February 27, 2017 – Brady Bacon and the Dooling/Hayward Racing #63 team had a successful debut at last weekend’s USAC sprint car Winter Games VIII at Bubba Raceway Park near Ocala, Florida. The team recorded two top five finishes. They didn’t come easy, however, as charges came from row eight and row seven. That earned the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver BC Badass Hard-charger honors for both features and the weekend. This Friday and Saturday will be the debut of the wing Bacon/Marshall Motorsports #99 team with the World of Outlaws in Texas.
The planned three-night event in Ocala was cut to two by Mother Nature. Also yielding to rain was Wednesday’s practice session. That weighed on the team’s first outing. “We had new cars,” says Brady. “I hadn’t driven Spike’s (chassis) before. Losing a night of racing and practice left us behind a little bit. We had to do a lot of different things than what I was accustomed to, so we didn’t qualify well.”
Brady would time in 16th quick on Friday, and 14th on Saturday. “We ran two different cars,” he says. “They ended up running pretty similarly. It took us until the feature to get it right both nights. Considering we struggled early, we ran really well in the features, coming up to finish fourth (from 16th) and fifth (from 13th).”
The weekend gave the team confidence heading forward. “We have a grasp on what we need to do,” says Brady. “We passed a lot of cars and came forward each night. We were as fast as anyone in the feature, we just were starting too far back. We’ll work on putting a whole night together and putting ourselves in position for that first win.”
The hard-charger awards were a shot in the arm as well. “The Hughes Family had a hard-charger award for each night,” says Brady. “The Indiana Mafia was also involved in doing a hard-charger award for both nights as well. We were able to take home some nice bonus money for that, and that’s always nice. Every little bit that is added helps.”
Brady will tackle the WoO at Lonestar Speedway near Kilgore, Texas Friday and Gator Motorplex near Willis on Saturday. “We’re debuting the new Bacon-Marshall Motorsports team,” he says. “We’ve been working hard on the cars to have everything ready. I feel optimistic about everything. We ran really well last year for as much as we raced.”
He is hoping an increased wing schedule and improved motor program will go a long way. “With a little bigger schedule this year, I think it’s going to work to our advantage,” says Brady. “We have a way better motor program than we’ve ever had in a 410. With the World of Outlaws format, that’s very important in qualifying. Hopefully, all the work pays off for us.”
Brady says the team will also use their first weekend to get things dialed in. “We’re going to compete, but we also want to get any bugs worked out. When the Outlaws come back from the West Coast, we can be ready for them at Devil’s Bowl. We’re looking at a month and a half running with them with the #99.”
He’s had limited experience at the two tracks. “It’s been a while since I’ve run at Lonestar,” says Brady. “I haven’t ever been to Gator. They say it’s a high-banked ¼-mile, which should be right up our alley. We’ll have to see what the tracks do. The last time I was at Lonestar, it was slick, but rough. I’ve heard it’s been smooth lately.”