(Photo by Studio 92 Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 19, 2015) – White Lightning Motorsports drivers Jamie Ball and Devin Kline both ran into misfortune last Saturday at Knoxville Raceway.
Ball kicked off the event by qualifying third quickest in the 360ci class, which was his best performance at the half-mile oval since the final race of the 2013 season.
“I had an excellent qualifying effort,” he said. “I felt like we got our car back to how it used to be. In the heat race I lined up down the backstretch and the fuel line came loose down by my seat belts. I pulled into the work area and couldn’t get it fixed in time.”
Ball, who was slated to start sixth in a heat race and only needed to finish in the top six to lock into the feature redraw, was unable to start his heat race. Additionally, since there weren’t enough cars for a B Main he lined up behind all of the cars that locked in through the heats.
“If I could have went out and transferred through the B Main in first or second I would have got my time back and started ninth,” he said. “Starting 19th makes it really difficult. My car was great, but starting that far back is tough. We’ll keep moving forward and pushing hard.”
Ball advanced from 19th to 13th in the main event. He ranks ninth in the championship standings.
Kline also had to battle back from an early problem in the 305ci class.
“On the first lap of qualifying the heim in my injection broke,” he said. “It was weird. Nobody had really seen something like that. It just put us behind the eight ball all night. It was a real easy fix. It just stinks we didn’t get a lap in under qualifying.”
That started him at the back of a heat race, in which he advanced from eighth to sixth. That locked Kline into the 18th starting position for the 15-lap main event.
“I’ve only got six races under my belt and I’ve never started that far back,” he said. “The track was the slickest track I’ve ever raced on. It was survival mode. It was crazy with cars going down the frontstretch sideways. It was something I hadn’t experienced. For the way things started to get out of there with a top 10, we’ll call it a successful night.”
Kline rallied to score a 10th-place result. He currently is fifth in the championship standings.
Ball will compete this Tuesday and Wednesday for the Smith Family in the No. 03j SKE Chassis outlaw dirt kart during the QRC SPEED SPORT Challenge at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, N.C.
Ball and Kline will return to Knoxville Raceway on Saturday for another round of action.
QUICK RESULTS –
JAMIE BALL:
May 16 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: DNS (6); Feature: 13 (19).
DEVIN KLINE:
May 16 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 24; Heat race: 6 (8); Feature: 10 (18).
SEASON STATS –
JAMIE BALL – 7 races, 1 win, 2 top fives, 2 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 6 top 20s
DEVIN KLINE – 2 races, 1 win, 1 top five, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa
MEDIA LINKS –
Jamie Ball Website: http://www.JamieBall.com
Devin Kline Website: http://www.DevinKline.com
Jamie Ball Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JamieBall5j
Devin Kline Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DevinKline5j
VIDEO –
Here is a link to highlights of Kline’s first win of the season at Knoxville Raceway on May 9: https://youtu.be/ErMdMcbuxjQ
APPAREL –
White Lightning Motorsports has t-shirts and hoodies available for purchase at their race trailers in the infield of each sprint car event at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Ostrich Racing Engines
Ostrich Racing Engines offers performance 305ci, 360ci and 410ci engines. Along with being a dealer for many of the top product manufacturers, Ostrich also offers a complete machine shop service and dyno facility for the do-it-yourself racers. For more information, visit http://www.OstrichRacingEngines.com.
“We have been utilizing Ostrich power since we started our race team,” Jamie Ball said. “Lee and the crew at Ostrich build a great engine and provide great service. At Knoxville Raceway you must have a great engine and Ostrich has been providing us with some of the fastest engines in the country. All of our cars are consistently top qualifiers and top runners and we credit that to our Ostrich Racing Engines.”
White Lightning Motorsports would also like to thank Matt Jones Trucking, Jerry & Kelly Johnston, Housby, JJ Kane Auctioneers, Timberline Tree Service, BCP Weddings, The Hearing Clinic, Iowa State Savings Bank, Sweet Manufacturing, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, FK Rod Ends, Fragola Performance Systems, King Racing Products, BR Motorsports, Hoosier Tire, Bell Helmets, MPD Racing, Driver Websites, Champion Oil, Wingdance Graphics, Shell Shock and Hooker Harness 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 May 19, 2015
- Article Date: 5/19/2015 by Inside Line Promotions