(Photo by DB3 Imaging)
Inside Line Promotions – LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (May 28, 2014) – Kevin Swindell’s season debut with Bernie Stuebgen in the Indy Race Parts car went well on Monday at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
Despite a heat race miscue and a couple of bleeder issues in the feature, the team put together a solid night with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series.
“Overall, for the first night and assuming you are going to have some growing pains with the car, that was pretty good,” Swindell said.
The night opened with Swindell qualifying 13th quickest, which started him on the pole of a heat race.
“We qualified really good,” he said. “We learned our lesson on how these guys are going way different on the gears. It worked out where we needed to be.”
Swindell led the first half of his heat race before a caution forced a double-file restart. Swindell chose the bottom lane and dropped two positions on the restart.
“That was the first time I’ve raced since they changed where the restart line is and the rules,” he said. “As soon as I realized how things were going to work I realized I made the mistake and should have been on the outside.”
Swindell finished third in his heat race to lock himself into the 35-lap main event, which he started on the inside of the eighth row.
“I thought we were really good,” he said. “At the beginning I moved the wing back a hair and the thing got too tight so I put it back. All of a sudden I couldn’t get the wing back far enough.”
After quickly charging into the top 10, the handling on the car started to go away. A red flag during the midpoint of the race allowed the crew members to work on the race cars and Swindell’s team found an issue.
“They had that red and the right rear bleeder had stuck,” he said. “They put a new bleeder in and tightened the car up. We thought we had it fixed and that one stuck. Neither one would bleed air.”
Once the race resumed Swindell battled to hang near the top 10.
“As soon as the right rear got hot I was junk,” he said. “I was kind of riding there and someone got in the back of me and turned me around. I tried to go to the work area to see if they could do something and I guess we were past halfway so we didn’t have any time in the work area.”
He was unable to return to the track and finished with a 19th-place result.
Although plans are up in the air for this weekend, Swindell and Stuebgen will return to action with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series next Wednesday at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 26 – Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind. – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 3 (1); Feature: 19 (15).
SEASON STATS –
16 races, 1 win, 6 top fives, 7 top 10s, 12 top 15s, 14 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Wednesday at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind., with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SwindellMotorsports.citymaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinSwindell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinSwindellRacing
VIDEO –
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 – ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems
Based in Concord, N.C., ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems manufactures custom seats and distributes a variety of racing accessories, including seat mounts, padding, belts and restraints, steering wheels and helmets. For additional information, visit http://www.ButlerBuilt.net.
“ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems has some of the safest and most comfortable safety equipment available,” Swindell said. “I encourage everyone to give the ButlerBuilt team a call to learn more about being safe and comfortable in a race car.”
Swindell would also like to thank Mike Curb and Curb Records, Arai Helmets, Racing Optics and Indy Race Parts 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 May 28, 2014
- Article Date: 5/28/2014 by Inside Line Promotions