(Photo by Mike Howard Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – SALINA, Okla. (Aug. 18, 2014) – Seth Bergman stepped out of his comfort zone last week when he tackled a pair of nonwing sprint car events in Oklahoma.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. “Everything about these cars is different.”
Bergman, who had competed in only two nonwing races in his career prior to last week, kicked off the USAC Southwest competition last Wednesday at Lawton Speedway in Lawton. He finished fourth in his heat race, which lined him up on the pole of the B Main.
After winning the consolation race to earn a transfer into the main event, Bergman charged from 17th to seventh before he spun in the closing laps.
“I got up to seventh and ended up taking myself out,” he said. “It was shaping up to be ok. I was throwing slide jobs and banging the cushion really hard. I hit it really hard and it biked the car up and turned it around with one lap to go.”
Bergman finished with a 12th-place result.
His learning curve continued on Thursday at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, where he ended seventh in his heat race. After being relegated to the B Main, Bergman led the entire consolation race to again garner a transfer into the main event.
He then rallied from 17th to a fourth-place finish, which marked his 17th top five of the season. It also gave him the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“I felt like we had a better car than fourth place,” he said. “It took me a majority of the race to get up there. I was moving forward the whole time. When I got there I felt like I had something for the leaders, but I ran out of laps. I was happy with coming from the B Main to end up fourth. I think we drove around some good nonwing cars. All in all, we didn’t tear anything up and ended with a solid result.”
Bergman returned to winged sprint car action on Saturday at Salina Highbanks Speedway with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.
“I expected to be a lot better than I was,” he said. “It just wasn’t a good night. I was disappointed with how it went. The race car was pretty fast in Iowa (earlier this month) and I was really looking forward to coming back and having a shot to win at Salina. I just didn’t have speed in the race car.”
After finishing fifth in his heat race, Bergman lined up on the outside of the seventh row for the feature.
“I was ok in the main event,” he said. “I just wasn’t as good as I needed to be to be up front. I was trying to do everything I could to go forward. I just maintained and to me that’s very frustrating.”
Bergman ended with an eighth-place result.
He is scheduled to compete this Thursday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Mid-South Showdown and on Friday at Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 13 – Lawton Speedway in Lawton, Okla. – Heat race: 4 (3); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 12 (17).
Aug. 14 – Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla. – Heat race: 7 (8); B Main: 1 (5); Feature: 4 (17).
Aug. 16 – Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla. – Heat race: 5 (4); Feature: 8 (14).
SEASON STATS –
38 races, 7 wins, 17 top fives, 26 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 33 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Mid-South Showdown and Friday at Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
LIVE COVERAGE –
To keep up to speed with Bergman at every Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event, visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio. Additionally, RacinBoys will provide live Pay-Per-View video at select races.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SethBergmanRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BergmanRacing
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SethBergmanRacing
VIDEOS –
Here is a link to highlights of Bergman’s victory at Skagit Speedway on May 17 (starts around 13:10): http://youtu.be/gMPkdGd90e8
APPAREL –
Bergman has men’s and women’s t-shirts available for sale at his race trailer during events he competes in this season.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Oilfield Equipment & Manufacturing
Based in Shawnee, Okla., Oilfield Equipment & Manufacturing is a business within the oil industry.
“Oilfield Equipment & Manufacturing builds anchors for oil wells and they are pretty much at the top of the industry quality-wise,” Bergman said. “They take pride in being made in America and in building quality parts. They got involved with us at the beginning of last year and it has been a great partnership.”
Bergman would also like to thank Corridor Electric, ASI Racing Engines, Print Place, Young Tools, SpeedMart and CSI Shocks 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 Aug 18, 2014
- Article Date: 8/18/2014 by Inside Line Promotions