@NASCARHomeTrack •#NASCAR Pinty’s Series •@CTMPOfficial •Bowmanville, ON- (May 22, 2016)- David Thorndyke and the #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet team were excited to embark on a new racing season during the first round of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series on the famed road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this past weekend. Sadly for the team their day would be cut short after being struck by another competitor.
The #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet team hit the track for practice and were anxious to see how the many improvements they’d worked on for better performance would work out. After an initial lap during Saturday practice to feel the car out Thorndyke said he was pleased with how the car felt. But the next time by complained of a problem that was diagnosed as a broken spindle.
This presented a problem for the team as they run a unique part that is different from most others. The crew found replacements but it would take the balance of the day to make repairs forcing the #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet to miss the qualifying session and they would start from the back for the 51-lap race.
“It was a tough break,” said Car Chief Adam Thorndyke. “We were really hoping to see how the changes worked but we just never got the chance”.
The entire team worked diligently to make repairs and get the car set up as close to they had it before the incident. Crew Chief Katie Smilovsky was a little worried about getting through pre-race technical inspection. “We’re hoping the car is okay, but we’ve had to make adjustments for the replacement parts that went in,” she said.
As the green flag waved on Sunday David Thorndyke set out with his normal race plan to run smooth consistent laps all afternoon. In the early stages Thorndyke had some success moving forward several positions. However as he went through corner five alongside another competitor the two spun. Thorndyke straightened out the #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet and hustled to get going when the other driver impacted him on the driver side.
“It was big hit, I was up in the air and went for a ride” said the driver.
Thorndyke got the #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet back to pit lane and crew discovered a mount underneath the car was broken and determined it was best to end the day early.
Though disappointed they only completed a handful of laps driver David Thorndyke and the team remained positive. “We’ll be able to make the repairs and have the car race ready again quickly. In the few laps we ran I think that the off season changes we made were good and that should help us at the next event”.
David Thorndyke and the #67 Thorsons EVT Chevrolet team will be in action next at the Pinty’s Grand Prix on July 16th during the Toronto Indy weekend.
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