Inside Line Promotions - KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 12, 2013) - Austen Wheatley was headed in the right direction at the 53rd annual FVP Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway.
Wheatley had overcome a difficult pill draw that sent him out late to qualify both during his preliminary night on Thursday and Friday's event before he ran out of fuel around the midpoint of the B Main on Friday after charging from 18th toward the top five.
"It was just a marathon," he said. "We had the car working well though."
Wheatley's Knoxville Nationals ended with an 18th-place result in the consolation. The team scratched from Saturday's finale.
The weekend opened on Thursday when Wheatley went out 43rd of the 53 drivers during qualifying.
"The track got real bad toward the end," he said. "Once you qualify bad at the Knoxville Nationals, heat races are notoriously narrow and you can't expect to pass a lot of cars starting in the back."
After qualifying 44th quickest, Wheatley advanced from ninth to seventh in his heat race. That started him 17th in the B Main.
"We continuously progressed," he said after placing 15th. "We still weren't that great."
The team returned to the fast half mile on Friday with a similar pill draw and qualifying effort. Wheatley qualified 54th quickest of the 71 drivers and he placed eighth in his heat race to again start near the back of the B Main.
However, he quickly maneuvered through traffic and neared the top five before he ran out of fuel approximately half way through the 12-lap consolation.
"It seemed like both nights we were good at the end of the night, but not so much great at the beginning of the night," he said. "Your beginning of the night sets up your end of the night so we've got to switch that up."
Wheatley will return to action with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series on Tuesday at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., on Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and on Sunday at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D.
QUICK RESULTS -
Aug. 8 - Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa - Qualifying: 44; Heat race: 7 (9); B Main: 15 (17).
Aug. 9 - Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa - Qualifying: 54; Heat race: 8 (9); B Main: 18 (18).
SEASON STATS -
17 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 2 top 15s, 5 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Tuesday at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and Sunday at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D., with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.AustenWheatley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiniWheats44w
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DownForceDesigns?fref=ts
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - BR Motorsports
Located in Visalia, Calif., BR Motorsports is a parts supplier for sprint cars and midgets. For more information, visit http://www.BRMotorsports.com.
"BR Motorsports helps us out a ton on parts and are very easy to work with," Wheatley said. "They let us stay at their shop whenever we are in California and are always quick to respond any time we need something."
Wheatley would also like to thank Redlined Welding & Construction, WolfWeld, Downforce Designs, The Oil Medics, Fire-Down Graphics, Astro Titanium, Bell and King Racing Products 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 Aug 13, 2013
- Article Date: 8/13/2013 by Shawn Miller