Delaware, Ont. June 15, 2013. Martin Roy battled hard during round number two of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and came away with a satisfying finish at the EMCO 200 behind the wheel of his #90 Batteries Expert/Gamache Dodge on Saturday.
Roy debuted a new oval course car, and his crew set it up to handle consistently over the course of the entire race.
In test sessions a few days prior to the race, Roy was feeling good about his new vehicle. In practice, the car held up to expectation and the team qualified a respectable 10th
When the race kicked off, Roy quickly collected positions and earned a spot inside the top 10. However, #90 seemed to linger between 8th and 9th place and had trouble pushing forward in the field.
The crew pitted for tires and had a trouble with the right rear, which caused Roy to fall back in positioning. In light of the tire issue, he still managed to cling to the lead lap.
Despite the minor setback, the crew held on to the silver lining.
“When you’re the back of the pack on the lead lap, you really have nothing to lose,” said Crew Chief Mario Gosselin.
Roy jumped eagerly back into the race, and as laps ticked away, #90 managed to battle to the front of the field on lap 117. He was forced to relinquish 1st place in lap 123, but thankfully any significant car trouble was behind him for the remainder of the contest.
“The car was really good, but not perfect, and we’ll work hard to make the car better for next week,” Roy said after the race.
#90 grasped onto top five positioning through the rest of the race and battled to the end with a 5th place result.
“There is a lot of determination in this team and we want to keep improving,” Roy said. “I’m happy to take home 5th place.”
Martin Roy’s finish secures him into 8th place in the overall standings, with 65 points.
Martin Roy and his #90 Batteries Expert/Gamache Dodge team return to action this coming Saturday June 22nd on the Speedway at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, ON.
