(Photo by Serena Dalhamer)
Inside Line Promotions – WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (April 12, 2015) – Sammy Swindell posted a top-10 result during his first 410ci sprint car race since last August.
Swindell guided the Donnie Cooper owned No. 1 to a ninth-place finish on Saturday during the inaugural National Sprint League event at 34 Raceway.
“It was a good night,” he said. “We started out in practice and the car was pretty loose. We made some changes for qualifying. My second lap was going to be better than my first, but I got into the cushion too much going into turn three and had to get out of the gas.”
Swindell qualified 11th quickest out of the 40 competitors. That lined him up on the outside of the second row for a heat race.
“We made some changes for that and the car was a lot better,” he said. “I played with moving the wing a little bit and I got the car too tight. I was trying to be too aggressive at the top. I settled down and changed my line and picked up a lot of time.”
Swindell, who quickly maneuvered into second place, erased more than a one-second deficit during the final three laps before he made a last-lap pass for the heat race win.
“The way the format was with the points for the heat race I knew it was a bonus to get that last spot,” he said. “I was able to get it right at the end. We were pretty happy. We made a couple of little changes for the feature.”
Swindell ranked sixth in overall points following the heat races to advance into the feature redraw. Unfortunately, he drew the second-highest number – seven – to line up on the inside of the fourth row for the feature.
“It would have made life a lot easier if we had started on the front since it was a little hard to pass, but you just take whatever you can get,” he said. “The car wasn’t bad, but we had a little brake issue for most of the race after about six laps in. To run the bottom you really needed to have good brakes.”
Swindell battled just outside the top five for most of the feature before ending with a ninth-place result.
“I think if we’d have had the brakes we would have been in the top five,” he said. “You’d have to lift early. It made it hard to pick up the ground to go forward. But for it being our first 410 race of the season and against most people who raced a bunch this year or knew their race package from the past, it was a good night.”
QUICK RESULTS –
April 11 – 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 1 (4); Feature: 9 (7).
SEASON STATS –
5 races, 1 win, 4 top fives, 5 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 5 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SwindellMotorsports.citymaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Brown & Miller Racing Solutions
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions is a leader in lightweight hoses and fittings within the motor sports industry. For more information, visit http://www.BMRS.net.
“I’ve run Brown & Miller Racing Solutions products for quite a few years and they’ve always been first class,” Swindell said. “They are always innovating and trying to make their products better.”
Swindell would also like to thank John Christner Trucking, J. Davidson Scrap Metal Processors, Energy Release, Simpson Race Products, FK Rod Ends, Sweet Manufacturing, HRP Wings, Schoenfeld Headers and High Performance Lubricants 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 by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Apr 12, 2015
- Article Date: 4/12/2015 by Inside Line Promotions