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Wheatley Earns Top Five at Skagit Speedway in First 360 Race Since 2011

(Photo by Matt Levonas Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (May 19, 2014) – Austen Wheatley was extremely fast in his first 360ci race since 2011.

Wheatley qualified second quickest and charged from fifth to the lead in the main event on Saturday at Skagit Speedway before a spin relegated him to a fourth-place result. It was the second straight race where Wheatley has led the feature.

“It sucks to lead two weeks in a row and have a problem – one mechanical failure and one that’s my fault,” he said. “This one is harder to swallow. There’s no reason to dwell on it. Just learn from it and get your head out of the gutter.”

After his fast qualifying time, Wheatley advanced from fourth to third place in his heat race to lock into the feature inversion. With the top six inverted, Wheatley started on the inside of the third row for the 25-lap main event.

“The guy in third spun out on the opening lap so I moved up a row,” he said. “Everybody kept running the top and that was the long way around. I just tried to stay on the bottom.”

Wheatley powered into the lead around Lap 9.

“It felt pretty good,” he said. “I had the wing in the trunk very early, which normally isn’t a good sign. I couldn’t run the top in turns three and four so I had to stay on the bottom. I was ripping the top on the restarts and then I’d get back to the bottom. We were just way too tight on the top.”

He led for the majority of the race before spinning as he exited turn two with a handful of laps remaining.

“I was getting freer and freer and the next thing I know I looped it,” he said.

After Wheatley spun around once he kept going. However, he fell to fourth, which is where he finished. It was his first top five of the season.

He is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Skagit Speedway and this Sunday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.

QUICK RESULTS –

May 17 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 4 (5).

SEASON STATS –

11 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 3 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., and Sunday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.AustenWheatley.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiniWheats44w

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 – Astro Titanium

Established in 1999, Astro Titanium manufactures quality titanium fasteners for sprint cars and midgets. Based out of Noti, Ore., owner Dave Sims has developed his business into a titanium leader on a national scale. For more information, visit http://www.AstroTitanium.com.

“Astro Titanium and Dave Sims have been with me since the beginning of my career,” Wheatley said. “Anytime we have a problem, we call Dave up and he helps. He’s a really personable guy and his products work great.”

Wheatley would also like to thank Redlined Welding & Construction, Downforce Designs, The Oil Medics, 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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