(Photo by DB3 Imaging)
Inside Line Promotions – ABERDEEN, S.D. (June 20, 2016) – Everything is starting to flow well for Jason Sides, who scored a trio of top-10 finishes last weekend to give him six top 10s in his last eight World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series races.
“It was good that we put together some good runs,” he said. “It could have been three nights in the top five, but it could have been a couple of DNFs, too. All in all, it was a good week and it’s been getting better. Having some consistency is nice.”
The competition was set to begin last Tuesday at Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minn., where rain delayed the event one day. Sides opened Wednesday’s action by qualifying 10th quickest before he advanced from fourth to third place – only one spot out of the dash – in a heat race.
That locked Sides into the seventh starting position for the main event.
“We were really, really good,” he said. “I drove up through there. We were beating on the door of the top three and a red flag came out. We sat there for a long time for (the officials) to not open it. The tires lost air and that made the car really tight once we restarted so it would bicycle. I think we were third on the restart and fell back to ninth in the last five or six laps.”
Sides held on for a ninth-place result.
The team ventured to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., on Friday. Sides timed in ninth quickest during qualifying and he again placed third in a heat race to miss advancing into the dash by only one spot. This time it lined him up on the inside of the fifth row for the feature.
“We passed a few cars,” he said. “I think we got to fifth or sixth. We had a couple of red flags so we couldn’t keep the tires good and hot. Whether you use a bleeder or not the tires are shrinking. So you go out with one number for stagger. After they get hot and cool off it comes out with a different number for stagger. When you went into the corners there one corner was nice and slick and the other off turn four was kind of wet. When you lose stagger the car gets really tight and wants to bicycle real bad and that’s what we did. We were lucky to finish and not be one of the red flags.”
Sides ended with an eighth-place finish.
The weekend wrapped up on Sunday at Brown County Speedway, where Sides established a new track record as he set quick time during qualifying. He then won a heat race from the pole position to lock into the dash redraw. Unfortunately, the highest number – six – was drawn. That lined him up on the outside of the third row for the dash.
“We had a good qualifying lap to set quick time and I was pretty decent in the heat race and won it,” he said. “We go into the dash draw and they draw the six, putting us on the third row. I didn’t realize how rocky the track was because I hadn’t been behind anybody. It was really rocky and really dusty and I didn’t go anywhere.”
Sides placed sixth in the dash to start the main event in that position.
“There wasn’t much passing,” he said. “Brad Sweet tried running the top when you had to stay on the bottom in turns three and four. When he did that that’s where I got him. Then we just ran behind everybody in line.”
Sides finished with a fifth-place result, which was his fourth top five of the season.
He will return to World of Outlaws competition this Wednesday at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., for the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Showdown; Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn.; and Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis., for the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial presented by Karavan Trailers.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 15 – Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minn. – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 9 (7).
June 17 – River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 8 (9).
June 19 – Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 6 (6); Feature: 5 (6).
SEASON STATS –
42 races, 2 wins, 4 top fives, 18 top 10s, 28 top 15s, 39 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Wednesday at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., for the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Showdown; Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn.; and Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis., for the Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial presented by Karavan Trailers with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SidesMotorsports.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SidesMotorsport
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sides-Motorsports/283833970847?ref=br_tf
LIVE AUDIO –
Keep up with Sides Motorsports via free, live audio from DIRTVision at every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event throughout the season. Select events also include live Pay-Per-View video. For more information, click http://www.DIRTVision.com.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – King Racing Products
King Racing Products builds the strongest, lightest and most affordable American made sprint car products. For more information, visit http://www.KingRacingProducts.com.
“King Racing Products has been a big supporter of Sides Motorsports and we wouldn’t be able to travel up and down the road with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series without their partnership,” Sides said. “King Racing Products builds a great selection of parts for racers so I would encourage every driver to give them a shot.”
Sides would also like to thank Wetherington Tractor Service, Inc., R.E. Enterprises, Clean Seal, Inc., VRP Shocks, Dancer Logistics Inc., BR Motorsports, FSR Radiators, Dancer Logistics, Inc., Jim Schuhknecht, East Coast Logistics, Driven Racing Oil, Ingles Racing Engines, Wings Unlimited and All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads 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 Jun 20, 2016
- Article Date: 6/20/2016 by Inside Line Promotions