Van Dam’s Top 10’s put him 5th in ASCS Northwest points
Forced to sit the prior weekend out due to wet weather around the Pacific Northwest, Henry Van Dam got back to racing this weekend and traveled a bit of a way to do it, racing at Southern Oregon Speedway near Medford for the two night opening weekend of the 2009 ASCS Northwest Region season.
Driving the Van Dam Racing No. 33v Shark-powered Maxim, sponsored by Van Dam Dairy, Omlid & Swinney Fire Protection & Security, Shareway Industries and GMS Metal Works, the Enumclaw, Washington driver had a moderately successful weekend. A fifth place finish on Friday night and a drive from 17th to eighth on Saturday night were good enough to put him in fifth place in the ASCS Northwest Region standings with two events down and 16 more further down the line.
After qualifying in the weekly events he raced in during the month of April, Henry had to go by the luck of the draw for his heat race starting spots and then would have to go for passing points, per the standard ASCS format. Fortune smiled on him Friday as his pill resulted in him sitting on the pole for the first heat race, which he won.
Van Dam was in the top eight in heat race points so he was involved in the pill draw for the first eight starting positions in the A-Main, another “luck of the draw” deal. When it came Henry’s turn, the 1 pill was still inside but he ended up pulling out the 6 pill instead, putting him outside the third row. In the first several laps, Van Dam drifted back to eighth and ran there for while, before driving back up to finish fifth in the last ten laps of the 30-lap race.
Saturday, fortune did not smile on Henry went it came time to draw his heat race pill. Instead of the pole, he ended up starting dead last in the evening’s second heat race. Only able to finish seventh, Van Dam was forced to run in the B-Main event. Starting fifth in that 12-lap event, Van Dam finished third to secure a starting spot in the A-Main, albeit in the next to last row.
Starting 17th, Van Dam lost a spot on the first lap, but twice before they could finish lap two the caution flag came out for cars crashing in front of Van Dam. Because he was able to avoid the accidents, when they finally did complete Lap 2 under green he was in 11th place. The next couple of laps saw a lot of movement as he was racing with hot shoes Jared Ridge, Garen Linder, reigning Cottage Grove Speedway champion Kyle Miller and Oregon sprint car great Bill Nutter. Van Dam got up to eighth place at one point before sliding back to 13th. He battled back to get to tenth place late in the race.
On the last lap of the 30-lap event, Van Dam caught Linder and passed him for ninth place, the position he would cross the finish line in. After the race, Van Dam learned he was officially being credited with an eighth place finish and would be getting a few more points as the apparent race winner was disqualified after failing post-race inspection.
Considering the circumstances, it was a decent finish and it helped put Henry in the Top 5 in the ASCS Northwest Region point standings. He is only 14 points behind co-leaders Mitch Olson and Steven Tiner.
Henry will be racing at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington for the next few weeks. Saturday, May 16th is a weekly show in for 360 sprint cars and then on Saturday and Sunday, the 23rd and 24th the ASCS Northwest Region will be at Gray Harbor Raceway for two nights of action. Weekly action continues at Grays Harbor on May 30th and June 6th. Henry won twice at the 3/8-mile clay oval last season.
Henry Van Dam, 27, is one of the top sprint car racers in the Pacific Northwest as well as one of the most popular with fans. He has main event victories at Skagit Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway to his credit. More information on Henry and the Van Dam Racing team including schedules, sponsors, photos and apparel can be found online at http://www.vandamracing.com.
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Henry Van Dam’s sponsors
Van Dam Dairy
Omlid & Swinney Fire Protection & Security
Shark Racing Engines
Shareway Industries
GMS Metal Works
Speedmart Inc.
Jack Dilley Logging
D & L Equipment Repair
Enumclaw Suzuki
Char’s Barber Shop
Enumclaw Express Lube
Foothills Auto supply
Pete Vos
Bob & Joan Shumway
Enumclaw Auto Rebuild
Fire Down Graphics
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Van Dam Racing online
http://www.vandamracing.com
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