MONTREAL, QC – After a disappointing run at Trois-Rivières, Hathaway in his #3 Snap-on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge was hoping for a good run at the last road course event of the season at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve this weekend.
Practice for the team was shortened due to a NASCAR timing error during the 1 hour practice session. Despite the glitch and having limited time to tune on their car Hathaway managed to post a 11th place fast time of the speed charts in a deep field of single appearance road racers.
The team’s weekend hit a speed bump during qualifying on Friday when Hathaway posted 2 laps, 18th fastest, and then felt a vibration in the motor. He shut it down and came onto pit road to the attention of his crew. The team took the car back to paddock area and went to work right away to replace the motor in preparation for Saturday’s race. Hathaway was looking forward to the race. “Our guys did a great job getting the motor changed and we should be good for the race.”
Unfortunately, Hathaway’s engine troubles followed him into the 23 lap main event around the historic Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. With the drop of the green flag, Hathaway could not get his car up to its normal quick speed and the motor wasn’t running on all cylinders. Crew Chief Craig Masters bought the car down pit road to change a number of things on the car to see if they could solve the miss. The crew did a great job changing the battery, the carburetor and the spark plugs, but were not able to solve the issue on pit road.
Hathaway went back onto the track and picked up a few positions finishing 26th in a large field of 35 cars.
The driver of the #3 Dodge was disappointed with the run at Montreal. “We didn’t even get a chance to race this weekend and show what we can do on the road courses.” He said. “I’m very proud of our road course efforts this year and this wasn’t the way we wanted to end it. We will diagnose the issue we had today back at the shop, put the bad luck behind us and finish up the next 3 races strong.”
Fans can follow the team and get updates throughout the season through the Team’s website www.team3red.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/team3red.edhakonsonracing and on Twitter @jasonhathaway3.
Ed Hakonson Racing is proud to be partnered with Snap-on Tools, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Vortex Brake Pads, Napoleon Grills, Castrol, Fast Eddie Racewear, Choko Motorsports, Praxair and Cathcart Trucking and King Brewery.
From Jamie Hakonson
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