PETERSEN MEDIA
– Kicking off the season by standing on the front stretch at the Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, AZ, it was only fitting that Tony Bruce, Jr closed out the 2012 season by again standing on the front stretch at CSP as he scored a third place finish during the Western World Championships.
Thought it wasn’t on the top of the podium, TBJ was pleased with the way his season ended.
Kicking the weekend off on Friday night for his chance to lock into the Saturday night feature, TBJ’s night started off horrible, as a low pill put him dead last in his heat race.
Staring in the seventh spot of the first heat, the Owasso, OK driver had his elbows up, as he used a very strong start to rocket up into the fourth spot and earn some very important passing points as he would hang on and finish fourth aboard his oil Medics/Hinchman/Pro Auto machine.
Starting on the pole of his qualifier, TBJ and Justin Henderson hooked up in a very entertaining battle for the top spot, with Henderson finally getting the best of TBJ and he wound up in the second spot, but that put him in the second row for the 30-lap preliminary night feature event.
After a slow start to the race due to a pair of cautions, TBJ found himself again in a battle with Henderson as the duo fought for the second spot, as Bruce got the spot on lap four, before a very entertaining for the spot with Jason Johnson.
Slicing and dicing for four laps battling for second, Johnson grabbed the spot on lap 10, and TBJ again found himself back in the third spot.
Keeping pace with the lead duo, TBJ had one final shot at advancing in the top two, as a lap 21 yellow bunched up the field, but he was unable to do anything with the lead duo and ended his night in the third spot.
Returning to action on Saturday night, TBJ was locked into the feature as his Eagle Motorsports/Smiley’s/SWE machine was scheduled to grid the field in the sixth spot.
With many laps getting turned on the Canyon Speedway, it was apparent that the track would unfortunately take rubber during the winged the feature, as TBJ and Wayne Priddy made the appropriate adjustments on the one8 Motorsports machine.
As the race got underway, TBJ hung in the sixth spot as he hoped to conserve his tires in hopes of making a late race move.
His plan came to fruition in the closing laps as he was able to push the limits harder than anyone else over the final circuits and surged to a third place finish to close out the season.
“We had an awesome Eagle Motorsports car all weekend,” said Bruce. “We have been playing with different engine packages over the last few weeks, and the Roush-Yates Ford we had in this weekend was awesome. I can’t thank everyone enough who supports this team and allows us to race across the country on a weekly basis.”
As the season closes Bruce ran 59 races, scoring four wins, three with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour, 23 top fives and 39 top-10’s as he finished fifth in Lucas Oil ASCS National points.
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: The 2012 season has come to a close, and TBJ will now get things in order for the 2013 season.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with TBJ by visiting his website at
www.tonybrucejr.com, or by following him on twitter @tonybrucejr
SPONSOR SHOUT OUT: BUTLERBUILT
Located in North Carolina, ButlerBuilt continues to put out the safest racecar seat on the market. Specializing in all types of racecar seats, ButlerBuilt simply puts drivers in the most comfortable situation to win races.
“I will never strap into any sprint car unless it has a ButlerBuilt seat,” said TBJ. “Brian and Jeannie truly care about their product and what it protects. All the safety features that ButlerBuilt has to offer there is no reason to run anything else.”