PETERSEN MEDIA
– Austen Wheatley had plans of running both nights with the World of Outlaws at the Eldora Speedway over the weekend, but motor issues on Friday night sidelined the young driver on Saturday night.
“It was tough to be in the stands on Saturday, but it’s part of the deal,” said a dejected Wheatley.
The motor issues started early for Wheatley who was buried in time trials, as he timed in 28th quick out of 33 cars in the pit area.
“The night just started bad, and I had a feeling we were going to continuously fight issues all night,” explained the Washington state native.
Wheatley’s feeling proved to be accurate as he pulled off during heat race action and was credited with an eighth place finish, and put him in the middle of the “B” main.
Starting eighth, Wheatley was able to grab a couple positions, and scored sixth at the stripe, missing the A by two spots, but knew all of the bugs weren’t quite worked out.
“We just had motor issues all night, and worked all night to get it right, but ultimately ended up hurting it,” he explained. “We opted to do the smart, but disappointing thing, and watched on Saturday. Overall it was just a frustrating weekend.”
Austen and his team would like to thank King Race Products, BR Motorsports, The Oil Medics, Wolfweld, Redlined Welding & Construction, Schoenfeld Headers, Astro Titanium, BMRS, Fire-Down Graphics and ButlerBuilt for their support in 2012.
ON TAP: Austen is now hopeful he will be able to join the World of Outlaws for three nights of action in PA this week including a Wednesday night show at Lincoln Speedway before a Friday-Saturday double header at the Williams Grove Speedway.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Austen by following him on twitter @MiniWheats44w, or by visiting his website www.austenwheatley.com.