When the season started and Jason Hathaway took a look at the situation before him, the plan didn’t include running the full NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule.
“We were just going to do the first four races but ended up leading the points so we headed out west,” he recalled. “We were able to get a sponsor for Saskatoon, and a little help for Edmonton which helped us out. My owner (Ed Hakonson) has been real good this year. He’s been helping out where he cans, and setting us up with people that can help out.”
Rather than simply running the first four races on the schedule, Hathaway has ran each of the 10 events thus far this season.
“We’ve made it through,” he continued. “We’ve won some races and won some money, which that helps. Last week winning at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park helped us out huge. That was a big payday for a big race for us, and close to home.”
Their perseverance as a team has paid off, as Hathaway will now head to the season finale with a chance at the championship, currently sitting nine points behind Scott Steckly. If Hathaway leads the most laps and wins the race (finishing the season with 442 points), he wins the championship if Steckly finishes worse than fourth without a leading lap, worse than fifth if he led a lap, and worse than sixth if he led the most laps. There are many other mathematical scenarios that could hand Hathaway the championship, as well. Either way, the driver of the No. 3 Fast Eddie/Choko/HGC Chevrolet is looking forward to this weekend’s event.
“For my team, it’s just a privilege to be racing for the championship because we didn’t think that we’d make it this far,” he commented. “So to be invited to the party at Kawartha to race for it, it’s exciting for our team. So same thing goes – just try to win the race and lead as many laps as you can. It’ll be fun.”
Going into the event, Hathaway is hoping for a smooth day, that starts off with a good qualifying effort and starting up near the front of the field. He says the goal for everyone this weekend is simple – win the race, lead the most laps and get the most points that they can. That is no different for Hathaway and his team, either.
He heads to the perfect track to make that happen as he has been successful at Kawartha in the past, picking a victory in 2008 with four top 10s and an average finish of ninth in the previous eight Kawartha events.
“Kawartha has been a great race track for me,” he noted. “I actually went to the first event there when it first opened in like street stocks back in the day, and ended up winning there. I’ve won in a Late Model there – won the Summer Sizzler, and won in a NASCAR there, and in a CASCAR Sportsman car. It’s been great for my career. With the NASCAR deal, we’ve always had cars there that are on the podium. It’s a great track and lots of room to race. It makes for a great race track to decide a championship with two grooves, ability to race up on the high-side. I think that’s why the fans like it. It’s a good track to close it out.”
The race will be a little different this year, though, as rather than having live pit stops, NASCAR has mandated a five-minute break at the halfway mark of the event. Hathaway says while he prefers the “strategy of live pit stops”, break races are something that have worked out well for the team. Earlier this year, Hathaway’s team made the right adjustments underneath the break to set him for a strong run to the checkered at Saskatoon, where he finished second.
“If you’re in a position when you can come in and set yourself up for the break and see what you need, sometimes it can be a good thing,” he commented.
Since the victory at CTMP, Hathaway has been left with three weeks to think about the season finale and his chances. He says he rather would’ve just went straight from winning at CTMP to the finale as during the break, “you get bent over thinking things too much”. He did use the break usefully, though, as he was one of the teams that was at Kawartha testing ahead of this Saturday night’s event.
“We’re ready to go,” he said. “We’re just going over things, checking things over and getting spares ready and things like that.”
With plans up in the air for next season, a victory and perhaps the championship to go with it could be huge for Hathaway and his team. Hathaway noted after winning at CTMP that plans for next year are up in air, depending on sponsorship. Certainly having a trophy, or two, to show those sponsors could help.
