From Bill W
September 4, 2013 – In his first ever appearance at the prestigious Jackson Nationals, Brad Loyet put himself on the podium with a strong third place finish last Saturday night. The Vacuworx Global/Miller Truck Lines #o5 team will take a week off for preparation, before heading to the Canadian Nationals in Ontario next week.
Friday’s prelim at Jackson saw Brad drive from sixth to third in his heat on the big half-mile. “I thought when I got there; it may be hard to pass,” he says. “We were able to get up to third in the heat, and that put us in the redraw. Unfortunately, we drew an eight.”
The Sunset Hills, Missouri driver started well in the feature. “We drove up to fifth, and we had a pretty good car,” says Brad. “On a restart, I went to the bottom to try to get by some guys and I kind of got blocked down there. I fell all the way back to 11th or so. I was pretty upset with myself for making that mistake. Luckily, we were able to get back up to eighth, but we had a better car than that.”
The finale saw a tough draw that slotted Brad eighth in his heat race, but he made the most of the opportunity. “I felt it was a pretty tough heat,” he says. “We were able to drive up to second, so I knew we may make the redraw. It’s tough to do the second night, when you’re not locked in. You have to be in the top two in passing points. Luckily, we passed some cars.”
After drawing a four to start outside of row two for the finale, Brad settled in for the main event. “It was pretty much around the top to start with,” he says. “I stayed up there and we ran fourth the first ten laps or so. (Jeff) Swindell went to the bottom on a restart about ten laps in, and I got around him on the top.”
Brad was stronger as the race went on. “On the last restart, Jason (Johnson) had his nose underneath me in three and four,” he says. “I thought maybe I’d go down there and see what it was like. It was getting to be a long ways around three and four. I started reeling in Brian and Jason, but it wasn’t enough to do anything with them.”
The team was pleased with their efforts. “Coming out of there with a third our first time there…we were happy with it,” says Brad. “You want to win as many races as you can, but overall, it was a good points weekend. We can’t complain too much.”
It was a long tow to the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Missouri on Sunday. Brad would finish third after starting fifth in his heat. “We were racing pretty hard with Jeff Swindell for second,” he says. “If we could have gotten around him, it may have been different. As it was, not being there the first night hurt us. We weren’t eligible for the redraw, so the best we could have started would have been seventh. Unfortunately, we started 15th.”
He would advance to a tenth place finish. “The first couple of laps, I thought we had a very good car,” says Brad. “We got stuck racing some people back there, and by the time we had them cleared, it was lockdown rubber. Some of the other guys had the seas part for them at the start, but I got caught in the stuff they got through. We kind of rolled around there at that point and ended up tenth.”
The team is taking a needed break before heading for their first trek to Canada next week. “We’re taking this weekend off to get prepared for the rest of the year,” says Brad. “Next week, we’ll be headed to Ohsweken Speedway for the Canadian Nationals. It will be neat. It’s the first time I’ve ever raced in Canada.”