(Photo by Terry Ford)
Inside Line Promotions – WHEATLAND, Mo. (Sept. 25, 2017) – Sammy Swindell was in position to sweep the 7th annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial last weekend when Lucas Oil Speedway hosted the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour tripleheader.
“It was a pretty easy weekend really,” he said. “The car was good right away and we didn’t have to do much to it all weekend. It made all our jobs pretty easy. From the last month or so everything has been clicking.”
Swindell and the A.G. Rains owned team kicked off the action on Thursday by advancing from fourth to third place in a heat race before winning a qualifier. That ranked them seventh in overall points and lined Swindell up on the inside of the fourth row for the 25-lap main event.
“It was a track that was going to wear tires,” he said. “You had to be driving like you were on pavement. That always suits me really well it seems. Just knowing how to read the race track, how to get the most out of it and save your tires at the same time. It was about not getting into trouble and not having anything happen to us, and just make sure I pace myself.”
Swindell did just that as he took the lead on Lap 12 and cruised to the triumph.
He returned to the oval on Friday for Round 2, which began with Swindell picking up two positions in a heat race to finish third. He then gained a spot to place second in a qualifier, which lined him up eighth for the A Main.
“We got a couple of positions early and I felt like we were going to be better than everybody else,” he said. “After a few laps they got lined out and left me room to do what I needed to do.
“The race track was narrow and locked down where guys could run wide open. I felt like we had a pretty good car. The fastest way was around the bottom. I had to bide my time again. It seemed like when I’d get to someone I’d have to race with them for a couple of laps, then they’d miss a corner and I’d run away. I got the brakes hot and didn’t have any brakes the last nine laps. I had to be careful. I was going to settle for second or third and stay out of trouble. Even though I slowed down a lot it seemed like everyone else got way, way loose and I was still running guys down.”
Swindell charged into the runner-up position and capitalized when the leader spun on the final lap to record his second straight win and fifth of the season. That made him the high points driver following preliminary competition and gave him the pole for Saturday’s $10,000-to-win main event.
“They worked the track a little bit and we took right off,” he said. “It was slowing down quite a bit after a few laps, but if you don’t hear anything or see anything you don’t change what you’re doing. Sam (Hafertepe Jr.) got around me in turn two before I could do anything. We were following him when we got to a bunch of traffic. A few cars started piling up. He was able to get right down. I was up in the slick and the hole closed up. I tried to spin it around and keep going, but I couldn’t keep the motor going and it died. If you stop you go to the back so I think we restarted in 18th.”
Swindell was running second when the incident occurred. He restarted at the back of the pack and rallied for a fourth-place finish.
“We drove right on up there,” he said. “I got my tires pretty hot and used them up quite a bit to get through cars so I think that hurt us from getting another position or two. It was a good weekend. We would have had a good shot at getting a sweep if we hadn’t been caught up in that crash, but there’s some things we can’t control.”
Swindell will compete this Saturday at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., with the Northeastern Midget Association. He will race a pavement midget for Bertrand Motorsports for the second straight year. Swindell finished fourth during his debut with the team in August 2016.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 21 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Heat race: 3 (4); Qualifier: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (7).
Sept. 22 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Heat race: 3 (5); Qualifier: 2 (3); Feature: 1 (8).
Sept. 23 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Feature: 4 (1).
SEASON STATS –
38 races, 5 wins, 13 top fives, 22 top 10s, 24 top 15s, 28 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., with the Northeastern Midget Association
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SammySwindell1.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Brown & Miller Racing Solutions
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“I’ve run Brown & Miller Racing Solutions products for quite a few years and they’ve always been first class,” Swindell said. “They are always innovating and trying to make their products better.”
Swindell would also like to thank John Christner Trucking, Acme Graphix & Design, high Performance Lubricants, CP Pistons, Simpson Race Products, Rossie Feed & Grain, FK Rod Ends, Sweet Manufacturing, 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 25, 2017
- Article Date: 9/25/2017 by Inside Line Promotions