Inside Line Promotions
ALGER, Wash. (May 8, 2016) – Henry Van Dam powered to his first win at Skagit Speedway in nearly a decade on Saturday during a Summer Thunder Sprint Series event.
Van Dam led all 25 laps en route to his first win of the season and first triumph at Skagit Speedway since 2007.
“Everything definitely went our way with how things played out and how the track was,” he said. “It’s definitely nice to have it go your way rather than against you.”
The night began with Van Dam qualifying ninth quickest.
“We were quite a bit off,” he said. “I thought we were going to be worse. We just didn’t make adjustments quick enough for as dry as the track was. We had a game plan going into the night and had to go away from it almost immediately.”
Van Dam then finished where he started – second – in a heat race.
“We made a few adjustments and it helped, but it didn’t get us where we needed to be,” he said. “In the heat race the outside wasn’t great to start so we fell in behind the polesitter going into turn one. We ran the bottom for the majority of the heat race.”
One driver who qualified higher than Van Dam didn’t advance through a heat race, which put Van Dam in the feature redraw. He pulled the No. 2 during the random draw to line up on the outside of the front row for the main event.
“For my limited experience at Skagit the last couple of years it was a plus,” he said. “We were able to get going and run the top and set sail. In turn one you had to run the middle of the track and slide up to the moisture coming off turn two to get a run down the backstretch. In turns three and four you could go in on the top and turn it down and drive it off the middle. It was a technical track. You really had to search to find the grip and make adjustments from lap to lap.”
Van Dam maintained the lead throughout the feature despite a couple of close calls.
“Restarts were tough,” he said. “I didn’t really know where would be fastest so I tried a few different things. Early in the race I had my entry into turn one open too much. They were able to dive me, but they could never get far enough so I could get a good enough run off the top. I made some adjustments and got some better restarts as the race went on. It was definitely a fun night.”
Van Dam is scheduled to return to action this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway, where he was victorious five times last year.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 7 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 1 (2).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 1 win, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 5 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
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 – Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw
Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw is a leading tire store that also services brakes, shocks and struts, batteries, wheels and more. For more information, visit http://www.LesSchwab.com.
“Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw came on board the last couple of years,” Van Dam said. “They take care of me from my car to the hauler and trailer to make sure we get down the road.”
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Highmark Concrete Contractors, Northwest Welding & Fabrication, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, 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.
*PHOTO BY LISA DYNES PHOTOGRAPHY*