INNISFIL, ON- Mere weeks removed from a blown engine that threatened to sideline his family-run operation for the entirety of the 2015 season, second-generation racer Tyler Hawn returned to Super Late Model action at Sunset Speedway with a 7th place finish in Round 3 of the OSCAAR Super Late Model Tour.
“Just being back at the track felt like a win for us,” beamed Hawn post-race. “We thought our season was over when we blew up at the Spring Velocity. I feel like this car came back from the dead tonight”
“We worked through a few bugs in practice – but once the heat races rolled around we were good”
Despite a rough outing in his two rounds of heat race qualifiers, Hawn managed to move forward throughout the 50-lap feature event.
“We didn’t have the qualifiers that we were hoping for – so we ended up starting deep in the feature,” explained ‘Kodiak’. “The car just got better as the race went on. We were able to run anywhere we needed to. It was just as good on the bottom as it was on the top”
“This was a top-5 car tonight – we just got bit on that last restart. I got shuffled back a couple spots and just ran out of laps”
“We’ll take 7th, though. Our entire team can be proud of that after the week we’ve had”
When asked how close the team came to not being ready for Saturday’s event, Hawn couldn’t help but laugh.
“After everything that happened – I would have been bolting stuff on this thing in the trailer on the way to the track if I had to. Nothing was going to keep us from racing tonight”
“We’re no strangers to adversity,” continued Hawn. “You can knock us down, but you’re damn sure not going to keep us there. We were on the ropes in a big way after blowing up in Round 1 – but because of some amazing people we were able to claw our way back”
“I can’t thank my family and team enough. The amount of hours they’ve put into this car has been incredible. Besides them, I owe my season to Bill Passer. Because if he hadn’t called and offered his motor we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now”
With a frenzied week worth of work behind him, Hawn will have the luxury of two off-weeks before returning for Round 4 of the tour at Sunset Speedway on June 27th.
“We’ll take a night to enjoy this and then get right back in the shop to get better for the next round,” explained Hawn.
“Now that we’re no longer worrying about getting the car put back together – we can focus on making it faster. It showed a ton of potential tonight, and I think we already have a bunch of ideas that we’re looking forward to working on over the next few nights”
“This is one of the toughest tours in the country,” stressed Hawn. “And if you don’t have a big budget – you better be ready to work harder than the guy standing next to you. Well, a lot of this comes out of our own pockets, so we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get after it.”
Tyler Hawn’s 2015 OSCAAR Super Late Model Tour campaign is proudly supported by Fox’s Bakery and Deli, Stewart’s Carriers Limited, Auto Trim of Barrie, Klotz Canada, TSS Top Shops, Lucky Devil Tattoos and Piercings, Barrie Gold Buyers, Hosking Cylinder Heads, Bayside Automotive, Backwoods Maple Syrup, Belt Conveyor Guarding, Dan Little Photography and Passer Racing.
To keep up with Tyler and the rest of the team, visit the official Hawn Motorsports page on Facebook and be sure to follow @HawnRacing on Twitter.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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