(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2014) – Henry Van Dam called the 21st annual Trophy Cup a solid weekend.
“It was a touch disappointing because I think we had a shot at being in the top 10 in points, but overall it was a good weekend,” he said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Van Dam ended 15th in overall points out of the more than 80 sprint car teams that tackled the tripleheader at Thunderbowl Raceway.
The action kicked off last Thursday with Van Dam qualifying 11th quickest. However, he finished where he started – fourth – in his heat race, which relegated him to the B Main.
“We qualified really good for where we went out,” he said. “The heat races ended up where there wasn’t much passing. We just couldn’t capitalize on being in the right spot at the right time, which left us going to the B Main. Then we just missed the setup. We were way too free. I thought the track had more speed than it did.”
Van Dam ended 14th in the consolation race, but on a bright note he had a clean slate to put together a solid points night on Friday.
“We qualified early on Friday and took advantage of some things that happened in our heat,” he said. “We went out early to qualify, which helped us. That put us in a good spot for the night.”
Van Dam qualified fourth quickest and he maneuvered from sixth to third place in his heat race, which locked him into the main event. He lined up on the inside of the fourth row for the feature.
“We made progress from the night before, but still didn’t go as far as we needed getting the car tightened up,” he said. “We were able to move around, keep ourselves out of trouble and get a good finish. I played it pretty safe and we ended up 11th. It wasn’t a bad night, but we weren’t where we needed to be with the car.”
The solid points night started Van Dam on the outside of the second row of a heat race on Saturday. He picked up one position to finish third, which put him 10th in overall points entering the 50-lap feature. Since it was fully inverted Van Dam lined up on the inside of the eighth row.
“We started off pretty conservative to see how things were going to lay out,” he said. “We got settled in and a couple of the faster guys who started behind us got us. Then we started to get in a rhythm. We had a long green flag run and I got a line moving that nobody else was running. I think I was passing Roger (Crockett) for eighth and the caution came out. At that point the track started taking rubber. After that I went back up to the high middle groove I had been running and the rubber was below that so I ended up losing a few positions.”
Van Dam, who was up to ninth with eight laps remaining, dropped a few positions following that restart. He ended 14th, which marked his 30th top 15 of the season.
“It was kind of a weekend you had to make sure you kept your stuff together in one piece and also put yourself in the right spot at the right time,” he said. “It was really tough to keep up with the track. We took advantage of our opportunities and had a solid performance.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 16 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 4 (4); B Main: 14 (13).
Oct. 17 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 11 (7).
Oct. 18 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 14 (15).
SEASON STATS –
34 races, 6 wins, 14 top fives, 22 top 10s, 30 top 15s, 31 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
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 – Clems Enumclaw Powersports
Located in Enumclaw, Wash., Clems Enumclaw Powersports has been family owned and operated since 1974. Clems has been a one-stop shop for all powersports needs for nearly 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.EnumclawSuzuki.com.
“Clems Enumclaw Powersports makes sure our needs are taken care of getting around the pit area,” Van Dam said. “I’m very grateful for their support for the race team.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, 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 Oct 20, 2014
- Article Date: 10/20/2014 by Inside Line Promotions