Driver Brad Graham and the Full Throttle Blue Demon/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge team have been on a charge in the late stages of the 2008 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racing season. With every increasing momentum the team scored yet another top-five finish to close out the final round of the season with a fourth place finish at the Dodge Dealers of Ontario Ram 250 at Kawartha Speedway.
It was a tough start to the day for the Full Throttle Blue Demon/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight team. Lap times during practice were impressive but the story was different during qualifying. “Our Goodyear tires have been great all year” said Brad Graham, “but for some reason we had a set that grew a little funny during time trails and we just didn’t get the performance we were expecting” he added.
Graham would start the 250 lap feature event deep in the field at fifteenth spot. The Full Throttle Blue Demon/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge would not be there for long. With track conditions noticeably different from qualifying that were much better suited to the cars set up Graham took off toward the front of the field. “We just started picking off positions one at a time and next thing you know we’re inside the top-ten and heading for the front” he stated.
Graham would continue the push forward with his smooth handling Full Throttle Blue Demon/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight race car and continue to gain more positions as the laps ticked away. “We just kept our nose clean and stayed out of trouble and got ourselves into the top-five” summarized Graham.
Knowing he had a race car that could run up front Graham began to look ahead to how the final third of the race would play out. “We were up there battling with third and fourth place runners trying to set ourselves up to be in a good spot for the finish” said the driver. It was at this point Mother Nature would exert her forces on the field.
The race was halted on lap 174 of the scheduled 250 due to persistent showers. Graham would have to accept a fourth place finish but couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if the final laps had been run. “We weren’t trying to be too aggressive with that many laps to go” he said. “The Full Throttle Blue Demon/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge was pretty good. It’s a real bummer that NASCAR chose to end it early. I think we had a good enough car certainly to finish on the podium and maybe for the win”.
Brad Graham and the Full Throttle/Logel’s Auto Parts/ Challenger Motor Freight Dodge team finished the season tenth in the overall points standings.
The Full Throttle Team will celebrate the 2008 season at the annual awards banquet on October 25th. This season teams raced 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 are 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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