4/23/2018
Inside Line Promotions
Swindell Seeking to Add Sprint Car World Championship Winner to Résumé
(Photo by Casey Jones)
Inside Line Promotions – PEVELY, Mo. (April 23, 2018) – Sammy Swindell has won a lot of big sprint car races throughout his storied career and he’s hopeful he can add another to the list this weekend.
Swindell and car owner A.G. Rains are heading to Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio, this Friday and Saturday for the $100,000-to-win Sprint Car World Championship.
“I ran there a few times maybe back in the ‘70s and ‘80s,” Swindell said. “I believe the last time I was there I won. That was when Earl Baltes leased the track. We’re going to go there with the best that we have and hopefully have a good run. I was there last year and helped Kevin (Swindell) when he and Spencer (Bayston) almost won so at least we have some kind of idea what to expect.”
The team shook down the race car last weekend during a pair of World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series races. The action began on Friday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., where Swindell qualified eighth quickest, won a heat race and placed second in the dash to start the A Main on the outside of the front row.
“The car wasn’t perfect, but it had some good speed in qualifying,” he said. “We made some changes for the heat and drove away. Then we got a good draw for the dash. I led it until the last lap when Sheldon (Haudenschild) found a place in turns three and four that was better than where I was running.
“We made a couple of changes for the A Main. I thought we were going to be pretty good. On the initial start Sheldon spun his tires. I took off and he didn’t. I got penalized for making a good start. I’ve always been fairly good at judging where to be and how to start races and make my motors where they take off great without hesitating. That was a shame that we got penalized.”
Swindell was running inside the top five when the leaders entered traffic and he decided to test the top groove.
“I made a good run all the way along the wall,” he said. “I was close to the backstretch and I didn’t realize it, but a concrete barrier stuck out a few inches more than the one before. I got in some crumbs and it let the right rear slip. It pulled the front end over. Normally you bounce off it like I’ve done a thousand times. With the offset in the wall it pulled the car over and broke the right rear wheel. It also broke the birdcage and some of the suspension parts.”
Swindell was unable to finish the race following the contact with the wall. He was credited with a 24th-place result.
The weekend concluded on Saturday at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, where Swindell timed in 11th quickest in his group to open the Spring Classic. A sixth-place finish in a heat race missed locking into the A Main by only one position and relegated Swindell to the Last Chance Showdown, which he won to transfer into the back of the main event.
However, contact with a fellow competitor early in the race resulted in a broken front end for Swindell, who was credited with a 25th-place finish.
“We were actually just going to run a few laps and pull off if we hadn’t made up any ground because of the track conditions,” he said. “It was a shame we got crashed racing back there when we were about to pull off the track anyway.”
QUICK RESULTS –
April 20 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (1); Feature: 24 (2).
April 21 – Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 6 (6); B Main: 1 (3); Feature: 25 (21).
SEASON STATS –
9 races, 0 wins, 6 top fives, 7 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio, for the Sprint Car World Championship
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SammySwindell1.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91
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“I’ve run some of the High Performance Lubricants products and the product we put in the rear end and the steering made it run cooler,” Swindell said. “We did a bunch of oil analysis before and after and found some great things using High Performance Lubricants.”
Swindell would also like to thank Acme Graphix & Design, Whitacre Glass, CP Pistons, Simpson Race Products, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, FK Rod Ends, Sweet Manufacturing, Schoenfeld Headers, W&B Service Company, Griffin Fishing Charters and Lodge, South Bay Partners, 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
