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Swindell Produces 15th Straight 360 Podium During 360 Knoxville Nationals Prelim

(Photo by Paul Arch)

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 6, 2018) – Sammy Swindell had an up-and-down weekend at Knoxville Raceway during the 28th annual 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank and the 7th annual Weld Racing Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank.

“It was both good and bad,” he said. “There were high points and low points.”

The best moment came last Thursday during Swindell’s 360 Knoxville Nationals preliminary night. He guided the No. 3s sprint car owned by A.G. Rains to the 17th best qualifying time out of 43 competitors at the half-mile oval before advancing from third to second place during a heat race.

“We went out kind of late, but the car didn’t seem to make the speed that we needed to qualify near the front,” Swindell said. “The car drove really nice; it just didn’t seem to have the speed. Once we ran our heat and the track slicked off it was pretty good.

“We made a few little changes and the car was really good when the track got really slick in the main event. We were able to roll the bottom really nice. We drove right up there from 11th to second and should have won it, but we got blocked on the last corner. When the guys’ cars start going away late in the race this one seems to a lot of times get better. That’s how we’ve made a lot of moves this year.”

Swindell made up a ton of ground in the closing lap and after executing a last-lap slide job in turn one for the runner-up position he rapidly closed on the leader. Swindell hit the bottom groove in turn three to almost pull even, but he was forced to check up when the leader came down to protect.

The runner-up result, which was Swindell’s 15th straight podium finish during 360ci winged sprint car competition, ranked him 11th in overall points out of more than 90 drivers once preliminary points were tabulated. That lined him up on the inside of the sixth row during Saturday’s 25-lap A Main.

“We couldn’t get the tire stagger the way we had it on Thursday,” he said. “We wound up with a 96 on the left rear instead of a 94. It really affected the car even though we were the same as we were on Thursday. We should have been good, but it totally changed it.

“I was racing with a guy down the frontstretch and all of a sudden he moved over. He slid his left rear under my right rear. I was way up in the air and it was coming down the wrong way. As I was looking at the ground, your instincts are to gas it up so your rear tires were spinning when it hits the ground. I did a 360 and executed that to where I was heading back in the right direction. It could have been a lot worse. We were pretty fortunate to get through that, but I think I fell back to 19th or 20th at that time. Late in the race we got a little better, but it was so tight. In the 360s being tight really hurts those things. I kept plugging away and at least got back up to 12th.”

Swindell survived the mid-race spin to rebound for a 12th-place result.

The weekend concluded on Sunday at Knoxville Raceway during the Capitani Classic. Swindell guided the Thone Motorsports entry to the sixth-best qualifying time in his group. However, a fourth-place run in a heat race missed locking into the A Main by only one spot.

“I got a good off turn four and was able to slide a guy for second in the heat,” he said. “When I slid across he was able to turn down and went into turn three and kind of lost it. I had to almost stop to keep from running into him. I was stuck in the middle of the track and Paul (McMahan) was able to drive by me. If you look back maybe I shouldn’t have tried to pass him and just stayed in third. Later we made it into the main event and made progress. We were able to move up a little bit, but we didn’t have the car as good as it needed to be.”

Swindell finished second in a B Main before advancing from 21st to 16th in the main event.

He is expected to compete on Monday and Tuesday at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting and Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company; and Wednesday through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway for the 58th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 3 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 2 (11).

Aug. 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Feature: 12 (11).

Aug. 5 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 4 (3); B Main: 2 (2); Feature: 16 (21).

SEASON STATS –

38 races, 6 wins, 22 top fives, 26 top 10s, 27 top 15s, 29 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Monday and Tuesday at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting and Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company; and Wednesday through Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, for the 58th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.SammySwindell1.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/1sam91

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – CP Pistons

CP Pistons specializes in developing and manufacturing pistons and rods for high performance race vehicles and the aftermarket. For more information, visit http://www.CP-Carillo.com.

“CP Pistons made us some special pistons and the motor has really responded to that,” Swindell said. “They have been great to work with and we have more improvements coming this summer so I look forward to continuing to work with everyone at CP Pistons.”

Swindell would also like to thank ACME Graphix & Design, Whitacre Glass, FK Rod Ends, High Performance Lubricants, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Simpson Race Products, Sweet Manufacturing, Schoenfeld Headers, W&B Service Company, Griffin Fishing Charters and Lodge, South Bay Partners, MyRacePass and Inside Line Promotions 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.

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