Jason Hathaway: It’s a roller coaster season once the year starts
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[/media-credit]For NASCAR Canadian Tire (NCAT) Series driver Jason Hathaway, his roller coaster season began two weeks ago with the Vortex Brake Pads 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). The driver of the No. 3 Snap on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge started the race in sixth and came home with a sixth place finish.
“It was a great weekend last weekend, as far as fans, the racing goes and Canadian Tire,” Hathway says. “With Vortex being the title sponsor, it was good for us. we had a good finish. We qualified sixth and finish sixth so that was a good start for us as well.”
During the off-season, the track went under new ownership and went through some changes. Hathaway says the improvements they made were great and can’t wait to see what else they got planned.
“They’re also talking about another NASCAR series racing there so excited to see if that happens,” he adds.
Hathaway is looking for a solid season after finishing ninth last year in points. Hathaway raced the majority of the year with a broken arm as he broke it in the first race of the season last year at CTMP. He says for this year, he is hoping to finish top three in points while winning a couple races.
“I haven’t won since 2008 so I’m due for a win for sure,” he says.
This weekend, the series heads to Circuit ICAR, which will mark the second race at the track in Quebec for the NCAT series. Last year, Hathaway finished 15th, though that was due to the arm injury. In 2010, he was able to score five top 10s in six road course starts.
Following ICAR, the series switches gears as they will have their first oval race of 2012.
I know some guys are looking forward to that,” Hathaway says. “We’re ready to go. The car just got decalled the other day; it’s going to match the road course car, look the same. I know we got a lot of comments – looked sharp last weekend. Can’t wait to get started.”
Hathaway got started in racing as a kid racing go-karts.
“I used to run around D.J’s track at his truck shop in St. Thomas when I was a kid,” he says. “So started there and worked our way up.”
He started with Delaware’s Enduro class, before moving up to the Super Stock class where he won a division championship. He then moved up to Late Model and began traveling across the country to different tracks.
“Got a lot of seat experience, met a lot of people, kind of got the media attention to get hired by Ed Hakinson Racing,” Hathaway says.
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[/media-credit]Hathaway got back to his Late Model roots last week as he competed in round one of the McColl Racing Enterprises Pro Series at Sunset Speedway. While he did score a qualifying race win, the race didn’t go well as Hathaway got wrecked on lap 42 by Jesse Kennedy.
The driver from Appin, Ontario calls Jeff Gordon his racing hero due to Gordon’s success, among other things.
“When he started, he started winning, drove a chev, had a cool paint scheme and had a cool mustache for a 22-year-old,” Hathaway comments.
For getting through a roller coaster season, it’s all about taking it easy even when frustration sets in.
“Don’t get too hard on yourself when something happens and takes the highs and the lows and average them throughout the year,” he says.
Hathaway adds there’s a lot of traveling with the different tracks they go to so it’s all about figuring where you are.
“Keep the team focused, keep myself focused and just have one goal and aim for it,” he says.
Hot 20 over the past 10 – When it comes to hot, NASCAR currently is not
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[/media-credit]NASCAR boring? Say it isn’t so. More and more we are seeing opinion pieces that say the product has become a snoozefest, that the racing has become cautious. The big tracks have delivered, as both Daytona and Talladega kept one glued to the screen. Bristol, to my surprise, was not. Fontana? Almost never.
Some blame the points system, where one miscue, one wreck, can hurt more than the former system ever did. Some agree with Rusty Wallace, claiming that 36 race weeks is just too many to keep fans interested. I disagree, but running Talladega 36 times is out of the question. Some want wrecks, yet 1.5-mile tracks such as Charlotte, Kansas, Fort Worth, and Las Vegas provided none.
Is there really a problem? Well, type “NASCAR ratings cautions” on your browser, then you tell me. While baseball can offer up the Cubs and Padres, we can choose to ignore that game to watch the Dodgers take on the Nationals. In NASCAR, if they are in Fontana that week, you can’t switch the channel to take in the action at Sonoma.
If they insist on 36 races, then 36 races should have an identity that outlives their current sponsor. The Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400 have that. The World 600 would still be around long after Coca Cola decides to spend its money on something else. Tell me, does anyone give a damn about the Subway Fresh Fit 500, the Auto Club 400, or the Goody’s Fast Relief 500? Try bragging to the grandkids about that big win twenty years from now.
Television is all about excitement and entertainment. When it comes to being hot, at the moment NASCAR is not. Sadly, it is their own damn fault.
Here is a look at those who are the hottest 20 Cup drivers over the past ten events.
( ) = Official Ranking
Pos – Driver – Points – (Wins, Top Fives, Top Tens)
1 (1) Greg Biffle – 370 pts – (1-5-6)
Racing is conservative, attendance is down, but the Biff leads the parade.
2 (2) Matt Kenseth – 364 pts (0-5-7)
Some things are worth repeating.
3 (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr – 363 pts (0-3-8)
Miffed a military sponsorship ban in NASCAR is being led by a Republican from Georgia. Georgia!!!
4 (5) Jimmie Johnson – 362 pts (1-4-7)
Introduced his gasman to real drag racing.
5 (3) Denny Hamlin – 348 pts (1-4-5)
Doesn’t know what it takes to go fast at Dover, but I think a fast car might help.
6 (9) Tony Stewart – 336 pts (2-4-5)
Smoke: the driver, the tires, the ears.
7 (6) Martin Truex Jr – 333 pts (0-4-6)
Running good in the final year of a contract is highly recommended.
8 (8) Kyle Busch – 325 pts (1-5-6)
Nationwide team owner would never, ever fire his driver for Saturday…would he?
9 (12) Clint Bowyer – 319 pts (0-1-5)
Doesn’t need to win to make the Chase, but finishing ahead of Carl would sure help.
10 (7) Kevin Harvick – 317 pts (0-1-4)
Happy where he is, but not so much when it comes to where he has been heading lately.
11 (11) Brad Keselowski – 316 pts (2-3-5)
Sorry about your little car, Tony. Oh, Lord, I am so sorry.
12 (10) Carl Edwards – 309 pts (0-2-7)
There are no guarantees, but Dover and Carl have been pretty chummy in the past.
13 (15) Kasey Kahne – 305 pts (1-3-6)
Things go better with Coca Cola…
14 (13) Ryan Newman – 291 pts (1-2-3)
When it comes to give and take, the Rocket Man prefers taking.
15 (14) Paul Menard – 285 pts (0-0-2)
Needs to start turning Top 20’s into Top Tens.
16 (21) Jamie McMurray – 265 pts (0-0-2)
18 Dover races, 18 finishes. That has to account for something.
17 (18) Juan Pablo Montoya – 255 pts (0-0-1)
Average finish of 25th in his last three this season. That has to change.
18 (17) Jeff Burton – 248 pts (0-0-2)
If he moved to Georgia, I know where this future politician could get elected.
19 (19) Aric Almirola – 248 pts (0-0-1)
Might be turning the corner, but still outside the Top 20 in half of this season’s races.
20 (16) Joey Logano – 244 pts (0-0-1)
At 22, his future with Gibbs could be in doubt?
21 (20) Marcus Ambrose – 244 pts (0-0-1)
Marcus makes the cut, Kurt and Jeff do not. ‘Nuff said.
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES AND LUCAS OIL IS AN EXCELLENT PARTNERSHIP
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[/media-credit]The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, one of the best tailgate parties in the land, returns to action this Friday night, June 1st, at the Dover International Raceway’s one mile concrete covered oval. for the running of the Lucas Oil 200.
The pairing of NASCAR’s truck racing series and Lucas Oil is a perfect partnership. Since its inception in 1995, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has provided years of very aggressive racing that often had fans not using the grandstand seats they paid good money for. In many cases over the years, the trucks were the opening act for the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series as they will be this weekend at Dover. By the time this NASCAR triple header is over, don’t be too surprised if the Lucas Oil 200 turns out to be the best race of the weekend. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that happened.
Lucas Oil Products Inc was formed in 1989, by Forrest and Charlotte Lucas. Like the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, this Corona-California based company has also been very aggressive in its history. This is especially true in the area of brand placement marketing for its products that includes motor oils and automotive additives as well as marine and motorcycle products just to name a few. From individual sponsorship of race events and teams to the national and regional racing series that the company owns, you would be hard pressed to name a form of motorsports that Lucas Oil has not been associated with.
That aggressive combination is expected to produce some very exciting racing Friday night when the green flag falls on the Lucas Oil 200. This race is 200 laps around an equally aggressive Dover International Raceway’s one mile concrete oval. The raceway’s turns are banked at 24 degrees that blends into a mere nine degrees of banking on the straightaways. The front and back straights measures 1,076 feet which means drivers have approximately two seconds to catch their breath and relax their arms before it’s time to steer through the next turn.
This race will also be providing some highly competitive story lines to follow. First, there’s the matter of the series’ points standings. California driver Justin Lofton, based on his first ever win at the Charlotte race last week, leads those standings. Last year, Lofton couldn’t buy a decent finish in this series at a yard sale. This year, in five races, he has the win and five top ten finishes. However, he only holds a single point lead over Red Horse Racing’s Timothy Peters and that’s going to be a major story line Friday night.
On the subject of competitive edges, the last five series’ races has produced five different winners including three first time visits to victory lane. The last time the series had this much competitive parity was back during the 2005 season.
That sense of competitive parity also features a very special blend of young drivers and seasoned veterans that will compete in the Lucas Oil 200. Exciting youngsters like Lofton and Peters along with Ty Dillon, James Buescher, Parker Kligerman, Jason White and Nelson Piquet Jr represent the young guns. The veterans in the starting field includes four time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr along with Todd Bodine, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter.
There’s one thing for sure: the Lucas Oil 200 will not have a repeat winner Friday night. 2011 defending race champion Kyle Busch is not entered in this event. However, the famed #18 Kyle Busch Motorsports-Shore Lodge Toyota Tundra is entered with NASCAR up and coming driver Brian Scott behind the wheel who has won at Dover in the past.
The Lucas Oil 200 will also have a visitor in the line up. That would be NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick who will be driving the #2 Kroger-Tide Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
In past years the SPEED Channel has presented the Dover truck race on a video tape delay basis. For the first time ever, the Lucas Oil 200 will be presented on live television. The SPEED Channel’s pre race show, “the Set Up” will begin at 4:30 pm eastern time.
Enjoy the Lucas Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Dover International Raceway Friday night. It has all of the potential elements of becoming a very exciting race worthy of the series, its sponsor and the fans.
