Heartbreak at Homestead for Pritiko and Walker

MIAMI, FLA - Compass360 Racing Team driver Matt Pritiko came very close to scoring another strong result in the 2009 Koni Challenge Series this past weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway, but sadly mechanical problems ended his run. “With 30 minutes left in the race Travis’s times started to drop of and we knew that there was something wrong. The 76 car made its way down pit lane into our pit box and the crew opened the hood. There was water spraying out from the motor, we then knew our day was done.”

Pritiko was happy with his Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si at the beginning of the weekend. “We started off well. In practice, our times were competitive with the field which was great seeing as though we decided not to run the test day before the event to put less time on the car.”

The tight ST class battle for the pole was hard fought, and Pritiko was happy with his spot, inside the top 10. “In qualifying I managed to get the car into the 7th spot which was right where we wanted the car to be. Later we found that a car in front of us switched drivers to start the race so we moved up one position starting 6th. “

Pritiko’s job as the first of the two drivers in the car was to move up as much as possible while still having a good car to hand over to his teammate at the pit stop.

“As the green flag flew everyone made their way into corners 1-2 and 3 which is almost like one big dog leg. I got the car to the inside at the start, and moved up a position (5th). I started to focus on maintaining the car so my co-driver would have a great chance to contend for the top spot.”

“I brought the car in to the pits for the driver change after racing for 1 hour and 11 minutes so Travis could finish the race. The pit stop went very well. The Compass360 crew did a great job changing tires and refueling the car.”
All that hard work came to an end with the mechanical failure, but Pritiko is confident in his team and he vows to fight back at the next round in New Jersey.

“With the next race in New Jersey a little over a month away, the C360R crew will have the cars ready for action and ready to get back on the podium.”

(Courtesy Russ Bond Agency.)