid finish taken from us. Any time you have that happen, it can suck the energy right out of you. We were headed for a top-3 finish. After the season we’ve had so far, we really needed that”
Watson’s 2015 tour has, thus far, been wrought with mechanical issues. Engine problems in Round 1 at Sunset and an oil leak in Round 3 at Delaware have the team searching for a turn of fortune in the final 3 events of the schedule.
“It’s not really our style to sit around and mope about what could have been,” says the former Super Late Model champion. “We’ve been doing this long enough to understand that this is all part of the game. 2015 certainly hasn’t been our year – but it’s far from over. We need to just get up and dust ourselves off. We have to keep going”
“We’ve had an awesome car week after week – we just haven’t had any luck to go with it,” adds Watson.
“In the first round of the tour, we set fast time and then immediately had engine problems as soon as the race started. That kind of set the tone for how the rest of the season has played out. We’ve never really had a run of bad luck quite like this. But, this sport is funny like that. You’re always one race away from turning it all around”
Now, with two weeks remaining until the team’s next start, Brandon works feverishly alongside his father Tim and a crew of volunteers in preparation for what they hope will be their comeback moment at Sauble Speedway.
“We’re working as hard as we ever have. There’s no doubt in my mind that we have a program that belongs on this tour,” says Watson matter-of-factly. “There isn’t a team on this roster that’s putting in more hours than we are. We want this as bad as anyone does. We’ll just keep working until I can give my guys the kind of results that they deserve. We’re far from done.”
Details for the remaining events on the 2015 APC United Late Model Series schedule can be found at www.APCRacingSeries.com.
Brandon’s 2015 efforts would not be possible without the continued support of Shear Metal Products and Knightworks Designs.
Fans can stay up to date with Brandon all season long by following on Twitter @BrandonWatson15 or by visiting the official Brandon Watson Racing page on Facebook.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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