(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 28, 2017) – Austen Wheatley earned his 10th top 10 at Skagit Speedway in a 14-race span of 360ci winged sprint car competition last Friday during the second night of the 46th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup.
The middle night of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour tripleheader was the best night for Wheatley, who drove for Doug Rutz.
“We were fighting electrical problems on Thursday during the opener,” Wheatley said. “We messed with a whole bunch of stuff and it kind of fixed it for the qualifier, but it went back to cutting in and out so I had to pull off in the main event.”
Wheatley finished second in a heat race and he won a qualifier to lock into the eighth starting position for the main event. Unfortunately, the mechanical woes relegated him to the pits early with a 22nd-place result.
“My dad spent the whole morning on Friday and changed all the electronics and the fuel,” he said. “The team redid the essentials before Friday’s show. We hot lapped ok, but then in the heat race the problem came back.”
Wheatley finished where he started – third – in a heat race. The team found the mechanical problem and was able to fix it prior to the qualifier, which Wheatley won for the second straight night. Again, he started the main event eighth.
“I was running eighth with two laps to go,” he said. “The track started to take a little bit of rubber. Matt Covington passed me in the rubber with two laps to go and I moved up to find it. Then another car passed me so I finished 10th.”
Wheatley ranked 11th in overall preliminary points, which lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for Saturday’s A Main.
“I didn’t feel very good,” he said. “The track was weird. The holes were there on the entry to turn one in the fast line and in turn three. It was hard to judge where to race and you couldn’t use the bottom of the track because it was soupy.”
Wheatley battled just outside the top 10 throughout the main event before posting a 12th-place result.
He and Rutz will return to action this Friday and Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., for the Fred Brownfield Classic with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. The duo recorded a win at the track earlier this season.
“I am super hyped because I got my first win at Grays Harbor earlier this year,” Wheatley said. “Plus, we learned a bunch and know what we need to fix from last weekend.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 22 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 2 (2); Qualifier: 1 (1); Feature: 22 (8).
June 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Heat race: 3 (3); Qualifier: 1 (1); Feature: 10 (8).
June 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Feature: 12 (11).
SEASON STATS –
9 races, 2 wins, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s, 6 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., for the Fred Brownfield Classic with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
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 Jun 28, 2017
- Article Date: 6/28/2017 by Inside Line Promotions