Inside Line Promotions - ALGER, Wash. (July 27, 2014) - Henry Van Dam survived the Bob's Burgers & Brew Summer Nationals.
Van Dam placed 11[sup]th[/sup] after nearly flipping during the preliminary main event Friday before he advanced to a sixth-place result on Saturday's finale at Skagit Speedway.
"Skagit is always a place I've struggled at," he said. "It seems like I can never find what I'm looking for in the race car. On the other hand any time you can make all the laps in the weekend and be competitive it's a good thing."
The weekend started on Friday with Van Dam qualifying sixth quickest. He then finished where he started - third - in his heat race to lock himself into the main event.
"With the track being as heavy as it was there wasn't a lot of passing," he said. "We settled into third and rolled around since the top three transferred to the main event."
That lined Van Dam up on the inside of sixth row for the 30-lap feature.
"I think within the first lap or two laps I got shuffled back four or five spots," he said. "Like eight laps into the race I tried to go to the top. I don't know if it was a rut or a hole, but I got the dead hops and up into the wall. I really thought I was going to go over. That relegated us to 18 [sup]th[/sup] or 19[sup]th[/sup]. From that point it was survive the feature and learn as much as we could."
Van Dam's team took advantage of a trio of open reds during the remainder of the race.
"I kinda turned that into another test session," he said. "With every red that came out we made some big adjustments to get the car to act different and feel different. They were moving weight around for how it set into the corner. We were able to adjust a lot of weight through the torsion bars."
Van Dam rebounded to post an 11[sup]th[/sup]-place finish, which gave him the 11[sup]th[/sup]-most points after preliminary action and locked him into Saturday's 40-lap main event.
"We got a really good start (in the feature on Saturday) and were able to get two or three cars," he said. "We were competitive, but couldn't really move around. The the restarts were tough. Once lapped cars got mixed into the lineups you weren't sure where they were going to go."
Van Dam maintained a top 10 throughout the main event before finishing sixth, which was his 15[sup]th[/sup] top 10 of the season.
He is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
QUICK RESULTS -
July 25 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 11 (11).
July 26 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Feature: 6 (11).
SEASON STATS -
22 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 15 top 10s, 19 top 15s, 19 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing
VIDEO -
Here is a link to a video by ARRacing of Van Dam winning the Summer Thunder Sprint Series event at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., on June 7: http://youtu.be/a2sBRaf5l1c
APPAREL -
Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available for sale at his race trailer.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Clems Enumclaw Powersports
Located in Enumclaw, Wash., Clems Enumclaw Powersports has been family owned and operated since 1974. Clems has been a one-stop shop for all powersports needs for nearly 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.EnumclawSuzuki.com.
"Clems Enumclaw Powersports makes sure our needs are taken care of getting around the pit area," Van Dam said. "I'm very grateful for their support for the race team."
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Factory Kahne, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, 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.
Van Dam placed 11[sup]th[/sup] after nearly flipping during the preliminary main event Friday before he advanced to a sixth-place result on Saturday's finale at Skagit Speedway.
"Skagit is always a place I've struggled at," he said. "It seems like I can never find what I'm looking for in the race car. On the other hand any time you can make all the laps in the weekend and be competitive it's a good thing."
The weekend started on Friday with Van Dam qualifying sixth quickest. He then finished where he started - third - in his heat race to lock himself into the main event.
"With the track being as heavy as it was there wasn't a lot of passing," he said. "We settled into third and rolled around since the top three transferred to the main event."
That lined Van Dam up on the inside of sixth row for the 30-lap feature.
"I think within the first lap or two laps I got shuffled back four or five spots," he said. "Like eight laps into the race I tried to go to the top. I don't know if it was a rut or a hole, but I got the dead hops and up into the wall. I really thought I was going to go over. That relegated us to 18 [sup]th[/sup] or 19[sup]th[/sup]. From that point it was survive the feature and learn as much as we could."
Van Dam's team took advantage of a trio of open reds during the remainder of the race.
"I kinda turned that into another test session," he said. "With every red that came out we made some big adjustments to get the car to act different and feel different. They were moving weight around for how it set into the corner. We were able to adjust a lot of weight through the torsion bars."
Van Dam rebounded to post an 11[sup]th[/sup]-place finish, which gave him the 11[sup]th[/sup]-most points after preliminary action and locked him into Saturday's 40-lap main event.
"We got a really good start (in the feature on Saturday) and were able to get two or three cars," he said. "We were competitive, but couldn't really move around. The the restarts were tough. Once lapped cars got mixed into the lineups you weren't sure where they were going to go."
Van Dam maintained a top 10 throughout the main event before finishing sixth, which was his 15[sup]th[/sup] top 10 of the season.
He is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
QUICK RESULTS -
July 25 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 11 (11).
July 26 - Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. - Feature: 6 (11).
SEASON STATS -
22 races, 4 wins, 9 top fives, 15 top 10s, 19 top 15s, 19 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.HenryVanDam.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDamRacing
VIDEO -
Here is a link to a video by ARRacing of Van Dam winning the Summer Thunder Sprint Series event at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., on June 7: http://youtu.be/a2sBRaf5l1c
APPAREL -
Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available for sale at his race trailer.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Clems Enumclaw Powersports
Located in Enumclaw, Wash., Clems Enumclaw Powersports has been family owned and operated since 1974. Clems has been a one-stop shop for all powersports needs for nearly 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.EnumclawSuzuki.com.
"Clems Enumclaw Powersports makes sure our needs are taken care of getting around the pit area," Van Dam said. "I'm very grateful for their support for the race team."
Van Dam would also like to thank Kovash Logging, Johansen Excavating, Enumclaw Xpress Lube, Les Schwab Tire of Enumclaw, Factory Kahne, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, 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.
