(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (April 20, 2015) – Austen Wheatley earned his best finish of the season last Saturday at Skagit Speedway despite ending the night with a mechanical issue.
The event opened with Wheatley setting quick time during qualifying, which lined him up on the outside of the second row of a heat race during his season debut at the 3/10-mile oval.
“I got a really good start,” he said. “I was second coming to the line. Trey (Starks) was leading it and I don’t think I would have passed him without him having a problem, but I only needed a top four to lock into the feature inversion.”
Wheatley won his heat race to advance into the main event, where he lined up on the outside of the second row following the four-car inversion.
After powering into third place on the opening lap, Wheatley spent several laps tracking down the runner-up position. He maneuvered into second place around Lap 5 and used the majority of the race to chase down the leader.
“The track was really, really rough,” he said. “It got rougher as the night went on. The holes were in weird spots. It was hard to get around, but I figured it out toward the end.”
Unfortunately, Wheatley was also battling a mechanical issue that continued to worsen throughout the main event. He pulled off the track with a handful of laps remaining while running second.
“If we were leading I would have tried to finish the race, but I didn’t have a shot to win with how bad it was getting so I decided to play it safe,” he said.
Wheatley was credited with a sixth-place finish.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 18 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 1 (4); Feature: 6 (4).
SEASON STATS –
13 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
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 – Downforce Designs
Downforce Designs is an apparel company established and operated by Austen Wheatley. For information on apparel options, prices, clientele and more, visit http://www.DownforceDesigns.com.
“It’s good to have a fresh take on apparel in the sport,” Wheatley said. “My goal is to provide something unique and diverse, and I think I know what a driver wants to see on his or her apparel. It’s a racer helping racers.”
Wheatley would also like to thank Redlined Welding & Construction, Astro Titanium, 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 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 20, 2015
- Article Date: 4/20/2015 by Inside Line Promotions