4/4/2016
Inside Line Promotions
Van Dam Nets Pair of Top 10s with Summer Thunder Sprint Series
(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – YAKIMA, Wash. (April 4, 2016) – Henry Van Dam registered a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend during his first event of the season in the Northwest.
However, the focus was more on gaining knowledge than results for Van Dam, who placed sixth and 10th, respectively, at Central Washington State Fair Raceway with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
The doubleheader began on Friday with Van Dam qualifying sixth quickest. Unfortunately, a fuel line problem forced him into the pits during the opening lap of a heat race.
“It just wouldn’t take off,” he said. “It was the suction line so it made the motor run really bad. I pulled off on the start so I didn’t get a lap at speed. That hurt us for the feature because we really got no laps other than we had a couple of hots laps and qualifying. We missed the setup for the feature, but on the other hand there were a lot of cautions and reds. It was more of a night of surviving than a night of actual running through the pack.”
Van Dam rallied from his 17th starting position to post a sixth-place result.
“We never stopped, but at one point I pushed an infield tire about 200 feet down the backstretch,” he said. “Being the first night of the year everyone was a little rusty and the track was pretty technical. A lot of it was just keeping your nose clean.”
The weekend concluded on Saturday with Van Dam qualifying ninth quickest before he won a heat race. That lined him up on the inside of the fifth row for the main event.
“We had some things we wanted to try and they didn’t work at all,” he said. “It was a weekend we got off our normal notes and tried some things to see what would work. We found more or less what wouldn’t work. We’ve struggled with the track when it gets dry slick and slow. We did some things to key in on that. The track actually got a little faster (in Saturday’s feature). We missed on some decision making as far as that went.”
Van Dam battled for a top 10 throughout the feature before placing 10th.
“It was good to roll our equipment back in the trailer and to be able to learn from the stuff we did,” he said. “I think having the track conditions we did we were able to try a lot of the things we wanted in one weekend. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but I think what we were able to add to our notebook was pretty good.”
Van Dam is scheduled to tackle Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., this Saturday. He has won at the quarter-mile oval in 2011 and twice in 2014.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 1 – Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: DNF (3); Feature: 6 (17).
April 2 – Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 10 (9).
SEASON STATS –
8 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing
APPAREL –
Van Dam has t-shirts available for sale at his race trailer and at Enumclaw Xpress Lube.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Johansen Excavating
Based in Buckley, Wash., Johansen Excavating specializes in civil construction. For more information, visit http://www.JohansenExcavating.com.
“Johansen Excavating has been a partner for the past few years,” Van Dam said. “They’ve been a great sponsor, but have been even better friends.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Highmark Concrete Contractors, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, Factory Kahne, 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller