St. Eustache, Quebec - The third stop on the Nascar Canadian Tire series season was held at "Autodrome St. Eustache" on Saturday night, it was the second oval race of the year for the series. Jason White and the A&W Racing team were very excited to try and better last years 7th place finish (a career high) on the very technical short track.
The day started off with crew chief Bill Burns making productive adjustments to the A&W Impala throughout practice. Jason would qualify the car in the 14th starting position for the “National 250”. “The crew worked hard in the heat all day, and the adjustments made the car better each time out,” stated the British Columbia based driver. “ We expected to qualify in the top half of the field but I got a bit loose off of turn four on my final lap.” The top fifteen cars that qualified were separated by a mere 3/10ths of a second.
When the sun set and the green flag flew, Jason positioned the A&W Nascar in the 11th position and was comfortably hanging in on the lead lap. Bill Burns called Jason in when John Gaunt brought out the second caution of the evening on lap 56 with a hard hit on the front straight wall. “The car started to push real bad on long runs, so we really needed that caution for some adjustments and some fresh tires,” said White. “The car came back to life when we went back to racing, but it wasn't long before our night was over.”
On lap 99 the A&W Racing teams' night came to an abrupt halt when Jason got into the marbles and lost control of the car in turn three, he slapped the wall hard on the drivers side, ending all hopes of a solid finish. “I really hate when we work so hard to get a good car and our opportunity gets dashed away,” said the dejected driver. "It was all my fault, I got around a slow car in turn two but entered turn three a bit high and flat out lost control of my car. It really takes the wind out of my sails when I see the team work so hard and then I make a mistake like that and end our day.” The result would be a very disappointing 18th place finish.
The team will pick up the pieces and head to the next race, “The Jumpstart 100” which will be on July 17th through the streets of Toronto. The Nascar Canadian Tire Series will act as a companion series to the Indy Cars during the "Honda Indy."
A&W Food Services Of Canada, is Canada's original hamburger quick service restaurant chain, and today is one of its fastest growing. The first A&W drive-in restaurant in Canada opened on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg in 1956. The combination of great tasting burgers, onion rings and frosted mugs of famous A&W Root Beer served by friendly carhops was an instant hit. Since then, A&W has continued to grow and evolve with the times, expanding into over 750 locations from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. At the heart of that growth is the fact that, while so much of our world has changed, the simple things that made A&W so popular in its early days are the same today. We still serve A&W Root Beer in frosted mugs. Our onion rings are made fresh from whole onions every day. With a rich history behind us, we look forward to an even more exciting future ahead of us. A&W is expanding all across Canada, with particular emphasis on Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. On your way to the next NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES race, be sure to "CRUISE " into an A&W near you!!
See you at the races!!
Photo: Jason White pops open an A&W Root Beer during driver introductions on Saturday night at Autodrome St-Eustache.... photo by Joe Hamilton
