By Bill W
June 18, 2013 – It’s the halfway point of Lucas Oil ASCS National Speedweek and Brad Loyet and the Loyet Motorsports #o5 have experienced some highs and lows. A DNF at Kennedale Speedway Park was followed up with a podium finish at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway, and an eighth place finish in Vivian, Louisiana. The last three shows of Speedweek see the Series at Lawton (OK) Speedway Wednesday night, Creek County Speedway near Sapulpa, Oklahoma on Thursday, and rounds out at the Lucas Oil Speedway near Wheatland, Missouri on Saturday.
Things started Friday night in Kennedale, Texas. Brad drew the tail of his heat, but made his way up to second. “Kennedale was my sort of racetrack,” he says. “It’s a small racy joint. I was able to get up to second. I had one of those deals where I got underneath (Johnny) Herrera and he got over my right side. He felt that was my fault.”
After redrawing in the seventh starting spot, the feature started well before going south. “I got up and was passing for fourth early on,” says Brad. “I had a really good car. Unfortunately, another car got into me, and I had to go to the tail. We still had a good car. It was bent up, but we were still moving forward. We were about halfway through the race and a guy just spun out right in front of me. That was the end for us. The night was kind of a wash. You go from being high point guy to all this bad luck happening.”
Mesquite, Texas’s Devil’s Bowl was up next on Saturday. Brad won his heat from the pole. “Devil’s Bowl was a good night for us,” he says. “Jason (Johnson) started beside me in the heat. He’s quick everywhere we go. I knew I had to get a jump on him, but I figured he was the quickest guy there, so it wasn’t easy. We got a good jump and were able to win it.”
The Sunset Hills, Missouri driver drew the five pill for the feature, putting him inside row three. “I was up to second about two laps into it,” says Brad. “I pulled all the way up to (leader) Johnny and I figured I probably needed to run where he was running. That may have been the mistake of the night. I moved up on the racetrack after passing everyone on the bottom. Johnny pulled away a little and Jeff Swindell caught up to me. We raced pretty hard for five or six laps and he got me. Johnny got away from us, and we both went to the bottom and reeled him back in. The race went green to checker and was over before I knew it.”
The third place finish on the half-mile was promising. “The half-mile tracks have not been my forte, but lately we’ve been running them pretty well,” says Brad. “We ran well at I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, Nebraska) and now at the Devil’s Bowl, so that makes you feel good going to Knoxville down the line.”
The ASCS made an appearance at Ark-La-Tex Speedway near Vivian Louisiana on Sunday. “It seemed like a track I should like,” says Brad. “It was a Little Rock sized track. I watched the factory stocks before our heats and they had pavement slicks on. I looked at the track and it looked hard and packed, almost sealed over. I didn’t realize they had those slicks on and were just packing the track in. In the heat race, I spun the tires off like John Force and fell back to sixth. Once I realized the track was awesome, and the harder you drove it the more dirt you dug up…I got back up to where I started (fourth).”
The finish put Brad back in row seven to start the main event. He would work forward to eighth at the checkers. “When there are only 22 cars there, it actually makes it tougher starting back in the feature,” he says. “The quick guys have already made up their spots in the heats. Every car you pass is good at that point. We were able to get to eighth, but it felt like I had passed ten cars. We rolled the bottom and took what we could get.”
In addition to the second half of Speedweek coming up this week, Brad will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Vacuworx Global in their Tulsa headquarters on Friday.
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Brad and the Loyet Motorsports team would like to thank primary sponsors: Vacuworx Global, Miller Truck Lines, and Loyet Landscape Maintenance. Associate sponsors: Maxim Race Cars, J and D Performance Racing Engines, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Meramec Heights Collision Center, KSE Racing, Weld Wheels, Penske Shocks, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Hepfner Racing Products, DMI, Saldana Racing Products, Rod End Supply, Bell Helmets, TI 64, Conroy Control, The Engine Heater, Ealey Transportation, and Speedway Motors.