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Inside Line Promotions - COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (Sept. 11, 2013) - Henry Van Dam rated his team's performance a "C" during a Northwest tripleheader last week with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series.

"I would say we were at a 7 (out of 10) because of where our final results were," he said. "The good thing about it was we were able to gain knowledge and get better as the week went on.

"I think the biggest thing is being able to learn from those guys, with that quality of equipment and that quality of talent. It was getting caught up at first not doing a lot of 410 stuff; getting our motor dialed in and what we needed for a setup. I felt like as the week went on we got better and better and more competitive."

Van Dam opened the competition against the premier sprint car series a week ago Monday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.

"Throughout the night we fought getting the motor to run the way we needed to," he said. "That was our primary focus throughout the night. We got better every time we hit the race track."

After qualifying 21st quickest, Van Dam placed eighth in his heat race. He then finished where he started - fifth - in the Last Chance Showdown to garner a transfer to the feature. After starting 23rd, Van Dam advanced to 18th.

The team headed to Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., the following night when Van Dam again timed in 21st quickest. He placed seventh in his heat race to miss a lock-in spot to the feature by only one position.

"In the heat race we were just ok," he said. "We got racing for the transfer spot and had a car we could race with."

After making a couple of tweaks to the setup, Van Dam worked toward the front early in the Last Chance Showdown. He advanced from fourth to the lead and settled for the runner-up position to transfer to the feature.

"The car came to life and I got to the lead running the bottom," he said. "I was playing it conservative making sure we got through the B Main."

Unfortunately, his time in the main event was short-lived. Van Dam was caught in an opening-lap crash in turn two, which severely damaged the right side of his top wing.

"I didn't want to come in and put a new wing on to start in the back," he said. "I went out there and tried to see if I could do anything with a bent up wing and the car was a lot worse than I thought it was."

He pulled into the infield after several laps and was credited with a 24th-place result.

The week wrapped up a week ago Wednesday at Cottage Grove Speedway. Van Dam qualified 16th quickest and placed sixth in his heat race to lock into the feature.

"I think Shane Stewart and (Jonathan) Allard were behind us, so it was a tough heat," he said. "To get the transfer was kind of nice to not have to run the B Main the final night."

Van Dam started on the outside of the eighth row for the feature and made progress early.

"We drove up to about 12th place under green," he said. "We got rolling pretty good on the top and I felt pretty comfortable. I was able to run with (Jason) Sides and Paul McMahan. Then we had a couple of cautions. The double-file restart is something I need to work on. The rest of the night I struggled with restarts."

Van Dam spent most of the feature competing for a top 15 and ended with a 16th-place result.

He is scheduled to compete on Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway.

QUICK RESULTS -

Sept. 2 - Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. - Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 8 (7); B Main: 5 (5); Feature: 18 (23).

Sept. 3 - Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. - Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 2 (4); Feature: 24 (18).

Sept. 4 - Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore. - Qualifying: 16; Heat race: 6 (6); Feature: 16 (16).

SEASON STATS -

37 races, 1 win, 8 top fives, 21 top 10s, 29 top 15s, 34 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 thanks to ARRacing Videos to Van Dam's victory at Grays Harbor Raceway on June 15: http://youtu.be/sFPjfxd5Vgs

APPAREL -

Van Dam has t-shirts and sweatshirts available at his racing trailer at every race he competes in.

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, Van Dam Dairy, Village Green Resort, Bob and Joan Shumway, Kellan and Kelsey Hall, Foothills Auto Supply, American Powder Coating, Pete Vos, Char's Barber Shop, Wesmar Race Engines, Factory Kahne, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, SpeedMart, Van Dam Farms and Rich Van Dam Dairy for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS -

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors' return on investment.

To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.insidelinepromotions.com.