Enumclaw’s Henry Van Dam started sixth and charged to second within the first couple of laps, tossed in a few slide jobs with Rick Fauver and eventually cruised to a season-opening victory as 360 sprint car racing got under way Saturday at Grays Harbor Speedway in Elma.

After sliding around with Van Dam, Fauver’s car came to a stop on the track and wound parked for the night. Once racing got back under way there was a battle between Jay Cole and Van Dam for first. After a few laps Van Dam had a comfortable lead and Cole found himself racing with Mitch Olson for second. A slide job from Olson on Cole in Turn 2 spelled disaster as Cole was not able to avoid driving up Olson’s rear tire and both found themselves into the wall and not able to make it back onto the track.

After the red flag, the field was narrowed to five cars and Van Dam was able to cruise the 33v to Victory Lane in his first race of the year.