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Tucson, AZ — (March 10, 2014) — Qualifying is one of the key components to a successful night when competing with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series.
Unfortunately for Big Game Motorsports driver Sammy Swindell, his team has struggled to find the best engine package and his qualifying results have suffered early in the 2014 campaign.
“We made some changes with the motors (at the end of last season) at Charlotte and we thought we were in a better place,” he said. “It wound up we have to take a step back. We’re working on that. We tried a few things first to see if we could pick up some. We’re trying to make sure we’re going in the right direction and sometimes it takes a bit.”
As the Big Game Treestands team continues to make improvements, it was stuck behind the eight ball after qualifying at all three World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races last weekend. Swindell timed in 28th and 20th, respectively, at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas and he was 14th quickest at Tucson International Raceway to miss the heat race inversion each night.
“The tracks we’ve been on have been wide open where the motors RPM has been way high,” he said. “That’s what is hurting us. We’ve got to change that back around. Sometimes it’s trial and error to get that balance right. It’s been too big of a gap to overcome when you start in the back of your heats.”
Swindell advanced to the main event through his heat race during all three World of Outlaws races last week, but had varying results in the features.
On Wednesday at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas, Swindell piloted the Big Game Treestands car from his 24th starting position to just outside the top 10. However, in the final laps of the event, he fell to a 16th-place result.
“Because it was a long run the tires got pretty hot and then we lost some air pressure and just were in the wrong line,” he said. “A couple of things added up to not being good for us.”
Swindell and the Outlaws wrapped up the FVP Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas the following night and after starting 20th, Swindell rallied from an early incident to score a 10th-place finish.
“A couple of guys got together on the start and I wound up going back to 23rd,” he said. “We got rolling there pretty good and were able to capitalize on a lot of things. The car was driving really nice. We got up to eighth, but on that last restart I followed (Paul) McMahan into a corner and he almost stopped on the bottom. It let Brad Sweet and Cody Darrah around us. There’s not much you can do when you’re behind someone.”
The Big Game Treestands team made a few engine changes prior to Saturday’s NAPA Wildcat Shootout at Tucson International Raceway and it helped.
“We were a little closer, but with a small field (of cars) it still cut us out of the inversion for the heat race,” Swindell said. “We made it through the heat race. Then we started on the inside (of the feature) and everything had moved to the top. I wasn’t able to get up there in the first corner and I lost a couple of spots. We were holding our own and had started to pass a few people and was going around the outside of a guy and he decided to move up and I had to check up. Then one driver slid me and took us up to the fence and we lost six or seven spots. The track was getting rubber down so it was hard to pass after that.”
Swindell ended with a 17th-place result.
He is set to compete this Friday and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., with the World of Outlaws. Swindell was victorious at the track in 2005 with the Outlaws.
Big Game Treestands fans can watch Swindell and all of the World of Outlaws action at Thunderbowl Raceway via live Pay-Per-View on Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit http://www.DIRTVision.com.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 5 – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas – Qualifying: 28; Heat race: 5 (7); Feature: 16 (24).
March 6 – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas – Qualifying: 20; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 10 (20).
March 8 – Tucson International Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. – Qualifying: 15; Heat race: 5 (5); Feature: 17 (13).
SEASON STATS –
7 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top 10s, 3 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
LIVE AUDIO –
Keep up with Big Game Motorsports via free, live audio from DIRTVision at every World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event throughout the season. Select events also include live Pay-Per-View video. For more information, click http://www.DIRTVision.com.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.BigGameTreestands.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Big_Game_TS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Game-Treestands/251832101535076?fref=ts