PETERSEN MEDIA
– Tony Bruce, Jr is coming off of a week that he surely would like to forget about. From being spun out running fifth to nearly flipping one night, TBJ is looking forward to getting back to I-30 this weekend.
“We have had some very interesting luck ever since we rolled into Knoxville a couple of weeks ago,” said TBJ. “It happens, but I’m really hoping we can shake out of this funk in a hurry.”
The wild week kicked off in Bruce’s home state of Kansas, at the Salina Speedway. Scoring a third place finish in his heat, TBJ lined his Hinchman/Pro Auto/Oil Medics entry up in the ninth spot for the 30-lap contest.
Bruce showed good speed early, as he was able to tip-toe his way up inside the top-five.
Once in fifth, contact from behind, sent TBJ into a spin, and he was forced to restart the race from the tail of the field. Buried on the restart, Bruce would rebound to a 12th place finish.
As the scene shifted to Creek County Speedway, Bruce’s night got off to a much better start as he notched a heat race win from his second starting spot, putting him in the sixth spot for the feature event.
Being on the outside for the start of the race proved to be a disadvantage, as the bottom line was the preferred lane, and TBJ got shuffled back to the ninth spot early in the feature.
Relying on people to miss the bottom to gain position, Bruce remained in the ninth spot as the race drew to a close.
Saturday night saw the scene shift to the Lawton Speedway in Lawton, OK, as teams were greeted with a very wet and soppy track.
A fourth place finish in heat race action, put TBJ back in the 16th starting spot. Bruce got off to a very rough start for the Owasso, OK resident as he got out of shape and nearly flipped, as he fell to the tail of the field.
Bruce was able to rebound quite nicely as he worked his way back through the field charging his way back up to a tenth place finish at the stripe.
During post race tech, race winner, Jason Johnson, was disqualified for no muffler, and TBJ moved up into the ninth spot.
“It was an interesting week for sure,” said Bruce. “It’s back to just Wayne and myself for a while, so it’s been a little chaotic. We’ve got a couple of tracks we have ran well on in the past coming up, so hopefully we can get going in the right direction.”
Bruce would like to thank all of his sponsors, Hinchman Racewear, Pro Auto, The Oil Medics, Smileys, SWE, Maxwell Industries, FK Rod Ends, Butlerbuilt, Factory Kahne Shocks, Randy’s Racing Filters, DriversWebsites.com, Racinboys.com, Wilwood, Zemco Headers, Hoosier Tires, Gaerte Engines, Pro Powder Coating, Fuel Safe, Bell, Weld Wheels, and ISC Racer’s Tape for their support through the 2012 season.
ON TAP: TBJ and the one8 motorsports team will be back in action for a pair of events this weekend starting Friday night at the Salina High Banks, before returning to I 30 Speedway on Saturday night.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with TBJ by visiting his website at
www.tonybrucejr.com, or by following him on twitter @tonybrucejr
SPONSOR SHOUT OUT: Factory Kahne Shocks
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“I’ve had several different air filters throughout my years of racing, and nothing protects the insides of my engines like Randy’s Filters,” said TBJ. “By running Randy’s Filters we have extended the life of our engine another five nights.”