(Photo by Serena Dalhamer)
Inside Line Promotions – PARK CITY, Kan. (March 29, 2015) – Racing a sprint car to Sammy Swindell is like riding a bike to the average person.
“I just picked right back up,” he said. “I’ve had some layoffs before over the years and it always came right back.”
It certainly did that last weekend as Swindell piloted a sprint car for Donnie Cooper at 81 Speedway during the 5th annual Air Capital Shootout with the NCRA, which marked the first time Swindell raced a sprint car since he retired from full-time competition last August.
Swindell was one of the drivers who took advantage of Friday’s practice night, which concluded with a time trial segment to determine the 360ci sprint car track record at the 3/8-mile oval. Swindell topped the competition with a top lap of 13.33 seconds – quicker than the 410ci track record – to garner the honor and $500 prize.
The qualifying session on Friday had no bearing on Saturday’s competition, which began with Swindell starting on the outside of the fourth row of his heat race.
“We drew a big number and started at the back,” he said. “I passed a bunch of cars on the start and then I got caught up with a guy going into turn one. I wound up about six or eight car lengths behind the field. We got a couple of yellows so that helped and I was fast enough to pass those guys in front of me. We got up to second and that tied me for the highest amount of points earned.”
Swindell lined up on the outside of the front row for the $6,000-to-win feature and he quickly took the lead following a restart on Lap 2. Swindell led until he entered traffic on Lap 10.
“The car was pretty loose and the track kept getting worse,” he said. “When I got to traffic I would slow down and I couldn’t get going. The driving part was no problem. With a new car it was about finding the exact right setup. Donnie gave me a good car to start off with. We just didn’t make the absolute right decisions for the main event.”
Swindell finished with a third-place result.
“I was real happy with how everything went,” he said. “We didn’t have any problems with the cars or me. It was a good place to start.”
Swindell said he doesn’t have a set date for his next race.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 28 – 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan. – Heat race: 2 (8); Feature: 3 (2).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 1 win, 4 top fives, 4 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.SwindellMotorsports.citymaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Sweet Manufacturing
Sweet Manufacturing was incorporated in 1978 with the basic concept of providing racers with steering products that would offer a competitive advantage. All of its products have been designed and built using the experience and knowledge gained from Randy Sweet’s 50-plus years of racing competition, plus continuous input from the nation’s top drivers, engineers and chassis builders. For more information, visit http://www.SweetMFG.biz.
“Sweet Manufacturing has developed one of the best steering gears out there and they are dedicated to continue improving all the time,” Swindell said.
Swindell would also like to thank John Christner Trucking, J. Davidson Scrap Metal Processors, Energy Release, Simpson Race Products, FK Rod Ends, HRP Wings, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions and High Performance Lubricants 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.
- Shawn Miller on Mar 29, 2015
- Article Date: 3/29/2015 by Inside Line Promotions