Antigonish, NS- August 21, 2016– After living through one of the Team’s toughest seasons, Jason Hathaway earned himself a 3rd place podium finish on Saturday night.
Hathaway and his #3 Raybestos/Fast Eddie Speedwear Chevrolet were fast off the trailer and in both practice sessions saw the top of the speed charts. With that confidence in his car and his love for the track, Hathaway went out and posted a career high 3rd place qualifying effort on the 14 degree high banks of the 1/3 mile oval.
Hathaway took advantage of his great starting spot with the drop of the green flag and took over 2nd place on lap two. He later settled into 3rd place and logged laps until the first caution came out on lap 56. Crew Chief Craig Masters brought him down pit road for fuel on lap 59. The team was served a penalty for a minor incident on pit road and restarted the race in the 12th spot.
With a long green flag run leading up to the half way point, Hathaway worked his way back up into the 7th spot and came in for tires on the next caution. The boys did an awesome job on the tire stop and picked up 4 spots in the pits for their driver, sending him back out onto the track in 3rd.
It was on lap 242 that Hathaway finally took the lead and broke away from the field. He held off the field on restarts and stayed out front for 47 laps. A lapped car caused issues for Hathaway. It deliberately held him up while he was trying to pass, losing Hathaway the lead with only 10 laps to go in the long 300 lap event.
The 2015 NASCAR Canada Most Popular Driver was excited about the team’s performance at Riverside: “It is awesome to finally be back up here on the podium. We have had a tough season so far and it was great to get out front and run competitively. The boys did an awesome job on the tire stop and that helped us huge. We really wanted to win tonight for our little boy who had to stay home sick tonight, but really this finish is like a win for us tonight. I have to thank our owner and all of our sponsors for sticking with us over the last little bit!