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Van Dam Selected as Big Al Sportsmanship Award Winner at Winter Heat

(Photo by Justin Brester)

Inside Line Promotions – SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 12, 2016) – Henry Van Dam was awarded one of the biggest honors in his career last weekend at the 2nd annual Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown at Cocopah Speedway.

Van Dam was named the Big Al Sportsmanship Award winner in honor of Al Tschider, who founded the Big Al Kids & Motorsports Foundation before suddenly passing away last August.

“It’s a big part of our racing because that’s always the idea we wanted to promote,” Van Dam said. “Something Big Al did was make a huge impact on a lot of other people’s lives. To be recognized with an award in his name is special. Hopefully we can bring more attention to Big Al and the foundation.”

The action on the track didn’t go as well for Van Dam, who was unable to make a feature against nearly 50 other drivers from across the country during the five-race event.

“It was definitely a lot tougher track conditions this year and it was tough competition no matter which way you slice it,” he said. “Whether you’re racing for the lead or seventh or eighth the racing was the same. I don’t think results are always indicative of how much speed you had in the car.”

The event got off to a rough start on Jan. 1 as Van Dam was disqualified from his heat race after failing to go to the scales following the checkered flag. That forced him to start at the back of a qualifier, which was a trend for the two-week event.

“The good cars were able to make up ground,” he said. “We just didn’t have a good enough car to pass cars. We just didn’t get it done. It’s a little harder to diagnose your car, too, because you’re in dirty air from the first lap.”

Van Dam placed eighth in his qualifier before he rallied from 15th to ninth place in a B Main, which tied for the most cars passed but was shy of a transfer into the feature.

Unfortunately, that was indicative about how the remainder of the event went. Van Dam only started a heat race in the top six once and he placed eighth in every qualifier. He made progress in the B Main each night and twice ended within two positions of scoring a transfer.

“If we can learn something from it and become a better team it’s worth it,” he said. “We definitely got to work on a lot of different scenarios and setups. Even if you hit on something with those guys it’s hard to show because everyone is so fast. You’re looking for a really good balance in the car and we struggled with that. We did learn a lot. We just didn’t get the results to show it.”

Van Dam is scheduled to return to action March 3-4 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

QUICK RESULTS –

Jan. 1 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: DQ (1); Qualifier: 8 (10); B Main: 9 (15).

Jan. 2 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: 9 (9); Qualifier: 8 (9); B Main: 10 (12).

Jan. 6 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: 7 (8); Qualifier: 8 (1); B Main: 6 (11).

Jan. 8 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: 2 (4); Qualifier: 8 (5); B Main: 5 (4).

Jan. 9 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: 8 (7); Qualifier: 8 (8); B Main: 7 (11).

SEASON STATS –

5 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 top 15s, 0 top 20s

UP NEXT –

March 3-4 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car 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 – 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, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Clems Enumclaw Powersports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, 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.

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