(Photo by Fletcher Motorsports)
Inside Line Promotions – COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (June 15, 2014) – Momentum continues to build for Henry Van Dam, who powered to his third straight weekend with a victory last Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway.
In fact, Van Dam has garnered eight consecutive top 10s and four top fives in a row, with three of those earning a trip to Victory Lane.
“We’re having fun and that was the idea this year,” he said. “It seems like everything we worked for and toward has been working. We’ve had good starting spots and good things have happened for us. It’s definitely a good feeling knowing we have a good race car that can compete every night. It seems like the adjustments that we go after are working.”
The action kicked off last weekend on Friday for the first race of an ASCS Northwest Region doubleheader at Cottage Grove Speedway.
Van Dam won his heat race after starting on the outside of the front row. That earned him a trip to the feature redraw, where he pulled the No. 4 in the random draw to start on the outside of the second row for the 30-lap main event.
“I was real patient on the start,” he said. “We fell back to fifth, but we were fine. Going into turn one on Lap 3 something got kicked up, went through the side of the hood and pushed the dash back. I had to flip the switch and come to a stop. We got the dash pushed back out and the throttle working again.”
After making a trip to the work area during the caution, Van Dam’s crew repaired the car as best as they could before he restarted at the tail of the field.
“We weren’t full throttle after that because everything was bent up, but it wasn’t a huge issue,” he said. “I pretty much picked positions off one at a time. Patience was the key because there were guys running everywhere.”
Van Dam rallied from last to score a fourth-place finish.
“We had a car capable of winning,” he said. “We ran out of time getting through there. Overall it was still good to have some problems and come away with a top four.”
The weekend concluded on Saturday at the quarter-mile track where Van Dam won his heat race from the pole position. It earned him a spot in the feature redraw and this time he pulled the No. 2 to line up on the outside of the front row for the feature.
“Jayme (Barnes) got a good jump and was able to get out to a good lead,” he said. “I ran him back down on Lap 2 and I passed him for the lead. We were able to get up there and lead laps running the top. My car was pretty tight. I was waiting for the track to slick off and then the bottom came in and Colin Baker got inside of me. He probably would have passed me if the caution hadn’t come out.”
Following the caution near the midpoint of the race, Van Dam adjusted his line and he led the remainder of the main event for his third triumph of the year.
“I would say there is a lot of confidence in the car,” he said. “I know we’re going to be pretty good each time we push out.”
Van Dam is scheduled to return to Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., this Saturday. He earned a seventh-place finish in May during his first trip of the season to the 3/10-mile oval, which also marked his first top 10 of the year.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 13 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 4 (4).
June 14 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (2).
SEASON STATS –
13 races, 3 wins, 5 top fives, 8 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 10 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing
VIDEO –
Here is a link to a video by ARRacing of Van Dam winning the Summer Thunder Sprint Series event at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., on June 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2sBRaf5l1c&list=UUHdJ0ENxEZD5Vo6Y4nZayoA&feature=share&index=1
APPAREL –
Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available for sale at his race trailer.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – A.R.T Speed Equipment
Established in 1976, A.R.T. Speed Equipment is a parts and fabrication shop with a huge inventory of sprint car and mini sprint parts. A.R.T. also builds top-notch chassis. For more information, visit http://www.ARTspeedequip.com.
“I’ve been using A.R.T. chassis for the past few years and they are made with awesome quality, but the awesome customer service I receive makes it a great company,” Van Dam said.
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, Factory Kahne, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, 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 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 Jun 15, 2014
- Article Date: 6/15/2014 by Inside Line Promotions