Things will go wrong. It’s not a glass half full, glass half empty proposition. When it comes to racing, it’s simply part of the game. So, when Tony Morris Jr. missed a qualifying heat and ended up in seventh position of the GPT1 class for the final race in the Rexall Edmonton Indy’s NASCC Eurasia Cup, he had to gear up for the challenge.

Morris Jr.’s aggressive style is suited for making up ground from the back of the pack, and if the formidable task of passing the six cars already in front of him in one lap wasn’t enough, an accidental flick of the ignition switch while reaching for another switch on lap two rendered the car motionless. This mistake set him back to 18th overall before he was able to fire up again and rejoin the race.

“The main thing that will stick with me about that weekend is that team never gave up,” says Morris Jr. “Falling back into 18th spot tested our cool, our resolve, but we never lost track of the goal.”

That goal, to place both Proformance drivers - Lawrence Howlett in the #9 Seattle Tool car, and Tony Morris Jr. in the #12 -- at the top, proved more elusive as the weekend went on. Howlett was at the top of the speed chart as the fastest car on the track during Friday’s qualifying, but a fire on Saturday during the qualifying meant he would start fifth on the grid in Sunday’s final.

The veteran driver ended up turning in an against all odds performance in the final when, in the second lap his clutch gave up the ghost, forcing him to power shift for the remainder of the race. To add to the pressure - or in this case, the lack of air pressure - sometime during lap 19 or 20, a rear tire started to leak and the car wasn’t handling well. Amazingly, with the support of his team, Howlett still “wrestled” the car to a fourth place finish.

“That’s racing,” chuckles the understated Howlett. “I was just trying to keep rolling.”

With the full Indy Car audience watching the race, Morris Jr. also raised more than few eyebrows as he went from 18th in lap two to sixth place in lap 19. By lap 21 he powered into third and, by lap 25 was in second place behind fellow Proformance driver Rocky Elli, who was also driving a black Monte Carlo.

“Rocky raced me clean and I was able to pass him for the win on last lap,” recounts Morris Jr., the adrenaline seemingly still pumping through his veins a week later. “We were racing against the clock to make it to first,” adds Proformance Chief and former Nascar team member Roy Gangdal, “but our team pulled it together to make the weekend one to remember.”

Morris Jr. credits Gangdal’s calming influence over the radio mid-race -- when a track official fainted, prompting twelve laps of caution, 30-valuable minutes, during the time restricted race-- as a key component in keeping him focussed and informed enough to charge to the front, one pass at at time, once the race restarted.

Gangdal also points out that six mechanics on the Proformance team were able to work smoothly together out of one tool box. “Time being of an essence working between sessions, the organization of the tools was a big key to getting our work done under pressure. We’re the biggest race team on the West Coast and one of the largest in Canada. We could choose any tool box to put in there, but we chose Seattle Tool for days exactly like today.”

“For the team to maintain all those cars, the organization of the tools and their layout meant everyone could navigate their tool boxes and get the job done. It was evident to everyone who came through our pits that the set up was a big part of our success,” adds Howlett.

When things don’t go as smoothly as you’d like, you need to rely on your tools to clean up the mess, make things better. Those ‘tools’ might be intangible skills that you’ve acquired over a lifetime of dealing with life’s daily challenges. And, sometimes, those problem solving abilities need to be combined with physical tools (also acquired along the way) that are up to the task.

Like Tony and Lawrence, our products are up to any number of challenges that life can throw at you on any given day. In racing, you can’t fight your way to the front of the pack without a tank full of confidence leading you on. Having the right tools, at the right time, can make the difference between overcoming the unforeseen and not getting to the checkered flag.