When it comes to mechanical trouble, racecar driver Fred Hendy of Squamish is an expert.
Hendy raced last weekend at the Rivers Edge Raceway in Mission against competitors from around B.C. along with cars from Washington and Oregon. He suffered a broken axle the morning of the final race. Despite the major mechanical failure, he was able to make the necessary repairs and pull off a second place finish.
Mechanical challenges in April prevented Hendy from competing.
"After installing a new engine and new front suspension we tested the car on Friday (June 11) and tried various setups," Hendy said after the event. "We qualified first (pole position) on a dry track on Saturday."
Another qualifying session was held Sunday morning on a damp track. Hendy said the wet track meant nobody would take his pole position. He ran a few laps and once again proved to be the quickest car in the field.
The axle broke near the end of the session.
"These are custom made axles and can not be purchased at your local parts store," he noted.
"I had spare axles but they were in Squamish. I phoned my wife at home and directed her to where the axles were in my garage. I explained to her what the axles looked like and she left with what I hoped were the axles. She drove from Squamish while one of my pit crew left Mission to meet her in North Vancouver."
The new axle arrived 20 minutes before the start of the race. It was installed with minutes to spare.
The race started and Hendy slipped back a few places. As the track started to dry he passed one of the cars ahead of him and stayed in second for the duration of the half-hour race.
Hendy felt it was a good result for his team.
"A true team effort with special thanks to my wife, Ann," he said.
