[HELP] Removing row from table plugin query

[Dr.CustUmz]

so ive got my plugin at showthread_complete, its working pretty good =)

but im trying to add a query to it that reverses something done in showthread.php

This is the code straight from showthread.php

$db->shutdown_query("
  INSERT INTO " . TABLE_PREFIX . "threadviews (threadid)
  VALUES (" . intval($threadinfo['threadid']) . ')'
);

So I would think to reverse that my plugin would have to be

$db->shutdown_query("
  DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "threadviews (threadid)
  VALUES (" . intval($threadinfo['threadid']) . ')'
);

This doesnt give me an error, but it's not working, and threadviews table still continues to grow.

i have also tried

$vbulletin->db->query

$db->query

both resulting in database errors.

The goal:
if vb options are not set to update view counts immediately, each view is stored in the threadviews table. this happens with that first block of code from showthread.php

so when you view a thread that query runs, i want my query to just delete the row that first query added.

i have got this all worked out if admins update threads immediately, but i don't want to dictate their having to choose that option.

--------------- Added [DATE]1457655461[/DATE] at [TIME]1457655461[/TIME] ---------------

this is working

$vbulletin->db->query_first("
DELETE FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "threadviews
WHERE threadid = $threadinfo[threadid]
LIMIT 1
");

is it proper?