PETERSEN MEDIA
Tony Bruce, Jr had aspirations of winning his third Short Track Nationals title over the weekend, however the weekend didn’t go as planned and he found himself in the Saturday night C main event.
Heat race action on Thursday set the tone for the weekend, and unfortunately it wasn’t a good one. Running strong in his heat, TBJ lost an engine as he blew up into a ball of flames, and he failed to earn a substantial amount of heat race points.
Making the switch in the Hinchman Racewear/Oil Medics/ Eagle Motorsports entry, TBJ was forced to start eighth in his qualifier race, and a fourth place finish wasn’t good enough to put him into the feature event, and he found himself in one of the Thursday night semi’s.
Starting in the seventh row of his B, TBJ had his elbows up in his Pro Auto/Smiley’s/SWE machine, as he worked the top of the I-30 Speedway to near perfection as he carved his way up to the seventh spot. Unfortuatnely only the top-three finishers advanced, and TBJ’s prelim night was over and he would be marred in one of the D mains on Saturday night.
Starting at the front of his D, Bruce, Jr and his Maxwell Industries/FK Rod Ends/Butlerbuilt machine picked up the win, and his journey of hopefully running the alphabet to the feature was on.
Things took a turn for the worse in the C, as the Owasso, OK resident got into a minor altercation on the first lap, and he made a quick trip to the pit area for repairs. Making the call, TBJ would come back out and make the most of a bad situation as he raced his way back up to the sixth spot, but failed to make the transfer.
“It was so huge losing our engine in the heat on Thursday,” TBJ said. “We came back out and had a great car, but we were behind the eight ball in points. We had some good things happen, but we had hopes of being in contention after how well we have ran here this season.”
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, Pro Powder Coating, Fuel Safe, Bell, Weld Wheels, and ISC Racer’s Tape for their support through the 2012 season.
ON TAP: TBJ will be back in action on November 9th at the El Paso Speedway Park.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with TBJ by visiting his website at
www.tonybrucejr.com, or by following him on twitter @tonybrucejr
SPONSOR SHOUT OUT: SWE
With nearly 30 years in the racing industry, Steve Watt of SWE is a dealer of various parts and components for both sprint cars and midgets to end up parked in victory lane on a nightly basis.
“When myself or Wayne (Priddy) feel like we don’t have the answer, we call Steve Watt.,” said TBJ. “His knowledge is so vast and valuable to our team. SWE has also launched a new line of aluminum race products for winged and non-winged sprint cars for 2012. Give Steve a call when you feel the need learn from one of the best in the business. “