By Bill W
August 16, 2011 โ Brady Bacon turned heads in his first Knoxville Nationals last weekend and came away with Rookie of the Year honors among a tough rookie crop. Though he suffered a pair of setbacks, his finish in the B main was tops amongst first year drivers. This weekend, heโll be back in the Brady Bacon Racing #99 360 sprint car at the Jackson Nationals in Jackson, Minnesota.
This was Bradyโs maiden voyage in a real winged 410 sprint car. โI had run a dash-12 motor at Salina with the Outlaws, but this week marked my first time in a real 410 winged race,โ he says. โI have Tony Stewart Racing and Jimmy Carr to thank for that. The #15 team let us try out that (Shaver) motor and weโre looking to purchase it in the future and do some more 410 stuff. Iโd like to thank Ron Shaver for helping us, and all our great partners who have helped us all year.โ
Qualifying Wednesday, Brady timed in tenth quick in the 45-car field. โWe were pretty good in qualifying,โ he says. โI think we could have been a little better, but weโll definitely take tenth quick at the Nationals. We had luck on our side in the heat when (Chad) Kemenah and (Austen) Wheatley crashed. We were able to track everybody on the bottom and get a transfer spot from there.โ
After his fourth place heat finish, Brady lined up outside of row two for the prelim feature. Running in the top ten, he was collected in an accident that eliminated him. โWe had to pay for the good luck we had in the heat later,โ he says. โWe were really good on top in the feature, but I really couldnโt run the bottom. That moved us back to ninth or tenth. Thatโs when (David) Gravel got around and we couldnโt avoid him.โ
Contact meant another car would be needed for Saturdayโs finale. โWe bent the car pretty good,โ says Brady. โItโs fixable, but we decided to pull the other car out to make it easier. It was just as good. We made some adjustments, and I was learning new things with every lap we made on the track.โ
The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver started fifth in Saturday nightโs B main and looked like he was on his way to the A main in his first try. โWe were able to drive to the lead, and Stevie Smith got us back,โ says Brady. โThe car was really running well and I was feeling good until we lost the tire.โ
Brady charged from the rear up to eleventh, and garnered Rookie of the Nationals honors. โWe really exceeded our expectations,โ he says. โI think we opened a lot of eyes there. It was really a successful Nationals considering what happened. We overcame one catastrophe, but we couldnโt overcome the second.โ
Tuesdayโs Ultimate Challenge produced another good run. After winning his heat, Brady ran from sixth to third in his qualifier at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. โThere was just enough to run two grooves,โ he says of a dry racing surface. โThe cushion was still o.k. around the top and there was a little bit on the bottom. We were able to move around a little. We were really good in the heat, and o.k. in the qualifier. We couldnโt quite get up there far enough, and got caught in a traffic jam.โ
While Kyle Larson was out front on the cushion in the main event, Brady worked his way into second and tracked the leader using the bottom of the track. โIn the feature, it was taking rubber in one and two,โ says Brady. โIt was starting to take it in three and four. We tracked Larson down for six or seven laps catching him on the bottom. When we had the red, everyoneโs tires were pretty much gone except for Larsonโฆhe had been up top.โ
While ten drivers made tire changes during the red, Brady was out front and had to stay with what he had, which wasnโt much. He would have to settle for second behind Larson. โThe tires cooled there, and we just had to try to save them, and we finished second,โ he says. โKyleโs tires were just too good to beat him. We probably only could have made it one or two laps. If the track were better, I think it would have been between the two of us. We had a good car.โ
On Sunday night, Brady raced with USAC again at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri. Coming out late, he was third quick. โWe were able to win the heat from sixth,โ he says. โWe started fourth in the A and had the lead at about the halfway point. We got into lapped traffic and the car started getting loose. (Jon) Stanbrough was able to get by us, and then I tried to move around. The car just kept going away, and we ended up sixth just holding on.โ
Itโs back to racing with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series at the Jackson Speedway Nationals in Jackson, Minnesota this Friday and Saturday.
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 linksโฆ
Twitter Link โ http://twitter.com/BradyBacon
Facebook Link – www.facebook.com/pages/Brady-Bacon-Racing/278125555137
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Brady Bacon Racing would like the following sponsors for all their help: Fatheadz Eyewear, Oilfield Equipment and Manufacturing, Tel-Star Communications, PPM Titanium Products, Triple X Race Co., Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Smileyโs Racing Products, Wesmar Racing Engines, Butlerbuilt Seats, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Diversified Machine Inc., Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Lightning Wings, Simpson, Pro Pan, CP Pistons, Carrillo Rods, KSE Steering, King Racing, Schroth Racing, TI22 Performance, FSR Radiators, Three-wide Clothing, Fuel Safe and Colonial Fiberglass.