Opinion: Jason Hathaway’s win at Chaudiere says one thing – watch out

For Jason Hathaway and Ed Hakinson Racing, the year didn’t start off as they wanted following a poor showing at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park last month. However, that’s all forgotten as Hathaway has gotten his season back on track already.

This past weekend at Autodrome Chaudiere, Hathaway led the majority of the laps in the lead swapping back and forth with Mark Dilley en route to victory lane. While it marks the third victory for Hathaway in his last five series starts, it also begins to display something – he will be one to watch this year.

The schedule is made up of seven ovals total and with Hathaway dominating the first oval, it shows that EHR has their oval program on track. As a result in six of the next nine events, the No. 3 Rockstar Chevrolet is bound to be considered one of the favourites. Adding more flair to the discussion is the fact that Hathaway had wins at both Riverside and Barrie last year, increasing his chances for those weekends.

Perhaps the biggest thing from this weekend, though, was the lack of practice. Chaudiere was a new track for the entire series and practice time was limited to only one session due to rain throughout the day on Friday and Saturday. For EHR to unload a quick car from the get go and lead the first practice before qualifying well and winning shows that preparation of equipment is there. That goes a long way in the end as without the team and equipment, the driver can only do so much.

Flipping to the road courses, things don’t start to look bad as you can expect Hathaway to have decent runs on the three street/road course events as he continues to improve with each circuit in posting solid finishes. Posting three solid top-fives in those events along with the expected success to come on the ovals, Hathaway has himself right there for the championship.

Hathaway put himself into this year’s championship discussion last year by finishing third in points on the heels of some solid success throughout the year. What hurt him in the end? Mechanical issues that resulted in poor showings. Making sure that the EHR Chevrolets are prepared this year and avoiding days like those will definitely be key.

The past couple of years, fans have watched Scott Steckly and D.J. Kennington trade championships back and forth. However, this year we’re opening a new chapter in the form of a new face joining the battle.