Inside Line Promotions
– MESQUITE, Texas (Oct. 25) – For the first time in a long time, Tony Bruce Jr. drew a good pill when he needed it.
On a greasy, one-lane track last Friday at the 38th annual Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals, Bruce Jr. started on the pole of his heat race at the ½-mile Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas.
“There’s a lot of times when you need to draw good because of the track conditions and that was huge,” he said. “All we needed to do was make sure we got the start, jumped into the lead and set sail.”
The Liberal, Kan., native did just that and led all eight laps to record his sixth heat race win of the season. That locked Bruce Jr. into the 30-lap feature, which he started 10th on a track that had transformed from greasy to fast and hooked up.
“It was just get a good start, pass as many cars as we could before we exited turn two and then ride around until people made mistakes,” he said.
Bruce Jr. was in eighth after the start and he picked up two more positions throughout the race to finish sixth, which matched his season-best ASCS National Tour finish and was two spots out of being locked into Saturday’s feature redraw.
“In reality I wish we would have had two spots better, but all in all I’m happy with how it played out,” he said.
Bruce Jr. started last in his heat race on Saturday, when the track was more conducive to racing. Unfortunately for Bruce Jr., his race included veterans Johnny Herrera and Jeff Swindell, who are currently second and third in the ASCS National points, ASCS Midwest champion Jack Dover, ASCS Warrior champion Brad Loyet, former ASCS National champion Travis Rilat and veteran Danny Wood.
“We were really good in the heat,” he said after charging from eighth to fourth. “Sometimes it’s not where you draw, it’s who you draw. That heat was about as loaded as I’ve seen. For us to start eighth and run it up to fourth, I think we had a pretty good car.”
That earned Bruce Jr. enough points to advance to the feature, which he started 14th.
“Everybody knew that the rubber was going to be there,” he said. “Our game plan was to race those first five or six laps really hard.”
While running around 15th on lap five, Bruce Jr. spun out in turn two trying to pass a handful of cars that had slid up the track.
“I saw an opening,” he said. “If it would have stuck, I would have been a hero. Unfortunately it didn’t and I went to the back. Two laps later it was completely locked down all around the race track.”
He restarted 23rd and finished 19th on the rubber-down track. Bruce Jr. is ninth in the ASCS National Tour standings, only 14 points out of eighth.
He heads to one of the premier ASCS National Tour events this weekend and will run a second car for the first time. A two-time champion of the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., Bruce Jr. will field an additional car for one of the hottest names in the sport – Kyle Larson – at this weekend’s 24th version.
“As far as Bruce Racing goes, we’re excited to have Wayne Priddy back as the crew chief and a leader of the team,” Bruce Jr. said. “We’ve been kicking around the idea of having a second car at some big shows and who better to put in the car right now than Kyle Larson. It’d be really cool to come out of there with both cars in the top five and I think we can do it.”
Bruce Jr.’s qualifying night is Thursday and Larson’s is Friday. Both will then compete on Saturday at the $15,000-to-win, $2,400-to-start event.
For live updates on Bruce Jr., Larson and all of the competition throughout the weekend, check out www.insidelinepromotions.com.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 21 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 6 (10).
Oct. 22 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas – Heat race: 4 (8); Feature: 19 (14).
SEASON STATS –
53 races, 46 features, 1 win, 5 top fives, 20 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 43 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday and Saturday at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., for the 24th annual Short Track Nationals with the ASCS National Tour
FAVORITE NUMBER –
2: Consecutive Short Track Nationals titles in 2008-09, which has only been accomplished by two other drivers – Gary Wright and Steve Kinser.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Website: www.tonybrucejr.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tonybrucejr
ON THE AIR –
Bruce Jr. was a featured guest on the ASCS Show by Racinboys on May 24. Check out the link below for his interview, which starts at approximately 44:20 into the show.
http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=19159
He was also on the April 26 edition. Click on the link below to listen to Bruce Jr.’s interview, which begins around the 52:25 mark.
http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=18733
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Bruce Jr. would like to thank his sponsors, including The Oil Medics, TBJ Promotions, Ticketmob.com, LRB Manufacturing, Hoosier and Smiley’s Racing Products for their continued support.