From Bill W
July 31, 2012 โ Brady Bacon added another feather to his cap at Knoxville Raceway, finishing third on Saturday night at the Knoxville 360 Nationals!ย It was a solid week for the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver that also included action in Sundayโs โCapitani Classicโ with the 410โs at Knoxville.ย He will head to the Southern Iowa Speedway tonight and tomorrow night for the USAC Ultimate Challenge, where he hopes to climb one spot from his second place finish a year ago.
Bradyโs week started Thursday night in his 360 Nationals prelim.ย He timed in second quick out of the 56 cars assembled.ย โWe were fortunate with the pill draw this weekend,โ he says of an early draw for qualifying.ย โWe obviously had a good car too, to qualify second.ย We were good in hot laps, in qualifying and in the heat.ย We finally got to where we can roll around this place really well.ย I think we qualified around 35th last year, so the changes we made definitely helped.โ
Starting sixth in his heat, he would surge to a third place finish and a transfer to the prelim main event.ย โItโs tough to make those transfer spots, because there are so many good cars,โ he says.ย โWe were fortunate enough to get up there and finish third to get us in the feature.ย That puts you in good position for Saturday too.โ
Starting eighth, he spent much of the race in the top five, but would checker seventh.ย โAt that point, we were trying to get to where we could roll the top,โ says Brady.ย โIt seems we lose time up there more than other people.ย We were actually running fifth.ย On the last caution, I think my tires sealed up a little bit.ย We lost some traction and fell back to seventh.ย But that put us on the second row for the feature on Saturday.โ
Starting outside row two for Saturdayโs championship event, Brady spent much of the contest dueling with former KKR teammate Kevin Swindell for second.ย โWe were racing pretty close,โ he says.ย โThat is nothing out of the ordinary with racing at Knoxville.ย We had a really good car.ย Obviously, so did Shane (Stewart) and Kevin.ย Once we got strung out, it was tough.ย You canโt let Shane get a lead like that.ย He isnโt going to make mistakes, and you arenโt going to catch him.โ
The duel with Kevin had the attention of the fans, and Brady would finish third.ย โKevin and I were struggling in the same spots,โ he says.ย โIt was getting a little rough on the top of three and four and we got over the cushion a couple of times.ย I was really pleased with everything though.ย Motor was running great and the car was running great.ย A top three at that raceโฆyou have to be happy with that!ย Also, itโs just a good start for this week.โ
Sundayโs โCapitani Classicโ started in inauspiciously.ย โWe had a rear-end failure in hot laps before we could get going,โ says Brady.ย โIn qualifying, it was really hard to see coming off of turn two halfway down the backstretch.ย I really didnโt know what to do after not getting practice, so I just committed to the bottom and we were fortunate to get a good lap in (5th quick of 67 cars).ย That was reassuring.โ
A DNF in the heat would send Brady to the B.ย โWe had a throttle linkage issue in the heat,โ he says.ย โIt kept backing the throttle off wide open.ย The butterflies werenโt wide open when the throttle was.ย They kept backing off.ย The throttle linkage actually broke and we were done.โ
Brady represented Oklahoma in the โDash of the Statesโ.ย He would finish seventh.ย โWe struggled the first few laps of the Dash,โ he says.ย โIt was an opportunity to try some things on the top and bottom.ย By the end of the race, we were pretty good.ย That helped us in the B (which he won).โ
Starting 19th in the main event, Brady ran a bit and decided to save his equipment for the Nationals.ย โBy the time the feature rolled around, I had put a full night on my motor and we had used up some tires,โ he says.ย โI just didnโt want to take a chance of destroying a brand new car.ย We felt the car out, and werenโt making a lot of progress so I pulled it in to save it for this week.โ
Last year, Brady finished second to Kyle Larson in the Ultimate Challenge.ย He hopes to reverse that, starting tonight.ย โIโm really excited about the Ultimate Challenge,โ he says.ย โWe ran second there last year, and I think we definitely have a shot to win it.ย Weโll see how well it goes.โ
Things will get underway for Brady at the Knoxville Nationals on Wednesday night.ย โI hope my luck continues in the draw,โ he admits.ย โWeโve got the wing car ready to go.ย Iโd like to lock into Saturday night so we donโt have to mess with Friday!โ
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-
Partner of the Week โ Tel-Star Communications
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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., Infinity Shocks, Smiley’s Racing Products, Heath Clips Lawn Care, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Tru-Square, Eaton Industrial Coatings, Pattison Precision Products, Wesmar Racing Engines, Butlerbuilt Seats, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Diversified Machine Inc., Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Lightning Wings, Simpson, Pro Pan, CP Pistons, Schoenfeld Headers, Carrillo Rods, KSE Steering, All Star Performance, King Racing, Schroth Racing, FSR Radiators, Three-wide Clothing and Fuel Safe.