4/3/2017
Inside Line Promotions
Van Dam Produces Pair of Top 10s in Yakima With Summer Thunder Sprint Series
(Photo by Justin Brester)
Inside Line Promotions – YAKIMA, Wash. (April 3, 2017) – Henry Van Dam recorded a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend at Central Washington State Fair Raceway during his season-opening doubleheader with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
The results of sixth and eighth, respectively, give Van Dam 19 top 10s during his last 23 races at the half-mile oval.
“It was a fair weekend,” he said. “We couldn’t get much going. I was never comfortable. The way the track worked both days we weren’t comfortable with how the car was feeling. The track was pretty slick with some holes. You were trying to go around them close to the walls. If you were a little tentative it took a lot of speed out of the car.”
The event began on Friday, when Van Dam qualified 12th quickest. That lined him up on the pole of a heat race, which he won to start the main event on the outside of the fifth row.
“I got hung on the outside on the start and we fell to 12th right away,” he said. “Through the race we worked our way up. On restarts we could pass cars and then once everyone filed out we were the same speed as everyone else. We had to take advantage of restarts to gain positions.”
Van Dam maneuvered to a sixth-place result.
He returned to the track on Saturday for the finale, which began with Van Dam timing in 14th quickest. That missed the heat race inversion by only two positions and started him fifth in a heat race.
“I got a flat tire on Lap 2 so we had to go to the back,” he said. “I got back up to fifth.”
That lined Van Dam up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.
“We were able to run the upper groove the first few laps on both ends of the track and we were able to pick some cars off,” he said. “It went away in turns three and four and was pretty much on the bottom. After that it was kind of a rat race. It was really hard to maneuver. We did a lot of racing, but couldn’t make up much ground.”
Van Dam capped the weekend by advancing to an eighth-place finish.
He is scheduled to return to action on April 29 at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 31 – Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash. – Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 6 (10).
April 1 – Central Washington State Fair Raceway in Yakima, Wash. – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 5 (5); Feature: 8 (14).
SEASON STATS –
2 races, 0 wins, 0 top five, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
April 29 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 – 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, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, 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
