Brady rockets around Eldora in the Hoffman #69 (Mike Campbell Photo)
(Bill W) May 9, 2016 – Brady Bacon had fast racecars last weekend at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio both with the USAC National Sprint Car Series in the Hoffman Racing #69 and with the World of Outlaws in the Brady Bacon Racing #99. Second, fifth, eighth and 14th (from 24th) place finishes had the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver motivated going forward in both classes. In addition, the 2014 USAC sprint car champ is just five points behind Thomas Meseraull in the current USAC Sprint Car standings. This weekend will see action with the WoO in Indiana at Plymouth Speedway and Tri-State Speedway near Haubstadt.
With the Outlaws on Friday, Brady timed in fourth quick with his group. “That put us on the front row of the heat and we were able to finish second and get into the Dash,” he says. “The invert was eight, so we started on the pole of that. I just didn’t get a good start and fell back to third. (Kerry) Madsen beat us on the start and (Donny) Schatz got by me. We were pretty good after that though.”
An early mishap dropped him back from his starting spot inside row two, but he would battle back. “On the first or second lap, I was coming around the top of one and two and hit the fence in two pretty hard,” says Brady. “I think I fell back to eleventh or twelfth. Luckily, nothing was hurt too bad, and I came back up to finish eighth. We were passing cars at the end. It was too bad, because if I hadn’t hit the wall, we were in position to get a lot better finish.”
In USAC competition Friday, Brady qualified eighth quick in the #69. “We went out late,” he says. “I think we were the second to last car. The track was a lot drier on Friday, and there wasn’t really anything left for us. I thought we made a good lap for where we were.”
After finishing second in his heat, Brady would start the main event outside row four. “We were shuffled back to about tenth on the start,” he says. “I was able to work my way back up to fifth. It was a little hard to pass, and everyone was up on the wall. I knew (Kyle) Cummins and (Chase) Stockon were having tough nights and they took provisionals. You can get in trouble at Eldora pretty quick, so I wanted to make sure we got a good solid finish.”
The WoO finale on Saturday saw the #99 time in a disappointing 14th in his group. “We weren’t very good,” says Brady. “The track was a lot heavier and I don’t think we trimmed out enough. We were a little too tight from the night before. We weren’t that far off, but it doesn’t take much.”
Corrections were made, and Brady was faster the rest of the evening. “The car got better and better,” he says. “There was a weird start in the heat. There was debris on the track and drivers were pointing at it. Then they turned the lights out ¾ of the way down the backstretch as the pace truck was just pulling off at the last minute. I wasn’t really ready for that and we got a bad start. We came back and got up to sixth, but that put us in the B.”
He would make it through the B unscathed and start the feature 24th. “I was glad to make it,” says Brady. “There’s a big money difference there. We were able to charge up to 16th and two cars crashed at the end, putting us 14th. You can’t pass a bunch of cars at once there. You just have to pick them off one at a time, and we had a really good car. I was really pleased with that.”
On the USAC side, he would time in 11th quick Saturday. “There was kind of a little stick in the middle that most of the fast guys hit,” says Brady. “I missed it and that was probably one of the disadvantages of being busy with two cars.”
A motor problem arose, resulting in a DNF in the heat. Brady would come back and win the B, however, putting him outside row five for the main event. “We had a crash there at the beginning that took a lot of good cars out,” he says. “(Chris) Windom, (Robert) Ballou and (Bryan) Clauson were all in the same wreck, so that made the job a little easier.”
He would charge to the front and soon be in the runner-up spot. “We had a really good car,” says Brady. “We got close to (Chad) Boespflug in traffic before the yellow came out. He just didn’t make any mistakes after that, and his car was really good. We’ll definitely take the second place finish after starting tenth, and having to change the motor after the heat race.”
With a win in Montpelier, Indiana in April, the solid finishes at Eldora have erased a slow start to the USAC season for the #69 team. “It was a good solid weekend for us,” says Brady. “The team did a really good job with the motor change on Saturday, and it was just a good weekend overall.”
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-Bacon-Racing/278125555137
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Brady Bacon Racing would like the following sponsors for all their help: Fatheadz Eyewear, Viper Risk Management Group, Triple X Race Co., Tel-Star Technologies, PPM Titanium Products, KTA Kiser’s Truck and Auto (formerly Sham’s Garage), Heath Clips Lawn Care, Chubby from CnB Mushroom Farms, Lucas Oil Products, Factory Kahne, FK Indy, Lightning Wings, CP Carrillo, Keizer Wheels, Smiley’s Racing Products, Eaton Industrial Coatings, Sweet Mfg., Butlerbuilt Seats, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Proglide Coatings, Diversified Machine Inc., Fuel Safe, Allstar Performance, Simpson, Octane Ink, Schroth Racing, Wilwood, King Racing Products and Schoenfeld Headers.
The Hoffman #69 sprinter is sponsored by Mean Green, Mopar, Triple X Race Components, Hoosier, DMI, Lykins, Engler Machine & Tool, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems, KSE, MPD Racing, CSI Shocks, 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.
Photo: Brady rockets around Eldora in the Hoffman #69 (Mike Campbell Photo)
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