Tuesday, August 26, 2008

NCATS: HB Motorsports - Doug Brown Cayuga Motor Speedway preview

BRANTFORD, ON - It hasn’t been the year Doug Brown and teammates had hoped for when the season began but they’re determined to finish out the schedule on a high as the season winds down into the final month of racing.  The Haldex-sponsored Dodge team heads to Cayuga Speedway this weekend as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series makes its second appearance of the season at the half-male oval south of Hamilton.

It will be the team’s first race since August 10 when their run in the 200-lap event at Mosport Speedway was shortened by 18 laps and a disappointing 17th-place finish the result of a damaged tie-rod end. The team skipped the August 17th event in Trois Rivieres electing instead to close out the season on the four remaining oval track events on the 2008 schedule.  Those events following Cayuga include Barrie Speedway on September 6th, Riverside Speedway in Antigonish, N.S on September 20th and the season finale at Kawartha Speedway on September 27th.

“We would have like to run the Trois Rivieres event but given the time frame –Thursday through Sunday with the Sunday race a 3:00 p.m. start- there just weren’t enough team members who could take that much time away from their full-time jobs, Doug commented on the team’s decision.  “We missed the earlier races in Vernon and Edmonton for similar reasons along with the associated costs. It’s a tough schedule and the costs are certainly a factor when you consider the travel time.”

This year the team lost a major sponsor –NAPA – and with businesses in general taking a hard look at what’s happening south of the border and feeling some economic effects here in Canada they weren’t able to attract new partners.  Brown also heads to Cayuga mindful of his luck -or lack thereof - in his past two attempts to conquer the aging oval. Last season in the second of two events there, his car was severely damaged in an early race accident that forced him to finish out the season in a borrowed car.

In this year’s season opener at Cayuga, his run ended early when a minor skirmish resulted in a broken pan hard bar forcing him behind pit wall for extensive repairs and ending his run after completing only 79 of the events 200-laps.

“We don’t plan any changes in strategy for this race. We’ll just go out, run as hard as we can and see what develops,” the veteran drivers remarked with his usual candour. “Let’s just hope we have better luck.”

Prepared By:  Ken Spencer -HB Motorsports

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