Brady Bacon – Up and Down Midget Week!
(Bill W) June 17, 2014 – The trials and travails of USAC Indiana midget week were not lost on Brady Bacon and the Wilke #11 team. In the four events run, they grabbed a top five and two top tens along the way. This weekend, the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver will return to the seat of the Hoffman Racing #69 sprint car team as they hope to stay on top of the USAC National sprint car standings in a trio of events in the Upper Midwest.
After the opener for midget week was rained out at Gas City Wednesday, the teams headed to Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville on Thursday. “We were headed for a good night there,” says Brady. “We qualified decent (7th), and the way things worked out, we were going to start third in the feature. Unfortunately, Tanner Thorson spun on the first lap and we got caught up in it. We had to go to the back, but we really couldn’t do anything on the racetrack. I think we finished around fifteenth. That was kind of a disappointment. I think we had a top three car.”
A clear track could not be found at the Bloomington Speedway on Friday either. After timing in 11th quick, Brady faced a rough heat race. “We just kept getting caught up in other people’s stuff,” he says. “It seemed if I was on top, someone would slide up sideways about to spin out. If I went to the bottom, someone would be slow down there. I ended up going off the end of the track in the heat and we missed the transfer by one spot. There’s a lot of tough cars, so that format causes a lot of guys to run the B.”
After finishing second in the B, Brady would line up in row seven for the feature, where he began his charge. “It seemed like we were going good in the middle, but right as we got beside those guys, the red came out,” he says. “At that point, they came up and ran where I was running. That’s when we had an electrical issue and we didn’t finish.”
With the level of competition, any mechanical breakdown is a deal breaker. “The midget deal is tough right now,” says Brady. “There are fifteen or twenty cars who can win, so if you start in the back, it’s really tough to get to the front.”
Brady bucked that trend on Saturday at the Lawrenceburg Speedway after a rough qualifying effort. “We had a problem in qualifying,” he says. “The motocross section at Lawrenceburg didn’t treat me too well. I about turned it over, and I took it easy after that. I was surprised I qualified as good as I did (20th).”
Despite the slow start, Brady roared back to a top five finish from deep in the pack. “We changed some things for the heat and we won it,” he says. “That put us starting eighteenth in the feature. It was slicker than normal for Lawrenceburg, but they worked it a little bit. That made it so we could move around, and we were able to work our way up. I think I actually had passed Bryan (Clauson) for fourth, but a car spun out and they had a caution at the same time. So they went back to the last completed lap and I finished fifth.”
Lawrenceburg was a welcome reprieve after the frustration of the first two nights. “We had a really good car there,” says Brady. “We had no gremlins or bad luck for once. It seems like when we don’t have issues, we run well, but those nights have been few.”
Brady would time in 13th quick at the week’s finale Sunday at Kokomo Speedway. “We went out late in qualifying again,” he says. “I think the earliest we went out all week was mid-pack. Kokomo was uncharacteristically dry. I think only one person came out behind me and beat me. I got a little aggressive on the second lap and got into the wall, so I threw that lap away.”
After winning his heat from inside row two, Brady would start in row seven for the feature. “There just wasn’t much racetrack to work with,” he says. “Usually, there is a lot. The track moved around a little bit, but it wasn’t enough to work with to move forward and make up ground. We kind of settled for hanging in there and finished tenth.”
Brady will take the USAC sprint car point lead to Superior Speedway in Northwest Wisconsin on Friday, the Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, Minnesota on Saturday and Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie Wisconsin on Sunday. “I’ve not been to Superior or Deer Creek, and I haven’t been to Sun Prairie in a sprint car,” says Brady. “I think they’ve changed it a lot since I was there in a midget. Hopefully, that’s made it better for sprint cars. Obviously, we’ve been good in the #69, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”
Follow Brady on his Website, Twitter and Facebook!
Follow Brady at his website located at www.BradyBaconRacing.com! Also keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter (which also can be accessed at the website) at the following links…
Twitter Link – http://twitter.com/BradyBacon
Facebook Link - www.facebook.com/pages/Brady-Bacon-Racing/278125555137
Partner of the Week – Tel-Star Communications
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Associate Marketing Partner of the Week – Keizer Aluminum Wheels
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Brady Bacon Racing would like the following sponsors for all their help: Fatheadz Eyewear, Tel-Star Communications, PPM Titanium Products, Triple X Race Components, Smiley's Racing Products, Heath Clips Lawn Care, VanDerBrink Designs, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Eaton Industrial Coatings, Pattison Precision Products, Oilfield Equipment and Manufacturing, Butlerbuilt Seats, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Diversified Machine Inc., Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Lightning Wings, Simpson, CP Pistons, Schoenfeld Headers, Carrillo Rods, Sweet Manufacturing, All Star Performance, King Racing, Schroth Racing, FSR Radiators and Fuel Safe.
The Hoffman #69 sprinter is sponsored by Mean Green, Mopar, Triple X Race Components, Hoosier, DMI, Lykins, Engler Machine & Tool, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, KSE, MPD Racing, CSI Shocks, XYZ Machining, Saldana Racing Products, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Fastener Specialty Motorsports, Wilwood Brakes, Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil, Zemco Headers, Chalk Racing Products and Weld.
Attached: Brady races the Wilke #11 at Kokomo (Travis Branch Photo)
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
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- Brady Bacon on Dec 08, 2014
- Article Date: 6/17/2014