VERNON, BC - Don Thomson Jr. and the Home Hardware team got off to a fast start as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCATS) season hit the ½ mile track at Sun Valley Speedway near Vernon, BC scoring the Bud Pole award. In scorching temperatures Thomson blazed to a time of 18.299 seconds or an average speed of 98.366 MPH claiming the number one starting spot for the 300 lap main event.
As the green flag waved for the race Thomson and the Home Hardware Chevy settled in behind his teammate on the first lap and looked to settle into a comfortable race pace. “I didn’t want to force anything early” said the driver “Especially with the warm temperatures this is such a long event there is no need to do anything too aggressive in the early going”. Other competitors would not follow that same plan.
With only a handful of laps completed the right front tire of Thomson’s Home Hardware Chevy was bumped by during a forceful move by another competitor. “That knocked the toe out on the car and we had our hands full for the rest of the night” shrugged Thomson afterwards. Thomson began to slip back several positions but remained in the top-ten.
Knowing there was still plenty of racing left, the Home Hardware team chose to make aggressive handling adjustments to try and compensate for the ill handling car. “The Home Hardware guys worked really hard to give me the best they could, but when you try and help that kind of problem you can only do so much before you start causing other issues and we just had to battle through”.
Thomson would use his years of experience to skillfully keep the Home Hardware Chevy toward the front of the field. Battling an ill handling car requires constant attention and Thomson would end a long hot night with a top-ten finish. “It’s certainly not the result we had hoped for but it’s not as bad as it could have been” he concluded afterwards.
Through four races Don Thomson Jr. and the Home Hardware team are currently sixth in the championship point standings.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire series will return to action with the second half of the Western Canada swing on the airport runways at the Grand Prix of Edmonton this Saturday, July 21st. The CATS run a twelve event schedule on ovals, road courses and temporary street circuits across Canada. Each of the twelve races will also be broadcast on TSN. For information about the NCATS including schedule, results and more, log onto www.nascar.ca
This release prepared by TL Sports & Entertainment
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