John Wes Townley: Red Horse Racing Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Team Advance

OH CANADA, EH?: As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) for the very first time, John Wes Townley has two road course races under his belt to give him an extra bit of confidence. The driver of the No. 7 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra has participated in two road course events in the ARCA Racing Series at Elkhart Lake, WI and at Millville, NJ where the young driver earned a top-15 finish and an 18th-place finish respectively.

In preparations for the Truck Series race at CTMP, Red Horse Racing went through two different avenues. Townley along with his teammates Germán Quiroga and Timothy Peters took a trip to Bondurant driving school in Phoenix, Arizona in June for a two day training session on the techniques of road course racing. The team took their skills from Bondurant to a test at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). The team is prepared as any to race around the 2.46-mile road course.

NEW MENU ITEMS AT ZAXBY’S: Zaxby’s, a southeast favorite for chicken fingers and wings, has been indescribably good for more than 20 years. The Athens, Georgia based chain offers its guests prepared-at-order Chicken Fingerz, Traditional or Boneless Wings, sandwiches, Zalads and Zappetizers, along with a variety of nine sauces ranging from Wimpy and Tongue Torch to Nuclear and Insane. Mixing things up, guests can now enjoy Zaxby’s new Cobb Zalad through summer’s end. Additionally, Zaxby’s offers a new line of premium milkshakes including the popular Birthday Cake and Banana Pudding Milkshakes and the new Chocolate Cookie Milkshake. The company operates more than 575 locations in 13 states. John Wes Townley will compete with Zaxby’s serving as primary sponsor for the entire 22 Truck Series race schedule. For more information, please visit zaxbys.com, facebook.com/zaxbys or follow on Twitter @Zaxbys.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 7 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra will be racing Chassis No. 132 at the Series first visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Most recently, Townley raced this chassis at the historic dirt track of Eldora Speedway. Prior to Eldora, the chassis was last seen on track at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2011 and earlier that year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway where it finished 10th and fourth respectively.

MEET & GREET: Townley, along with teammates Germán Quiroga and Timothy Peters will join the NASCAR Camping world Truck Series drivers for an autograph session on Saturday, August 31st from 1:45 – 2:45 pm in Paddock G in the north/west corner next to the Truck Series Garage.

REARVIEW MIRROR – BRISTOL: John Wes Townley came to Bristol Motor Speedway with high hopes after a career best finish at Michigan International Speedway. While the UNOH 200 turned out to be less than desired for Townley and the No. 7 Zaxby’s Toyota Tundra team, he managed to demonstrate his ability to drive under difficult conditions. Townley qualified in the 22nd position and managed to pick off one truck at a time. Townley raced his way into the top-15 and was racing in the 12th position when he spun coming out of turn four sustaining a fair amount of damage to his Tundra. The Zaxby’s team secured the Tundra to get back out on track and finish 30th.

John Wes Townley on Canadian Tire Motorsport Park:
How will the test at Bondurant help you at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park?
“We weren’t testing our Toyota Tundras, but it was a lot of good information to soak in over the course of two days. We learned very valuable information, as far as car control and the general line you would take going into turns on the road course. The most important piece I learned was how to downshift correctly and flip the throttle, all great techniques that the road course experts use. I didn’t prefect the techniques but I am in a lot better shape heading into CTMP now.”


How different do you think it will be being in a Tundra?
“Our Toyota Tundras will be a lot different. We were just driving production cars which are only about 2300-2400 pound cars. Our trucks are 3400 pounds, so the weight difference is significant as well as the balance. With standard production cars, their weight is split even from the front to the rear where our Trucks have more front weight than rear. Getting the truck to handle around sharp corners and the anti-locking breaks vs. non anti-locking breaks will be different. The overall experience was great and it will give my Zaxby’s team a good foundation for techniques that I can polish on when I do get into the truck.”
 
RHR PR