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Wheatley Salvages Career-Best Knoxville Nationals Finish After Slow Start

(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 17, 2015) – Austen Wheatley earned his best Knoxville Nationals result last weekend.

“As bad as I thought it went, I can pinpoint everything I did wrong and that we could have did better,” he said. “It seemed worse, but it was the best result I’ve had. It’s a place you have to go quite a bit to do well. The successful guys have like 10-to-15 years of experience there.”

Wheatley kicked off the 55th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store at Knoxville Raceway last Thursday by qualifying 50th quickest.

“We didn’t have the right gear in and I screwed up a little bit, too,” he said. “We struggled with the car racing-wise in the heat race as well, but the B Main was a lot better.”

Wheatley advanced from 10th to seventh place in a heat race before he ended 19th in the B Main. However, the team began to build momentum starting on Friday at the half-mile oval.

Wheatley qualified 10th quickest in his group – his best time trial result at Knoxville Raceway – to earn the pole position of a heat race. Unfortunately, he clipped the infield berm on the start, which prompted a wheelie down the first half of the frontstretch. It cost Wheatley several position and he ended sixth, which relegated him to the B Main.

Wheatley maintained the third-and-final transfer for most of the consolation race before another driver made a last-lap pass to claim the position.

“That’s the best I’ve probably ever felt there,” he said. “It was a really good starting point for next time. I wish we could have started Nationals then.”

Wheatley lined up on the inside of the sixth row during Saturday’s C Main.

“The track felt really heavy,” he said. “The bottom was sticky and the middle was sticky. Everyone was pretty much the same speed. I fell to 15th or 16th and then about halfway got back going again. I had to search around because I was so tight. It was the tightest we’d been all week.”

Wheatley ended 11th in the C Main to better his previous Knoxville Nationals career-best finish by three positions.

He is slated to compete this week with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on Tuesday at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and Sunday at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D.

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 13 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 50; Heat race: 7 (10); B Main: 19 (20).

Aug. 14 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 6 (1); B Main: 4 (3).

Aug. 15 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – C Main: 11 (11).

SEASON STATS –

18 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 6 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Tuesday at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., and Sunday at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D., with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.AustenWheatley.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustenWheatley

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 – Downforce Designs

Downforce Designs is an apparel company established and operated by Austen Wheatley. For information on apparel options, prices, clientele and more, visit http://www.DownforceDesigns.com.

“It’s good to have a fresh take on apparel in the sport,” Wheatley said. “My goal is to provide something unique and diverse, and I think I know what a driver wants to see on his or her apparel. It’s a racer helping racers.”

Wheatley would also like to thank Redlined Welding & Construction, Astro Titanium, 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 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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