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Swindell Makes Record 43rd Career Knoxville Nationals Appearance

(Photo by Jones Sports Media)

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 14, 2018) – Sammy Swindell extended his record of Knoxville Nationals appearances to 43 last weekend when he tackled the 58th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores at Knoxville Raceway.

Swindell piloted a race car for Thone Motorsports during sprint car racing’s marquee event, which he began on Thursday during his preliminary night. Swindell qualified 34th quickest after being one of the final cars out of nearly 50 drivers to hit the track.

“We didn’t have the car tight enough to make the lap we needed,” he said. “When the times are real close it’s easy to lose six, eight, 10 spots within a tenth of a second. We were on the backside of that. The car was pretty good in the heat and I was able to drive away by myself.”

Swindell won a heat race – his record 20th during a preliminary night at the Knoxville Nationals – to lock into the 17th starting position in the main event.

“The starts were pretty crazy with guys making a lot of pretty risky moves,” he said. “We came off a corner and went down the backstretch and there was a car that looked like he was turned completely sideways. I got stuck in the middle of the track, which wasn’t a very good place to be. I lost a few spots.”

Swindell was spun by a fellow competitor several laps later. He was forced to restart at the back of the pack and he made it to 18th before the checkered flag was waved.

The team returned to the half-mile oval on Friday. Swindell timed in sixth quickest in his group. A runner-up result in a heat race lined him up fifth in the A Main, which transferred the top four into Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals main event.

“We lost the bearing in the rocker arm so we were running on seven and a half or seven and a quarter cylinders only a few laps into the race,” he said. “I was down at least 30 to 50 horsepower. Once we got up to speed I could run the same speed as those guys, but I stayed in the same place.”

After challenging for one of the four lock-in positions early, the mechanical problem cost Swindell several positions and he hung on for a seventh-place result. That relegated him to midpack in the B Main on Saturday, when he wrapped up the event with a 16th-place finish.

Swindell also competed earlier in the week at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where a parts failure led to a DNF on Monday during the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting and an electrical problem hampered the A.G. Rains owned team on Tuesday during the Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company.

Swindell will return to action this weekend with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. He is scheduled to drive for Jared Zimbardi on Friday at Utica-Rome Speedway in Utica, N.Y.; on Saturday at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y.; and on Sunday at Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. The duo was victorious at Orange County Fair Speedway last year.

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 6 – Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 5 (3); Feature: DNF (17).

Aug. 7 – Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa – Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 13 (16).

Aug. 9 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 34; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 18 (17).

Aug. 10 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 7 (5).

Aug. 11 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – B Main: 16 (13).

SEASON STATS –

43 races, 6 wins, 22 top fives, 27 top 10s, 29 top 15s, 32 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday at Utica-Rome Speedway in Utica, N.Y.; Saturday at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y.; and Sunday at Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y., with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.SammySwindell1.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – High Performance Lubricants

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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, FK Rod Ends, CP Pistons, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Simpson Race Products, 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.

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