(Photo by Dusty Weigert, Dirtracing.us)
Inside Line Promotions – GREENWOOD, Neb. (April 7, 2014) – Kevin Swindell continued his podium-capturing performances with Blazing Racing as the team tackled the ASCS Midwest Region season-opening doubleheader last weekend.
On a challenging I-80 Speedway last Saturday, Swindell, who guided the car to a win and a third-place result in the team’s first two races together, picked up where he left off.
After he finished third in a heat race, Swindell started the main event on the outside of the sixth row and promptly began to advance toward the front.
“I went through a few of them at the beginning,” he said. “The places I would make speed guys would slide across. The restart gave me an opportunity to be creative. I think I got from seventh or eighth to third in a lap and a half.”
After picking up a handful of positions in the first half of the race, Swindell quickly advanced several spots and executed a perfect slide job for third place in turns one and two with 10 laps remaining.
“(The other driver) tried to block me getting into turn one and leaned into me,” he said. “I was able to slide across there and leave him enough time to know I was coming. I cleared him and got off the corner a little better than he did.”
As Swindell drove through the rubber in the middle of the track in turns three and four, the other driver collided with him and Swindell flipped into the fence in turn four.
“I went in as low to the rubber as I could to cut off any opportunity to slide me,” he said. “He blasted through the dust. By the time I knew he was there he was into the side of me.”
Swindell was scored with an 18th-place finish.
The team returned to the wide track on Sunday and Swindell rallied from seventh to fourth place in his heat race, which gave him enough points to advance into the feature redraw. He then pulled the No. 4 to start on the outside of the second row.
“I got to second right off the start,” he said. “I was slowly getting to (leader) Ian Madsen. When the traffic hit I was able to sneak between him and some lapped cars. I was pretty much cruising. Then we had a restart with 12 or 13 laps to go and the car popped a couple of times, like once every couple of laps. We had a restart with seven laps to go and it wouldn’t run. It was like running half throttle, like running around there wide open turning the switch on and off.”
Swindell maintained the lead until Danny Lasoski took over the top spot with two laps remaining. Swindell held on for the runner-up result, which was his third podium in four races with the Blazing Racing team.
“Everything has been good so far,” he said. “The car has been really good and easy to drive. We’ll just keep plugging along.”
Swindell and the Blazing Racing team are slated to compete with the MOWA series this Friday at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., and this Saturday at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 5 – I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. – Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 18 (12).
April 6 – I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. – Heat race: 4 (7); Feature: 2 (4).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 1 win, 5 top fives, 6 top 10s, 8 top 15s, 9 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill., and Saturday at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa, with the MOWA
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SwindellMotorsports.citymaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinSwindell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinSwindellRacing
UP NEXT –
Click on the link for highlights of Swindell’s first victory of the season at 81 Speedway on March 29: http://vimeo.com/90509051
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Arai Helmets
Arai Helmets are a premier helmet manufacturer with distributers throughout the country. For more information, visit http://www.AraiAmericas.com.
“Arai Helmets are the best fitting helmet I’ve ever worn,” Swindell said. “Visually and structurally it’s the best thing I’ve ever put on my head.”
Swindell would also like to thank Mike Curb and Curb Records, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Racing Optics and Todd and Susan LaHaise 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Apr 07, 2014
- Article Date: 4/7/2014 by Inside Line Promotions