Just Short of Victory in Dodge City

Tony Bruce, Jr. - Image courtesy of Peterson Media

PETERSEN MEDIA

– Debuting a brand new 2013 Eagle Chassis, and racing in his home state of Kansas proved to be rejuvenating for Tony Bruce, Jr as the Liberal, KS native nearly pulled off a last lap pass on Saturday night and he settled for second.

Rolling off for the feature event in the 10th spot, Bruce and crew chief, Wayne Priddy, had the Hinchman Indy/Oil Medics/Eagle rolling as TBJ wasted no time moving into the top five.

TBJ pounded the cushion on both ends of the track to overtake the fourth spot on the eleventh lap and then hounded Brady Bacon for the third spot.

On the 16th lap, TBJ would clear Bacon, and then looked to utilize slower traffic to battle with the lead duo of Brian Brown and Jeff Swindell. In Traffic, Swindell and Bruce ran the top, while Brown worked the bottom, and as Brown was forced to check up, the duo blasted past him to take over first and second.

With nine laps to go, TBJ found an opening aboard his Pro Auto/Smileys/Oil Medics No.18 and put four wheels in the rubber to overtake the point and lead the next six laps.

With three laps to go, Bruce brushed the wall in turns three and four, and gave the lead back to Swindell as they ran within inches of each other.

With the white flag waving Bruce would make one final bid to get around Swindell, but he couldn’t make it stick and ended up in the second position just .0124 seconds behind the leader.

“That was pretty exciting,” said Bruce on the front stretch. “We had a great car tonight, and I couldn’t be happier with Eagle Chassis. This thing did what we wanted it to do, and we should of picked up a win, but we will take second.”

Saturday night at the Dodge City Raceway Park, Bruce had some issues that hampered his night.

A third place finish in his heat, led to an 11th place starting spot in the feature, and a collapsed nose wing at the Owasso, OK resident chasing his car all night as he ended up with an 11th place finish.

Bruce would like to thank all of his sponsors, Hinchman Racewear, Pro Auto, Eagle Motorsports, 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 look to pick up the Nebraska Cup on Sunday, September 9th at the Eagle Raceway.

STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with TBJ by visiting his website at

www.tonybrucejr.com, or by following him on twitter @tonybrucejr

SPONSOR SHOUT OUT: RACINBOYS.COM

Traveling the country and providing a wide variety of motorsports coverage on the internet, racinboys.com is the official broadcast station of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour as well as a destination website for the motorsports guru. If you can’t make it to the track to catch TBJ in action, catch it at www.racinboys.com.

“When I look for breaking news in the racing world I check racinboys.com first. They also do every Lucas Oil ASCS National tour event live audio through the internet,” said Bruce. “Its a great way to follow our team and all things ASCS so make sure you log on and listen.”