(Photo courtesy of Amy Swindell)
Inside Line Promotions – BILLINGS, Mont. (Sept. 13, 2016) – Sammy Swindell enjoyed his long-awaited return to Montana.
“We were able to spend a couple of days being a tourist,” he said. “Amy and I got to play a round of golf and just relax and chill out a couple of days. We stayed at the hotel with Mike Quigley and his family. It made it easy. We made a trip to Beartooth Pass on the way out and we’ve got three or four days to spend in Jackson Hole, Wyo. It’s made a nice couple of weeks for us.”
Swindell also raced in “Big Sky Country” for the first time in more than a decade last Friday and Saturday at Billings Motorsports Park, where he piloted a sprint car owned by former World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series driver Tim Gee during the NSA Shootout’s Dan Laber Memorial.
“They brought a brand new car,” Swindell said. “It was nice and well put together. All we had to do was drop my seat in it. We didn’t really have to change anything. We went over the setup and the shocks and that’s really all we did.”
Swindell kicked off the doubleheader by setting quick time on Friday.
“The car was good right away,” he said. “We made some small changes and it got better. I think we had the fastest car all night by setting quick time by about a couple of tenths as the next to last car out. We made a couple of changes on the car and we got a good start in the heat and was able to get right up there.”
Swindell advanced from sixth to third place in a heat race, which made him the driver with the most combined points to earn a spot in the feature redraw.
“Unfortunately, I drew the biggest pill (six), but that was ok,” he said. “We were able to take right off and get by a few cars. I got up to second and we had something cut the right rear tire. It was a bit unfortunate there. We came back out, but had a mechanical problem and had to pull in.”
Swindell had driven from sixth to second place and he was in contention for at least a podium finish when the bad luck struck. He ended with a 14th-place result.
The team swapped engines prior to Saturday’s $7,500-to-win finale.
“That motor was a little different so we had to work on that and get the right gear,” he said. “We missed it a little in qualifying, but came back in our heat and was able to win that.”
Swindell qualified third quickest before he claimed a heat race win with a late-race pass. Once again he was the highest points earner. This time Swindell pulled the No. 2 during the random redraw to start the 29-lap main event on the outside of the front row.
“We wound up struggling a bit in the main event,” he said. “We had an issue with the bottom end of the motor. It didn’t pull off the corners like we’d like. As the track got lower and lower it became a disadvantage to us. We ran right with the guys. I could roll the corners better, but when you’re behind them you’d have to slow down. With about five laps to go we cut the tire again.”
Swindell was running third when he sustained a flat right rear tire. He restarted at the back of the pack and advanced to 14th in the closing laps.
“We had a car that should have been first or second the first night and in the top three on Saturday,” he said. “Overall the guys did a great job. Tim and his guys gave me a great car. We just had a few unfortunate things happen, but at least we had a shot at sweeping the event if we had luck go our way.
“I want to thank Tim and his family for the opportunity as well as Mike Quigley, his family and his staff for the hospitality. We had a great time and look forward to going back.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 9 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 14 (6).
Sept. 10 – Billings Motorsports Park in Billings, Mont. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 1 (4); Feature: 13 (2).
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SammySwindell1.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Sweet Manufacturing
Sweet Manufacturing was incorporated in 1978 with the basic concept of providing racers with steering products that would offer a competitive advantage. All of its products have been designed and built using the experience and knowledge gained from Randy Sweet’s 50-plus years of racing competition, plus continuous input from the nation’s top drivers, engineers and chassis builders. For more information, visit http://www.SweetMFG.biz.
“Sweet Manufacturing has developed one of the best steering gears out there and they are dedicated to continue improving all the time,” Swindell said.
Swindell would also like to thank Acme Graphix, J. Davidson Scrap Metal Processors, John Christner Trucking, High Performance Lubricants, FK Rod Ends, Simpson Race Products, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Schoenfeld Headers, MyRacePass and Inside Line Promotions 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 13, 2016
- Article Date: 9/13/2016 by Inside Line Promotions