9/4/2018
Inside Line Promotions
Van Dam Satisfied With Speed During World of Outlaws Season Debut
(Photo by Justin Brester)
Inside Line Promotions – ELMA, Wash. (Sept. 4, 2018) – Henry Van Dam is pleased with his performance during his World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season debut on Monday at Grays Harbor Raceway.
Van Dam, who is racing a limited schedule this season, hadn’t competed in a 410ci winged sprint car event since the World of Outlaws last raced in the Northwest almost exactly one year earlier.
“I felt like we were fairly solid, especially when you match us up with a lot of the local guys,” he said. “We put down some good laps and were up to speed with the guys.”
Van Dam qualified 15th quickest and finished where he started – fifth – in a heat race to line up on the inside of the eighth row for the A Main.
“In the main we were up to 11th at one point,” he said. “We were rolling pretty good. As the track slicked off we just couldn’t keep our momentum up. A couple of the restarts we had to start on the outside. Because of my lack of experience and racing with those guys we’d lose a couple of spots.”
Van Dam held on for a 19th-place finish.
He also competed at the track the previous night in a 360ci winged sprint car during a Summer Thunder Sprint Series show. Van Dam timed in 15th quickest before powering from fifth to third place in a heat race.
“Our ability to change with the track has suffered a bit because we’re out of racing shape,” he said. “There were times we had speed and were good.
“Qualifying was a big disappointment. I tried to run the top, thought it was there, and just miscalculated it. We were strong in the heat though as we got to third and were passing for second when the race ended.”
Van Dam lined up 13th for the main event and he had advanced to 10th when a mechanical problem with five laps remaining resulted in a DNF.
“We weren’t real balanced to start the race off,” he said. “I thought the track would come to us and it went the other way. It got really fast around the top and everyone fell in line and that’s the way it went. We had set up that it’d be slick and you’d have to move around and it just didn’t work out that way. It didn’t matter in the end though since we had the mechanical problem.”
Van Dam is tentatively scheduled to wrap up his season Sept. 21-22 at Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 2 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 16 (13).
Sept. 3 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 5 (5); Feature: 19 (15).
SEASON STATS –
6 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 21-22 at Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series
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 – Johansen Excavating
Based in Buckley, Wash., Johansen Excavating specializes in civil construction. For more information, visit http://www.JohansenExcavating.com.
“Johansen Excavating has been a partner for the past few years,” Van Dam said. “They’ve been a great sponsor, but have been even better friends.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, 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
