(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ELMA, Wash. (Sept. 8, 2015) – Austen Wheatley continued his recent string of success during the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series annual visit to his home state.
Wheatley qualified inside the top 10 both nights, including a career-best sixth-place time trial result, and he recorded a pair of career-best World of Outlaws finishes at the two tracks closest to his shop.
“We’re pretty happy with everything,” he said. “Qualifying seems to be the key. For whatever reason I’ve turned that around the last few races. We’ve been pretty consistent. I think we’ve qualified in the top 10 four of the last five races. It just puts you in a better spot for the feature. It’s a lot easier to maintain a position than it is to pass for one with the World of Outlaws.”
Following a rain out on Friday, last weekend kicked off on Saturday at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. Wheatley timed in sixth quickest – less than seven hundredths of a second away for quick time.
“We missed quick time by less than a tenth of a second,” he said. “It was the closest I’ve been to a quick time. We tried some setup stuff in the heat and ran fourth, which was what we needed to do to lock into the feature.”
That lined Wheatley up on the inside of the fifth row for the main event.
“The track was rough, but there were still lanes to pass in turns three and four,” he said. “Turns one and two it was on the bottom. Unfortunately, on a restart around Lap 4 I got run over. I went to the bottom and another driver blew through me. It folded my front axle and damaged the nose wing.”
Wheatley went to the work area during the caution and his team replaced the front axle, but didn’t have time to repair the nose wing. He restarted the race at the back of the field.
“I really wanted to get a top 10 or even a top five and I think if we wouldn’t have gotten wrecked we could have, but woulda, coulda, shoulda,” he said. “We did good to rebound the way we did.”
Wheatley rallied from the back to post a 13th-place finish.
His team then tackled Grays Harbor Raceway on Monday. Wheatley qualified ninth quickest before placing second in a heat race. That lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for the feature.
“We really hung around there the whole time,” he said. “I backed up to 13th at one point. We made up a lot of our time in turns three and four. In turns one and two I kept hooking the rut in the middle. I got up to 10th, but was passed in the final laps by Brad Sweet. That’s two times in the last fives races I’ve been running 10th and got passed in the final two laps.”
Wheatley ended with an 11th-place result.
He will return to World of Outlaws competition this Wednesday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., before racing on Friday and Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Gold Cup Race of Champions.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 5 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 4 (3); Feature: 13 (9).
Sept. 7 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 11 (11).
SEASON STATS –
23 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 3 top 10s, 6 top 15s, 10 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Wednesday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore.; Friday and Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Gold Cup Race of Champions with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
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 Sep 08, 2015
- Article Date: 9/8/2015 by Inside Line Promotions