NCATS: Hathaway Report from Mosport

Hathaway and Hard Working Team Prevail in Tough Race Weekend

June 17, 2007- Bowmanville, ON - The second round of competition and the first road course event of four on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was filled with a lot of mechanical work for Team 3 Red/EHR and driver of the Snap on Tools Dodge, Jason Hathaway.

The work for the team started on Saturday morning at the 2.5 mile, 10-turn Mosport International Raceway when they experienced a transmission failure on their race machine during the first practice. The team replaced the transmission and went out for their second practice later in the morning. The team came out of the final practice in the 18th position and went to work on their car to improve it for the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.

In qualifying, Hathaway went out in the first session and recorded five laps before he reported a problem with his motor. The crew brought the car into the garage area and under the direction of Crew Chief Giulio Montanari diagnosed their problem. They pulled the motor out of the car and prepared for a motor change to get their car into the starting field for Sunday.

"The guys worked really well together and we were buttoned up and running in good time this morning," said Giulio as the car rolled out of technical inspection and out onto the starting grid Sunday morning. "This is a great group of guys and I am pretty proud of what they have accomplished already this weekend."

With the motor change, Hathaway had to give up his qualifying position and started at the rear of the field in 29th position. The team set their plan to be patient and work their way through the pack. As the green flag flew on Sunday afternoon, Hathaway started his way toward the front. On the start he picked up two positions and by lap 11 was in a steady rhythm running 21st. Green flag pit stops started on lap 23 and the field rotated through the pits taking on fuel and tires. Hathaway stayed out until lap 29 before coming to the attention of his crew, leading a lap and gaining five valuable points in the driver points standings.

After a full course caution on lap 30, Hathaway picked up his rhythm once again and made some beautiful passes in corners 8 and 9 passing cars and securing a 15th-place position. The transmission problem they had hampered the team earlier in the weekend rose once again on lap 37 and Hathaway dropped back to 18th as he shorted shifted out on course. Hathaway babied his car for the next 14 laps and was able to work his way back up to 15th in the running order to finish the 51 lap event.

"The start of the weekend was pretty tough," Hathaway volunteered as he climbed out of his car at the end of the race. "During the race the car handled pretty good and I got into a pretty good rhythm out there. I wish we could have finished better. We'll take this result and improve for our next road course event at the Edmonton Grand Prix in July."

Team 3 Red/EHR will have one week off before they head back to the track for their next event, the evening of July 1st, at the tight 1/3-mile paved oval at Barrie Speedway.

Team 3 Red/EHR is proud to be associated with their great sponsors and supporters. Team 3 Red/EHR thanks Snap-on Tools, Super 8 Motels, Advantex Freight Forwarders, Fast Eddie Racewear and Choko Motorsports, Briggs & Stratton, Castrol, Napoleon Fireplaces & Barbeques and Xilarate Sports Fluid, and The Busted Knuckle Garage. For more information on our sponsors please visit our website at www.team3red.com.