By Bill W
April 28, 2014 – Brady Bacon and the Hoffman Racing #69 team had a rocket for a racecar last weekend in Indiana in a pair of USAC sprint car events. Brady looked to be on the way to a possible win in Gas City on Friday night before he hooked the cushion. On Saturday, at Haubstadt, Indiana, he overcame a rough qualifying effort to charge from 11th to second. This weekend, the series moves west to Nebraska’s Eagle Raceway on Friday and the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska on Saturday.
The weekend started out as well as it could, with quick time, and a strong heat race win at I-69 Speedway in Gas City on Friday. “A good draw in qualifying helped a little bit, but we had a really good car,” says Brady. “That place is usually hard to pass in the heat race, but we were able to go from sixth to first in a pretty stacked heat (that included Chris Windom, Bryan Clauson, Robert Ballou, Chad Boespflug and others). It makes you feel good if you can pass that early in the night.”
The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver wasted little time in the feature in moving to the front. “We were able to get in the lead on lap eight,” says Brady. “We weren’t having any issues. I was able to get into lapped traffic, and pass a couple of guys. We had two or three cautions in a row.”
One of the restarts derailed the bid for the win. “The cushion was building almost a brick wall around the track,” says Brady. “I hit it in three and four after one of the restarts and biked up. The car set down and stalled. We had to go to the back. The track didn’t have much left for us to move forward, and guys were two-wide in front of us. There wasn’t much I could do (he checkered 14th). I felt bad for the guys, because we had the car to beat.”
Brady has shown his prowess many times at Saturday’s venue, Tri-State Speedway near Haubstadt. He timed in 11th quick, a qualifying slot his is unaccustomed to. “We didn’t get to hot lap,” he admits. “We had a small motor issue. It’s important to hot lap at Haubstadt. It’s so much different than anywhere else. You have to get yourself in the mode of doing different things in the car that you don’t do anywhere else. That hurt me a little bit.”
Starting fourth in his heat, he shot to the front and won. “We weren’t that great to be honest,” says Brady. “We’re still feeling some things out with the car, and figuring out how far we need to go with some things we changed from last year.”
The #69 team went to work and hit the setup for the main event, in which Brady would start 11th. “Rob (Hoffman) made some changes with the car for the feature, and I felt as good as I ever have at Haubstadt,” he says. “We were able to work up to fifth or sixth running the bottom early on. I was able to move the car around in lapped traffic and get up to second. I was able to run the middle and bottom better than most of those guys.”
Unfortunately, by then, “The Modern Day Cowboy” had checked out in the lead. “Once we were in second, I was able to move back to the top, and it felt really, really good,” says Brady. “I was hoping I had another Granite City deal where the leader fell out and I won (last week), but Daron (Clayton) started on the pole and he was long gone. He just got too big a lead to catch him.”
Brady is excited about USAC’s trek to Nebraska this weekend. “I’m looking forward to that,” he says. “I haven’t been able to race out there in a while. The last time we were at Eagle, we won both races…in a wing car obviously. Hopefully, it translates a little bit.”
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 links…
Twitter Link – http://twitter.com/BradyBacon
Facebook Link – www.facebook.com/pages/Brady-
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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., Competition Suspension, 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.
The Hoffman #69 sprinter is sponsored by Mean Green, Mopar, XXX, Hoosier, DMI, Lykins, Engler Machine & Tool, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, KSE, MPD Racing, XYZ Machining, Saldana Racing Products, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Fastener Specialty Motorsports, Wilwood Brakes, Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil, Zemco Headers, Chalk Racing Products and Weld.