Lonnie Wheatley, WINCHESTER, Ind. (November 21, 2018) – Reaching the 100 race mark on the season, Brady Bacon has his sights set on the ARP $50,000 bonus at this week’s Turkey Night affair atop California’s Ventura Raceway.
The bonus goes to the driver that can top both the USAC West Coast Sprint Car portion of the event as well as the USAC Midget leg of the 78th running of the “Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix”.
The event begins with a full card of USAC West Coast Sprint Car action on Wednesday with both the Sprint Cars and Midgets in action on Thursday’s “Turkey Night” finale.
The bonus is very well within Bacon’s reach as the Brady Bacon Racing No. 99 360-ci Sprint Car has proven strong all season and he also sits second in USAC National Midget points aboard the FMR No. 76m entry.
“It’s Gene Frankowiak’s engine in the Sprint Car and that thing is really good,” Bacon explains. “Aside from Short Track Nationals, we haven’t finished any worse than second with it all year.” Most recently, Bacon picked up another Western World Championships title aboard the non-wing 360-ci Sprint Car at Arizona Speedway less than three weeks ago.
Bacon has also ranked as a top contender in the USAC Midget ranks throughout the entirety of the season, climbing to second in points going into Thursday’s finale after a seventh-place run at Bakersfield Speedway’s “November Classic” last Saturday.
After timing in seventh and then transferring to the main event by way of a third-place heat race finish at Bakersfield, Bacon gridded the 30-lap “November Classic” feature outside the second row.
Several aborted starts proved to be costly for the “Macho Man” though.
“We had a good start on the first three that all got called back,” Bacon recalls. “We didn’t get a good start on the next one and that’s the one that stayed green. I caught three and four wrong on the first lap and lost some spots.”
Despite the rough start, Bacon hustled his way to a seventh-place finish by night’s end.
“It was a little slicker than we thought it would be, and we have been struggling in the slick,” Bacon explains. “We have a better car if we can keep our speed up. We have some things in mind that should make it better in the slick.”
With 99 races in the books, Bacon is hoping that reaching triple-digits in the race count column translates into a five-figure payday at Ventura Raceway’s “Turkey Night” festivities.
Brady Bacon Racing is bolstered by the support of partners including Fatheadz Eyewear, Tel-Star Technology/Port City Raceway, Gene Frankowiak, Cimarron Cycle Works, Priority Aviation, Triple-X Race Co., FMR Racing, FK Indy, Heath Clips Lawn Care, Elliot’s Custom Trailers and Carts, B&S Cattle, Lucas Oil Products, Kiser’s Truck and Auto, Smiley’s Racing Products, Keizer Wheels, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, FK Rod Ends, DMI, Walker Filters, ProGlide Coatings, Octane Ink, CP Carrillo, PAC Racing Allstar Performance, Simpson Racing Products, Driver Websites, Engler Machine and Tool, Wilwood Engineering, Schroth Racing, Smith Precision Products, KSE Racing Products, King Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, FSR Radiators, LRB Mfg. Indy Race Parts, Imperial Wagyu Beef, Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts, Tony Elliott Foundation, Frolic Bar & Grill.
2018 Quick Stats: 99 races, 10 wins, 42 top-fives, 60 top-tens.
Up Next: “Turkey Night” at California’s Ventura Raceway on Wednesday and Thursday including USAC National Midgets “Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix” (Thursday) and USAC West Coast Sprint Cars (Wednesday and Thursday). For those unable to attend in person, live PPV is available at https://www.speedshifttv.com/.
Keep Track: Keep track of Brady Bacon’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.bradybaconracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Brady-Bacon-278125555137/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BradyBaconRacin.
If you would like Brady Bacon Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
- administrator on Nov 21, 2018
- Article Date: 11/21/2018 by Lonnie Wheatley