(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – LEBANON, Ore. (Sept. 7, 2014) – Henry Van Dam registered his best career result with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at his home track last week.
Van Dam qualified a career-best seventh and rallied for an eighth-place result in the feature with the premier sprint car series last Monday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
“To have a really competitive car with those guys and to be able to pass drivers I’ve looked up to was pretty cool,” he said.
After qualifying seventh quickest and finishing fourth in his heat race, Van Dam lost a handful of positions during the opening laps of the feature.
“I put myself into bad spots on the race track and I wasn’t aggressive enough,” he said. “We got to about Lap 10 and I felt like I had a real good car. I made a decision to be more aggressive and it really paid off. At the end we had a chance to pass for seventh.”
Van Dam’s eighth-place finish was his first career top 10 with the World of Outlaws. It also highlighted a tripleheader last week, which started the previous night with a Summer Thunder Sprint Series event at Grays Harbor Raceway.
Van Dam qualified third quickest and he advanced from fourth to second place during his heat race, which lined him up on the inside of the second row for the main event. After dropping a couple of positions at the start, Van Dam rallied into the runner-up position and was within striking distance of the leader when he sustained front end damage on Lap 19.
“I didn’t feel like I hit an infield tire,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the infield, a tire or both. I think we just broke the left side radius rod. It could have been damaged earlier in the race. I was racing through traffic and trying to be patient, looking for a good opportunity to pass. It was pretty disappointing to be sitting in the infield when you thought you had a real good opportunity to win the race.”
He was credited with a 16th-place finish.
Van Dam’s week concluded last Tuesday with the World of Outlaws at Willamette Speedway, where he qualified 19th quickest and then finished where he started – seventh – in his heat race. That relegated him to the Last Chance Showdown.
“We didn’t qualify as well,” he said. “I didn’t predict the track to be that hooked up. I didn’t make enough changes to get free enough. We got stuck in a really tough heat race, so it made it tough to get anywhere. I was happy to run the Last Chance Showdown because it gave me some extra laps. I was able to run the top and feel it out.”
Van Dam finished third in the Last Chance Showdown to earn a transfer into the main event, which he started 19th.
“The feature was pretty crazy in the back,” he said. “I was just surviving and making good calls on where to put the car on the race track.”
He rallied to earn a 15th-place result.
Van Dam will take this weekend off before returning to action on Sept. 19-20 at Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash., with the ASCS Northwest Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 31 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 16 (3).
Sept. 1 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 4 (2); Feature: 8 (9).
Sept. 2 – Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 3 (2); Feature: 15 (19).
SEASON STATS –
28 races, 6 wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s, 24 top 15s, 25 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 19-20 at Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash., with the ASCS Northwest Region
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://youtu.be/a2sBRaf5l1c
APPAREL –
Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available for sale at his race trailer.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Johansen Excavating
Based in Buckley, Wash., Johansen Excavating specializes in civil
construction. For more information, visit http://www.JohansenExcavating.com.
“Johansen Excavating has been a partner for the past few years,” Van Dam said. “They’ve been a great sponsor, but have been even better friends.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, Factory Kahne, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, 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 Sep 07, 2014
- Article Date: 9/7/2014 by Inside Line Promotions