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Van Dam Overcomes Early Spin to Post Fifth-Place Result at Cottage Grove

(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (May 4, 2015) – Henry Van Dam posted his second straight top-five finish on Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway.

Van Dam kicked off the event by qualifying third quickest around the quarter-mile bullring. He then advanced from fourth to second place in a heat race.

“The track was pretty good, but definitely faster around the bottom,” he said. “I ran the topside in the heat race just to get myself comfortable up there because I figured that’s where it’d be in the feature. I was able to keep pace with Roger (Crockett), but couldn’t gain ground to make a pass.”

That lined Van Dam up on the inside of the second row for the main event following the feature inversion.

“I got a bad start and fell back a little bit,” he said. “I was able to get back up to second and made a mistake. I slipped back to fourth or fifth and then going to pass a car on the inside they turned down on me. I had to spin to avoid him.”

Van Dam was forced to restart at the back of the field following the incident approximately a third of the way through the 30-lap feature.

“The top was hard to run,” he said. “It had a rut in it so you couldn’t really run it wide open. Guys were able to run the bottom without making mistakes. As the race went on the bottom lane started to dry out. It was easy to slide off the bottom and miss the moisture. It took about 10 or 15 laps for that to happen and then we began picking two or three cars off per lap toward the end of the race.”

Van Dam stuck to the high groove for the final half of the race as he maneuvered into a fifth-place result.

“There was definitely some frustration on the night, but the part we look at is did we have speed and we did,” he said. “The car was good from qualifying through the end of the night. We didn’t get the finish we wanted, but overall you take away that you had a fast car.”

Van Dam is scheduled to race this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., where he scored a second-place finish on April 25.

QUICK RESULTS –

May 2 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 5 (3).

SEASON STATS –

10 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 6 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 8 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing

APPAREL –

Van Dam has sweatshirts and hats available for sale at his race trailer.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Kovash Logging

Kovash Logging is a logging company based out of Enumclaw, Wash.

“Butch and Donna Kovash came on board a few years ago and have turned into two of my biggest supporters,” Van Dam said. “Not only have they helped with the financial side of it, but they are very nice people and very knowledgeable, and have been a huge asset to the team.”

Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Factory Kahne, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, D&L Equipment Repair, Zender Equipment, Big Bob’s Flooring Outlet, Bob and Joan Shumway, Kellan and Kelsey Hall, Foothills Auto Supply, American Powder Coating, Pete Vos, Char’s Barber Shop, Wesmar Race Engines, SpeedMart, Van Dam Farms and Rich Van Dam Dairy for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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