7/3/2018
Inside Line Promotions
Van Dam Earns Top-Five Finish With ASCS National Tour at Grays Harbor Raceway
(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ELMA, Wash. (July 3, 2018) – Henry Van Dam garnered his best Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com feature result in nearly eight years last Friday during the Fred Brownfield Classic at Grays Harbor Raceway.
Van Dam, who entered the weekend with only two starts under his belt this season, scored a fourth-place finish during the opening round of the doubleheader. It marked his first top five with the series since finishing fourth on July 24, 2010. The result also gives him at least one top-10 result with the series for four consecutive years.
“We were the quickest in hot laps, which was kind of a surprise,” he said. “We had a crash happen in front of us so that gave us a couple of spots and then we were able to get one more guy.”
Van Dam maneuvered from fifth to second place in the heat race. He ranked as the high-points driver to earn a bid into the feature redraw. Van Dam pulled the No. 3 to start the race on the inside of the second row.
“Chase (Goetz) jumped the start so I got moved up to the pole,” he said. “I got the jump, but Jason Solwold got me in turn four. We started going pretty good for a while. About halfway through the main event the track started slowing down and my car started going away. We were able to hang on with some good guys and finished fourth.”
The fourth-place result locked Van Dam into the feature redraw for Saturday’s event finale. Unfortunately, the team discovered a mechanical problem during maintenance.
“I called John Starks and asked if I could borrow an engine,” he said. “They were gracious to help us out and even brought the engine to the track. We’re very thankful.”
Van Dam then drew the No. 1 during the feature redraw to start the A Main on the pole. Unfortunately, an oil leak early in the race caught the brakes on fire and Van Dam was forced to dive to the infield for assistance. The fire was quickly extinguished, but it ended the night early. Van Dam, who was running second at the time, was credited with a 22nd-place result.
It’s a similar storyline to how his season opened in late May during the Marvin Smith Memorial at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. Van Dam qualified third quick and won his heat race from the sixth starting position before mechanical woes ended the opening night early in the main event.
“We qualified good and ran through our heat race and pulled away for the win,” he said. “We felt pretty good. I had a part come loose in the dash, but we were able to finish. Two laps into the feature the motor broke a rod so that was the end of that night.
“We came back the next night and qualified third in our group. We went from fifth to second in our heat race. We missed the dash so we lined up ninth in the feature. I got boxed in on the start and didn’t have anywhere to go so I fell to 12th. We worked our way back through and was passing for third when we got tangled up and spun off the track in turn three.”
Contact from the incident capped the event early for Van Dam, giving him three DNFs this season when he was running inside the top five.
Van Dam is scheduled to take the next two months off before returning to action on Sept. 2-3 at Grays Harbor Raceway. The Sept. 2 show is with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series before the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series makes its annual visit to the track the following night.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 29 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: 4 (3).
June 30 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Feature: 22 (1).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 2-3 at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
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 – Kovash Logging
Kovash Logging is a logging company based out of Enumclaw, Wash.
“Butch and Donna Kovash came on board a few years ago and have turned into two of my biggest supporters,” Van Dam said. “Not only have they helped with the financial side of it, but they are very nice people and very knowledgeable, and have been a huge asset to the team.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Johansen Excavating, Highmark Concrete Contractors, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Enuclaw Xpress Lube, 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
