Inside Line Promotions - COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (July 23, 2013) - Henry Van Dam put together another consistent weekend under the national spotlight.
With Lucas Oil Productions television cameras taping the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour doubleheader at Cottage Grove Speedway on Friday and Saturday for a delayed broadcast, Van Dam scored his third consecutive heat race win, a B Main triumph and a pair of seventh-place feature finishes.
"Definitely it was a good weekend, especially with the struggles we had Saturday night," he said. "I felt like the first night the seventh-place finish was mediocre. I was really excited at the progress we made on Saturday. To race in the top 10 with those guys is not always easy."
Van Dam opened the weekend by leading all eight laps of his heat race to claim his third straight heat win.
"It was huge for us, especially with struggling during the ASCS Northwest Region stuff," he said. "I don't think we'd won a heat race all year, maybe one. Granted we had good starting positions each night, but to get a win in front of those guys and on TV, trying to get the most exposure for our sponsors as well, is pretty big."
That earned Van Dam enough points to advance to the feature redraw, where he pulled the No. 6 in the random draw to start the feature on the outside of the third row.
"We had a decent car," he said. "I got a really bad start and I think we were back to ninth or 10th within the first four or five laps. Then we settled in and picked a few cars off. I think we raced our way into the top five for a lap or so and then got caught up almost going over the edge in (turns) one and two. On that last restart Jason Johnson got us for sixth. I just didn't have the grip level we were looking for to be able to move around and pass race cars."
Van Dam missed locking himself into Saturday's feature redraw by only three positions. He returned to the quarter-mile oval the following day, which got off to a rough start.
"I had a pretty bad vibration in hot laps to the point where I could hardly hang onto the steering wheel," he said. "We didn't really find anything and then went out for the heat race. On Lap 3 the drive line finally broke out of the rear end, which ended up being the vibration. We changed everything from the motor plate to the rear end to get ready for the B Main."
Without a chance to monitor track conditions, Van Dam started the 12-lap B Main, which transferred the top six to the feature, on the outside of the sixth row.
"The car had really good grip on all four corners," he said. "We were able to move around top to bottom to get up front before it was over."
Van Dam took the lead in turns three and four coming to the white flag and pulled away for the B Main win, which transferred him into the feature. Van Dam started the 30-lap main event in 17th, but quickly headed toward the top 10.
"I followed Dustin Morgan up there and I think I passed four or five cars on the get-go," he said. "Then I picked up a few running the top. We settled in and followed them around waiting for an opportunity to pass. We had the benefit of running the B Main so we knew where the track was at and how hard to run it. That was the time we needed to make up a lot of ground quickly before people figured out where their car was working and wasn't working."
Van Dam placed seventh for the second straight night and earned the PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger Award.
Van Dam will continue with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour on Friday and Saturday at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., where he has recorded a pair of top 10s in ASCS Northwest Region action this season.
QUICK RESULTS -
July 19 - Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. - Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 7 (6).
July 20 - Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. - Heat race: 8 (3); B Main: 1 (12); Feature: 7 (17).
SEASON STATS -
29 races, 1 win, 6 top fives, 18 top 10s, 24 top 15s, 27 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
VIDEO -
Here is a link thanks to ARRacing Videos to Van Dam's victory at Grays Harbor Raceway on June 15: http://youtu.be/sFPjfxd5Vgs
APPAREL -
Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available at his racing trailer at every race he competes in.
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 Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, Bob and Joan Shumway, Kellan and Kelsey Hall, Foothills Auto Supply, American Powder Coating, Pete Vos, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, Char's Barber Shop, Wesmar Race Engines, Factory Kahne, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, SpeedMart, Van Dam Farms and Rich Van Dam Dairy for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS -
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors' return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.insidelinepromotions.com.
- Admin Account on Jul 24, 2013
- Article Date: 7/24/2013 by Shawn Miller