(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (July 27, 2015) – Austen Wheatley showed great improvement throughout the 26th annual Bob’s Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals last weekend at Skagit Speedway, where he raced for the first time in more than three months and in a new chassis.
“The second night was way better,” he said. “The first night was terrible. I spun out by myself and got ran into three times. The new car was way different than what I had before. I struggled pretty bad. I think our setup was a bit off and I was not very consistent. I didn’t really know what to expect from it and it reacted a lot different.”
Wheatley qualified 13th quickest and won a heat race to kick off the doubleheader last Friday. That locked him into the seventh starting position for the preliminary main event at the high-banked track.
“I got shuffled back super early,” he said. “I was very aggressive early and that’s why I spun out. I probably only had a top-10 car and I should have just salvaged it.”
Wheatley rebounded from his midrace spin to post a 16th-place result, which locked him into Saturday’s $10,000-to-win feature as the driver ranked 16th in overall points. That started him on the outside of the eighth row for the 40-lap feature.
“We changed a bunch of stuff setup-wise and that got me more comfortable in the car,” he said. “The difference was night and day. It was so much better.”
Wheatley methodically maneuvered his way into the top 10 before a late rally moved him within striking distance of the top five.
“There were times I’d pass three or four cars and we’d have a restart and I’d get tight on the curb and I’d get passed by three or four cars,” he said. “We could have been top five if I was more aggressive. Just the first night I was so aggressive early I didn’t want to overdrive it.”
Wheatley rallied to record a seventh-place result, which earned him the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 16 (7).
July 25 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Feature: 7 (16).
SEASON STATS –
15 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 6 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 – Astro Titanium
Established in 1999, Astro Titanium manufactures quality titanium fasteners for sprint cars and midgets. Based out of Noti, Ore., owner Dave Sims has developed his business into a titanium leader on a national scale. For more information, visit http://www.AstroTitanium.com.
“Astro Titanium and Dave Sims have been with me since the beginning of my career,” Wheatley said. “Anytime we have a problem, we call Dave up and he helps. He’s a really personable guy and his products work great.”
Wheatley would also like to thank Redlined Welding & Construction, Downforce Designs, 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 Jul 27, 2015
- Article Date: 7/27/2015 by Inside Line Promotions