(Photo by Brandon Young Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – BELLEVILLE, Kan. (June 1, 2015) – Tony Bruce Jr. will have one of the shortest drives to a race track this Saturday when the One 8 Motorsports team will haul approximately an hour to Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla., for a Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event.
“I’m looking forward to being able to sleep in my own bed the night before and leave the shop at 2 p.m. to head to the track,” he said. “Plus, we’ll have a lot of family and friends there so that’s always a bonus.”
Bruce Jr. also has a great track record at the high-banked track, where he has captured a top-five finish with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour during each of the past three years.
“We’ve had really good cars there in the past,” he said. “I feel we can go there and compete for the win. The motor and the car is operating real good right now. We’re looking forward to Saturday.”
Bruce Jr. is coming off a frustrating pair of nights with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour last weekend, which began on Saturday at Eagle Raceway in Eagle, Neb., for the Hinchman Racewear Eagle Nationals.
“In the heat I made a mistake on the last lap and lost a spot, which put us a little further in the A Main,” he said. “To be honest we just missed the setup and misjudged what the track would do in the feature. The car was so tight I couldn’t turn at all. I couldn’t get into the corner well at all.”
After finishing fourth in a heat race and starting 16th in the main event, Bruce Jr. battled outside the top 10 throughout the main event before posting a 15th-place result.
“It was one of those things where we completely missed the setup,” he said. “Turn one always has some holes in it. With all the rain Eagle had been getting throughout this year the track was a lot softer than what we expected. It was rougher and heavier than what we thought it’d be. Being too tight on a rough and heavy track is not where you want to be.”
The weekend wrapped up on Sunday at Belleville High Banks, which hosted its first-ever Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event.
“In the heat race it was tough to pass,” said Bruce Jr., who advanced from fifth to fourth place. “Everybody kind of got in line and rode. We didn’t get a good start like we wanted to. We didn’t have a good enough heat race to put us toward the front of the A Main.”
However, Bruce Jr. maneuvered from his 13th starting position into eighth place before a caution with 10 laps remaining.
“We had a good car,” he said. “At one point we were up to seventh. The restarts weren’t suited for us. That track at speed is so much different than on the start or restarts. Once we finally got our momentum built up that’s when we were faster than guys, but we lost a whole bunch of spots on each restart. We were running the bottom for the majority of the race because we set our car up to do that. A good restart for us was dictated whether a person went to the bottom or the top. It seemed like on each restart a car would dive to the bottom in front of us and I’d lose the air on my wings. We had a lot better car than our results showed.”
Bruce Jr. capped the night with a 14th-place finish.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 30 – Eagle Raceway in Eagle, Neb. – Heat race: 4 (3); Feature: 15 (16).
May 31 – Belleville High Banks in Belleville, Kan. – Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: 14 (13).
SEASON STATS –
19 races, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 8 top 10s, 12 top 15s, 16 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, Okla., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.TonyBruceJr.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonyBruceJr
LIVE COVERAGE –
To keep up to speed with Bruce Jr. at every Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event, visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio. Additionally, RacinBoys will provide live Pay-Per-View video at select races.
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 have 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 few years in diesel fuel.”
Bruce Jr. would also like to thank Lubbock Wrecker Service, Wheeler Metals, Briley Trucking, Hinchman Racewear, Eagle Motorsports, Smiley’s Racing Products, SWE, Maxwell Industries, Moss Racing Engines, FK Rod Ends, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Factory Kahne Shocks, DriverWebsites.com, RacinBoys.com, Wilwood, Schoenfeld Headers, Hoosier Racing 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 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 Jun 01, 2015
- Article Date: 6/1/2015 by Inside Line Promotions