Inside Line Promotions – LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Oct. 27, 2013) – Tony Bruce Jr. couldn’t have started out any better at I-30 Speedway last week.
Bruce Jr. kicked off the four-day Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event at the quarter-mile bullring by charging from sixth to win his heat race on Wednesday during the inaugural Short Track Nationals Open. That gave him the most points of the 95 competitors and he pulled the No. 2 in the feature redraw to start the main event on the outside of the front row.
“On Wednesday night we were really good in the heat race,” he said. “We took advantage of the situation we had and were able to put ourselves on the front row. We were just too tight. We went back to our notebook of previous races. All of our notes said we were a little too loose so we made sure we didn’t get too loose and unfortunately we were too tight. We just couldn’t rotate the corners. It’s frustrating because any time we go to Little Rock we expect to win, especially when you start on the front row.”
Bruce Jr. battled to hold on to a sixth-place finish, sending him into the 26th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals Presented by Hoosier Tires with the momentum of 12 consecutive races with a top-seven result.
With a heavy track for most of the night on Friday during his preliminary event, Bruce Jr. once again had to advance from starting sixth in his heat race.
“I don’t have a problem starting in the back and the track was definitely a lot wetter than the previous prelim night,” he said. “We were pretty decent.”
Bruce Jr. picked up a pair of positions to finish fourth and he then claimed his qualifier after starting on the outside of the front row. Once the points were calculated, Bruce Jr. ranked ninth to start on the inside of the fifth row for the 25-lap feature.
“In the A Feature I went in on the top, got a little tight and rode a wheelie down the back straightaway,” he said. “When I came down it broke a right front shock mount. The car was bouncing around really bad and I had to come to the work area to get it fixed.”
Bruce Jr. rallied from the back to score a 14th-place finish, but was credited with a 17th-place result when the points were tabulated. That started him eighth in a B Main on Saturday, when the top seven from the consolation would transfer to the $15,000-to-win main event.
After a rain delay for a couple of hours on Saturday, Bruce Jr. advanced to sixth place by the midpoint of the B Main on the fast track before he was crashed on a restart.
“Some idiot decided to ruin both of our nights,” he said. “It was a stupid move because both him and myself were in a transfer spot. A lot of it had to do with ignorance and inexperience. He doesn’t do that and both of us are in the A Main.”
After being hit from behind and forced into an infield tire, Bruce Jr. tagged the rear of the field and finished 11th in the B Main to end his weekend.
“Everything except for what happened to us on Saturday in the B Main, I felt like we had a pretty solid weekend,” he said. “We would have been in the show, but unfortunately we weren’t.”
Bruce Jr. and the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour are scheduled to compete at El Paso Speedway Park in El Paso, Texas, on Friday and at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., on Saturday.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 23 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 1 (6); Feature: 6 (2).
Oct. 25 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 4 (6); Qualifier: 1 (2); Feature: 14 (9).
Oct. 26 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – B Main: 11 (8).
SEASON STATS –
59 races, 4 wins, 23 top fives, 38 top 10s, 49 top 15s, 53 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at El Paso Speedway Park in El Paso, Texas, and Saturday at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.tonybrucejr.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonybrucejr
VIDEO –
Here is a link for RacinBoys’ footage of Bruce Jr.’s victory at Boyd Raceway on April 26: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wx3nrOFTDyg
APPAREL –
Bruce Jr. has black and white t-shirts in adult sizes for sale at his race trailer at each of his races. For his schedule, visit http://www.TonyBruceJr.com/schedule.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – The Oil Medics
Located in Fort Worth, Texas, The Oil Medics services diesel trucks and distributes racing oil for sprint car engines and rear ends. For more information, visit http://www.theoilmedics.com.
“Bill and the entire Jewell family has been more than just a great sponsor, but also great friends,” Bruce Jr. said. “They specialize in truck maintenance and fuel economy, which has saved us hundreds of dollars the past couple of years in diesel fuel.”
Bruce Jr. would also like to thank Lubbock Wrecker Service, Wheeler Metals, Briley Trucking, Hinchman Racewear, Eagle Motorsports, Moss Racing Engines, Smiley’s Racing Products, SWE, Maxwell Industries, FK Rod Ends, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Factory Kahne Shocks, DriverWebsites.com, RacinBoys.com, Wilwood, Schoenfield Headers, Hoosier Tires, HRP, Kaeding Performance, Schaeffer Oil, Fuel Safe, Bell Helmets, Four Seasons Radiator, Southern Trailer Works, KSE, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Weld Wheels, ISC Racers Tape and Pressure Tek 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.
- Tony Bruce on Oct 27, 2013
- Article Date: 10/27/2013 by Inside Line Promotions