(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (July 9, 2014) – Patrick Dills earned arguably his biggest achievement during his short sprint car career last Friday.
Dills powered his Northwest Extreme Sprints race car into the ASCS Northwest Region main event at Cottage Grove Speedway, where he faced sprint cars with approximately 200 more horsepower on the quarter-mile track.
“I wasn’t expecting to make the main event at all, but when it happened it was pretty awesome,” he said. “It was a big surprise. We only got like two laps in hot laps. I didn’t really get to shake down the car.”
Dills lined up on the outside of the third row for his heat race.
“The heat race came and I got up to fourth really quick and there was a yellow,” he said. “I fell back to sixth and drove up to fourth again. There was another yellow so I had to go back to sixth and I made my way back to fourth. It was probably the hardest I’ve ever driven the car. Once I passed those first cars I could tell I was fast and I gained some confidence. I put it to the floor and didn’t look back.”
Dills ended with a fourth-place result in his heat, which earned him enough points to lock into the main event.
“At the beginning of the feature it was so scattered and nerve-racking,” he said. “I was holding my own on the bottom. I’d go to the top and try it out when I felt like there was nobody around me. I feel like I held my own at the end of the race.”
Dills spent the majority of the race testing different lines to work the bottom groove. He ended with an 18th-place result.
“It boosted my confidence quite a bit and it taught me a lot how to drive when cars are all around you,” he said. “That’s been something I’ve been struggling on. I’m still trying to get used to where I can put it and how far I can push the subject. I think I gained a lot of experience running in traffic and I got a lot of experience running the bottom.”
The weekend concluded on Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway with another test against some of the top sprint car drivers on the West Coast.
“I had a pretty stacked heat race,” he said. “The track was a lot different and the competition was tougher so I didn’t make the main.”
Dills placed ninth in his heat race, which relegated him to the B Main. He then maneuvered from 15th to 11th in the consolation race to end the event.
He is taking this weekend off before the next Northwest Extreme Sprints event at Cottage Grove Speedway on July 19.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 4 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 18 (15).
July 5 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Heat race: 9 (4); B Main: 11 (15).
SEASON STATS –
10 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 6 top 10s, 6 top 15s, 8 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 19 at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore.
MEDIA LINKS –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patrick-Dills-Racing/236840896439816?ref=br_tf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PatrickDills90
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – All Seasons Equipment
Located in Eugene, Ore., All Seasons Equipment is an authorized source for Mahindra Tractors, Stihl, Husqvarna, Oregon and Exmark outdoor power equipment. For more information, visit http://www.AllSeasonsEquipment.net.
“All Seasons Equipment has helped us through the outlaw kart years and they stepped up a lot this year,” Dills said. “They are really supportive of me and my racing. It’s really appreciated.”
Dills would also like to thank Jerry Dills Trucking, BC Motorsports, Weeman’s Small Engine Repair, Keith Whitaker Trucking, Steel House, Bonnichsen Repair, Rocket Designs and Inside Line Promotions 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 Jul 09, 2014
- Article Date: 7/9/2014 by Inside Line Promotions