Man on fire: Van Dam goes 11th to 2nd at Elma

Man on fire: Van Dam goes 11th to 2nd at Elma

If Henry Van Dam had another few laps, chances are he could’ve won Saturday’s 360 sprint car main event at Grays Harbor Raceway. Unfortunately for the Enumclaw, Washington driver, the feature was scheduled for 25 laps and Henry just ran out of time. Was he still a lot of fun to watch, however.

After a tough heat race finish resulted in Van Dam starting 11th, he went on a tear in the latter half of the feature, eventually finishing second place by inches in the Van Dam Racing No. 33v Shark-powered Rocket, sponsored by Omlid & Swinney Fire Protection & Security, Van Dam Dairy, Shareway Industries and GMS Metal Works.

Henry first qualified fourth quickest earlier in the evening with a time of 12.503 seconds around the big 3/8-mile, high-banked clay oval, averaging 107 miles per hour. Racing in the second heat race, Van Dam was bit by the lack of a top groove and slid back to finish seventh. That robbed Van Dam of a good starting position in the feature race.

Before the main events, Grays Harbor Raceway crews worked on the track to make it more competitive and provide better racing for the fans. Their worked paid off as the 360 sprint car main event was a good one. Van Dam had a near disaster on the start as cars tangled and spun around right in front of him in Turn 2. Van Dam spun his car around also and even popped a small wheelie in the process. To everyone’s amazement, no one stalled and cars kept rolling. The yellow flag was still thrown and a complete restart was needed.

Henry wasted no time moving forward on the successful restart. By the fourth lap he was already up to seventh place. Both J.J. Hickle and Van Dam moved past rookie Austin Wheatley on Lap 10. After two hotly contested laps, Van Dam got by Hickle for the fifth position. On Lap 15, he got rookie Logan Forler for fourth. With front runners (and last two track champions) Glenn Borden Jr. and Jay Cole way ahead, Van Dam turned on the jets when he found some open track to race on.

On Lap 17, Van Dam motored right by Steve Vague to take third. While Borden and Cole battled through traffic up front, track announcer Phil Martelli and fans had no trouble seeing that Van Dam was coming, and coming fast as the top of the track was finally working and Henry found himself at home up there.

As the white flag flew, it was clear Henry wouldn’t catch Borden for the win but fans were eager to see if he could get Cole for second place. As Cole entered turn three on the high side, Van Dam made a huge dive to the bottom and slid up the track as they rounded Turn 4. Cole dove back down low and the two were side by side as they took Jason Valencia’s checkered flag. In a photo finish, the transponders were needed to tell who was second. After a few seconds the second and third place cars on the scoreboard in Turn 1 switched, indicating Van Dam as the second place finisher.

The crowd roared their approval in appreciation of Van Dam’s effort when the scoreboard showed him in second. It’s not often the runner-up gets the bigger applause than the winner. Van Dam was clearly fast late in the race, as his 19th lap was the quickest anyone drove in that entire event, a time of 14.205 seconds. The fastest lap anyone else turned was more than a tenth of a second off.

The next firm event on Henry’s schedule is the two-day trip to Great Falls, Montana. The ASCS Northwest Region, ASCS Rocky Mountain Region, Big Sky Sprint Tour and ASCS CanWest groups will all race together in possibly Montana’s biggest sprint car event ever, to be held June 26th and 27th at historic Electric City Speedway. Henry has not been to Montana’s oldest operating dirt track since a 2005 visit with the old Northern Sprint Tour, a predecessor of the ASCS Northwest Region.

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 Van Dam Racing 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