(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (Aug. 25, 2014) – Austen Wheatley is hitting on all eight cylinders as he enters one of the biggest weekends of his season.
Wheatley is coming off a runner-up finish at Skagit Speedway on Saturday during the final tune-up prior to the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series doubleheader at his home track this weekend.
“We should be sitting pretty for the Outlaws shows,” he said. “I think we have a top 10 every race there this season.”
In addition to his top-10 streak of seven races at Skagit Speedway, Wheatley has scored a top-four result in six events at the 3/10-mile oval this season. That includes last Saturday, when he opened the night by setting quick time in qualifying.
“It actually didn’t feel very good, but I guess I was in the right part of the race track,” he said. “I think everybody else was trying the top in turns one and two and I was hugging the bottom.”
After advancing from fourth to third place in his heat race, Wheatley rolled the No. 6 during the feature inversion. That lined him up on the outside of the third row for the main event.
“I stuck it in the wall on the first lap and got a flat right rear tire,” he said. “The watts link broke and my crew didn’t know it so I went back out there with it broken. We had a good green flag run of about 18 laps and we got into lapped traffic and I caught the leaders.”
Wheatley then took advantage of a late-race restart to maneuver into the runner-up position, which is where he finished.
“With the watts link broke it made the car really, really tight because it was leaning over,” he said. “On a restart with about six laps to go I got underneath a car for second, but the leader was gone. I think with as much stuff that happened second was alright to get out of it with.”
It marked his sixth top five of the season.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 2 (6).
SEASON STATS –
39 races, 1 win, 6 top fives, 7 top 10s, 9 top 15s, 15 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.AustenWheatley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustenWheatley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DownForceDesigns?fref=ts
APPAREL –
Wheatley will have t-shirts and hoodies for sale at every race he competes at this season. For his schedule of races, visit http://www.AustenWheatley.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Redlined Welding & Construction
Redlined Welding & Construction performs welding and construction for fishing boats and processors. Based out of Lake Stevens, Wash., Redlined Welding & Construction is owned and operated by Austen’s father, Shannon Wheatley.
“Redlined Welding & Construction is a family business and we race with a family team, so without Redlined Welding & Construction I wouldn’t be able to race,” Austen Wheatley said. “It is the heart and soul of this team.”
Wheatley would also like to thank Downforce Designs, Astro Titanium, The Oil Medics, Fire-Down Graphics, SpeedMart, Bell and King Racing Products 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 25, 2014
- Article Date: 8/25/2014 by Inside Line Promotions