ANTIGONISH, NS - Driver Brad Graham and the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge team once again put on a strong performance during round number twelve of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series, the Atlantic Dodge Dealers 300 this past weekend at Riverside Speedway near Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The consistent effort all season long by the entire team was rewarded with another top-ten finish.
The Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge suffered a setback during practice when a tire blew out and Graham brushed the wall. “It hurt us a bit spending about half the session making repairs to the suspension” said the driver. “We lost a lot of track time still managed to qualify top-ten which was pretty good” he added.
As the race began Graham would show his trademark steadiness running lap times that were very consistent. Running with the front group as the race was yellow flagged near the 1/3 point the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge team made a pit stop for fuel and handling adjustments. “All day we concentrated on making the car good under long green flag runs and we wanted to continue with that strategy” explained the driver.
The Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge crew would make another scheduled stop for fuel and tires later in the race giving the Graham the best car possible for the end of the race.
As the race laps ticked away Graham would keep the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge up around the top-five but his abilities were becoming restricted. “I was really only able to run on the bottom” said Brad. “Anytime we got up into the outside groove the car would push and having a number of quick cautions at the end also cost us since we were better on long runs”.
In the closing laps Graham was trying to gain every spot possible in the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge when he came in contact with the #9 car. Immediately backing off so as not to cause a serious incident the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge was struck by the #39 car. “It got pretty crazy in those last ten laps or so” said the driver. “I just tried a bit too hard and got off the throttle right away when I realized it and we got touched up and spun around. That’s just racing hard at the end for every spot by everybody.
Graham would recover from the spin and get the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge moving in the right direction and come home with a sixth place finish. “It was something at the end to see cars three and even four wide here, but that’s the great thing about this track is that it’s wide and you can race high or low. I’m sure it was a really good show for all the fans that came out and packed the place and hopefully we can do it again next year” he concluded.
With another top-ten finish Brad Graham and the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge team sit ninth in the overall points standings.
The Full Throttle Team is back in action this coming Saturday, September 27thfor the final event of the 2008 season at Kawartha Speedway. This season teams will race from coast to coast in Canada on challenging oval tracks, temporary street circuits and road courses. For more information about the series log onto www.nascar.ca and for more news information about the team go to www.bradgraham.ca . All races this season will also be broadcast on TSN.
Attached Photo: Full Throttle Dodge // Photo Credit: Todd Lewis // This release prepared by TL Sports & Entertainment
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