(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – LEBANON, Ore. (July 10, 2016) – Henry Van Dam put together a pair of strong showings during the Western Sprint Tour Speedweek.
Van Dam kicked off his appearance with the series last Monday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., where he qualified fifth quickest in his group before falling to seventh in a heat race at the quarter-mile oval.
“We qualified decent, but I just couldn’t get going in the heat race and lost ground,” he said. “I ended up bogged down in the heat race and couldn’t get caught up. That put us in the B Main. I tried the top a couple of times, but the bottom was the only place to be.”
Van Dam scored a runner-up result in the consolation race to transfer into the 17th starting position in the main event.
“In the feature we were able to start working our way through,” he said. “I was patient and picked off cars when I could. We were able to keep a good enough pace to not go a lap down. I thought we had a good enough car to get in the top five. Once the track took rubber that didn’t allow it.”
Van Dam charged from 17th to the seventh-place finish.
He ventured to Willamette Speedway the following night. Van Dam set quick time during qualifying before he maneuvered from sixth to third place in a heat race, which earned enough points to lock him into the dash.
“I was able to get to third right on the start and I stayed there the rest of the heat race,” he said. “We drew the No. 2 for the dash, but didn’t get a good start on the outside and fell back to fourth.”
Van Dam’s fourth-place result in the dash lined him up on the outside of the second row for the main event.
“I got up to third within a couple of laps,” he said. “I ran there for pretty much two-thirds of the race. Toward the end I couldn’t move around very good and lost a couple of spots. It was a tale of two different nights. One we started off bad and got better and the second night we started off quick and faded at the end.”
Van Dam settled for a fifth-place result.
He is slated to return to competition July 29-30 at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., for the Bob’s Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 4 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 7 (4); B Main: 2 (2); Feature: 7 (17).
July 5 – Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (6); Dash: 4 (2); Feature: 5 (4).
SEASON STATS –
18 races, 1 win, 6 top fives, 10 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 11 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 29-30 at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., for the Bob’s Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals
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 – Enumclaw Xpress Lube
Located in Enumclaw, Wash., Enumclaw Xpress Lube offers a full range of vehicle oil and fluid services. It can also service air filter and wiper blades.
“Enumclaw Xpress Lube was my very first sponsor and have been with us ever since,” Van Dam said. “They’ve been there for the good years and the bad years and have provided ample support.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Highmark Concrete Contractors, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, 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 and Rich Van Dam Dairy 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 10, 2016
- Article Date: 7/10/2016 by Inside Line Promotions