(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ELMA, Wash. (Aug. 23, 2015) – Henry Van Dam was in test-mode last Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway.
“We went there with a completely new setup,” he said. “We wanted to try to improve. We feel like we don’t drive well enough in traffic so we’ve been trying to go to areas where we can move around the race track without giving up any speed. When we’ve been able to start up front and have the preferred line we’ve been pretty good, but we’re not good enough in traffic.”
Van Dam kicked off the night by qualifying eighth quickest around the 3/8-mile oval.
“It was one lap and with the track being rough it was more about not dumping the car than it was going out there for a fast lap,” he said.
He then finished fourth in a heat race after starting on the outside of the front row.
“We started on the outside and the bottom was the preferred groove,” he said. “We were third from the start and just wasn’t able to get going. We tried the top a couple more laps and I got passed again. We settled in to everybody else’s line after that.”
That lined Van Dam up on the outside of the fourth row for the 25-lap feature.
“I thought there was potential the top might come in,” he said. “I tried a good three or four laps to get the top working and ended up falling back to 12th. Then I had to start working my way back up through there. There was one preferred groove on the track so it made it a little tougher. We were able to get up to sixth. We just weren’t competitive enough to pass cars.”
Van Dam was credited with a sixth-place finish. He remains the leader of the Grays Harbor Raceway championship standings with only two 360ci events left at the track this season.
“It didn’t work out like we wanted to, but we gained a lot of information from it,” he said. “The challenge of getting better always produces better results. We’ll stay aggressive on learning. I feel like we exhausted the setup we had. We tried multiple little things to make it better. We’ll stay aggressive on trying to get better no matter what that takes.”
Van Dam will return to competition on Sept. 6 at Grays Harbor Raceway with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 22 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 4 (2); Feature: 6 (8).
SEASON STATS –
22 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 14 top 10s, 17 top 15s, 20 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 6 at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing
APPAREL –
Van Dam has t-shirts available for sale at his race trailer and at Enumclaw Xpress Lube.
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 of the race team.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, Factory Kahne, 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, Rich Van Dam Dairy and Northwest Welding & Fabrication 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 Aug 23, 2015
- Article Date: 8/23/2015 by Inside Line Promotions