Toronto, Ontario- July 10, 2011 – As a precaution, after Jason Hathaway suffered a fractured wrist and his hand in a cast from last race at Mosport International Raceway, the team lined up veteran driver Kevin Dowler to be on call should Hathaway decide to climb out of his race machine.
The Streets of Toronto 100 at the Honda Indy is always a fan favorite and the teams didn’t disappoint the fans. Practice on Friday was quick paced as Hathaway worked through the bumpy 11 turn temporary street course. Hathaway practiced for only 4 laps before he switched seats with Dowler to allow him to get comfortable in the car. Hathaway qualified the car in the 22nd position in a stout field of 33 competitors.
“Our qualifying effort is not typical of this team, but with my hand in the cast we wanted to be strategic in our starting spot and get in the best position time wise if we need to make a change during the race.” Said Hathaway after qualifying on Friday.
The action got underway early as the green flag flew on the 36 lap main event on Saturday afternoon. The cars were 4 wide doing into the first turn. Despite his injury to his shifting hand Hathaway did a great job and worked his way through the first lap congestion and moved up the 18thrunning position in short order. Hathaway recorded 11 laps behind the wheel, gathering valuable driver points, before handing the driving duties over to Kevin Dowler. Dowler finished up the race with long green flag runs posting a 20th place finishing spot.
“I had a lot of fun today. This team has a great race car and I was honoured that they considered me to back them up when they needed some help. Jason did an awesome job this weekend with his injury and I have to give him so much credit. I can’t wait to see Jason back behind the wheel of his cars out west.” Said Dowler after climbing out of the #3 Dodge.
Hathaway and his team will be looking forward to the annual 2 race western swing for the Canadian Tire Series coming up in two weeks time beginning at Motoplex in Vernon, BC for the Cruisin’ The Dub A&W 300 July 23rd. The Streets of Toronto 100 will air on July 17th at 5 pm EST.
