5/31/2017
Inside Line Promotions
Van Dam Produces Top 10 During Night 1 of Marvin Smith Memorial
(Photo by Lisa Dynes Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (May 31, 2017) – Henry Van Dam posted his third top-10 finish of the season last Saturday during the opening round of the Marvin Smith Memorial at Cottage Grove Speedway.
The event began with Van Dam qualifying 15th quickest before he maneuvered from third to win a heat race. That locked him into the main event, which he started on the outside of the fourth row.
“It was definitely a trying weekend,” he said. “We got ran into a few times and someone ended up spinning in front of us so we had to go to the back. We thought we could have got to fifth and had more momentum going into Sunday night.”
Van Dam climbed as high as fifth place during the feature before a late caution.
“We got up to fifth, but were 10th or 12th on the restart because of the lapped cars,” he said. “Restarts were hectic. If you chose the wrong lane you’d get passed by a couple of cars. We were running around seventh when a guy spun in front of us and collected us.”
Van Dam rebounded from the incident, which forced him to restart at the back of the pack, to finish ninth.
The weekend concluded on Sunday, when Van Dam set quick time during qualifying. He charged from sixth to second place in a heat race to lock into the dash. Unfortunately, Van Dam drew the second-highest number – seven – during the dash redraw.
“We drew the back row of the dash and that hurt our chances,” he said. “We finished seventh to start in that position for the main event. We started off great and felt like we had a lot of momentum. As the night went on the track kept getting rougher and rougher. I couldn’t keep caught up with the race track.
“We had to be running around eighth about the midpoint when the bearings broke in the right front wheel. It was shaking and not wanting to turn on a restart going into turn one. I let off the gas and gassed it back up to get it to turn. I could see the right front came off. I tried to slow down, but the axle caught and I started front flipping.”
Van Dam was on pace for at least another top-10 result before the flip relegated him to a 17th-place result.
He is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., with the Summer Thunder Sprint Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 27 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 1 (3); Feature: 9 (8).
May 28 – Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (6); Dash: 7 (7); Feature: 17 (7).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 0 top five, 3 top 10s, 3 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, 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 – Enumclaw Xpress Lube
Located in Enumclaw, Wash., Enumclaw Xpress Lube offers a full range of vehicle oil and fluid services. It can also service air filter and wiper blades.
“Enumclaw Xpress Lube was my very first sponsor and have been with us ever since,” Van Dam said. “They’ve been there for the good years and the bad years and have provided ample support.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Highmark Concrete Contractors, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, 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
