2/24/2020
Brady Bacon
Shamrock Classic Up Next for Bacon after Sweeping USAC Sprint Car Openers
Lonnie Wheatley, WINCHESTER, Ind. (February 24, 2020) – Brady Bacon most certainly lived up to his moniker during the recent USAC National Sprint Cars season-opening Winter Dirt Games at Ocala Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park.
“The Macho Man” raced to victory lane aboard the Hoffman Racing No. 69 Longworth Equipment Company entry on both Friday and Saturday, February 14-15, after the Thursday portion fell victim to rain.
“It was a really good start for us, it makes us that much more eager to get to the next one,” the two-time USAC Sprint Car champion commented.
Atop early series point charts, Bacon will have to wait until April 4 at Lawrenceburg Speedway to resume his bid for a third series title. In the meantime, Bacon’s next action will be the Shamrock Classic at Du Quoin’s Southern Illinois Center on March 6-7 where he will compete in both the Micro Sprint and USAC Midget ranks in the No. 21h Kelly Hinck entries.
Bacon’s USAC Sprint Car victory drives at Bubba Raceway Park were identical in the stat sheet, charging from ninth on both occasions. The Broken Arrow, OK, native battled into the lead in the closing circuits of the Friday night feature before needing less than half the race to take command for good in the Saturday finale.
Off-season preparation attributed to Bacon’s change of fortune in Ocala, where it has been a struggle in recent years.
“We spent an awful lot of time on the cars this off-season, just massaging them and making improvements,” Bacon explains. “Our equipment and motors are all better than where we started at last year.”
After rejoining forces with the Hoffman Racing No. 69 team last year, beginning the 2020 year with the same team proved to be a bonus as well.”
“The last three times that we’ve gone to Ocala has been with three different teams so we haven’t had a good starting point to go from,” Bacon points out. “This time, we had our notes from last year and notes that gave us an idea of what would work and what wouldn’t and it showed.”
Following the Friday win in which Bacon wrestled his way into the lead with just four laps to go, he had a shot at a second-row starting spot on Saturday after timing in third-quickest in qualifying. And he appeared to have that position secured with a healthy lead in his heat race only to slow on the final lap.
“I just mistook the flags, I thought the flagman’s two-to-go signal was the white flag and then slowed down the next time around,” Bacon says.
Bacon made quick amends, topping the “B” Main and then needing just 13 of 30 laps to race into the lead in the main event en route to a convincing win and a two-for-two start on the USAC National Sprint Car trail.
“Running that ‘B’ on Saturday might have actually helped us,” Bacon comments. “It did hurt us about six starting positions, but we were able to get another look at the track and found some things that helped us in the feature. We had a really good car.”
It’s the exact start to a season that any driver looks for.
Brady Bacon Racing is bolstered by the support of partners including Hoffman Racing, Fatheadz Eyewear, Champion Oil, Gene Franckowiak, Drivewfx.com, Tel-Star Technologies, B&S Cattle, Lykins Oil, Elliott’s Custom Trailers, Triple X Race Co., Hoosier Tire, XYZ Machine, Heath Clips Lawn Care, FK Indy, Engler Machine and Tool, FK Rod Ends, Keizer Wheels, Purple Heart Foundation, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Smiley’s Racing Products, R&R Enterprises, DMI, ProGlide Coatings, Chalk Stixx, Wilwood Engineering, Lajoie Seats, Smith Precision Products, Allstar Performance, Simpson Racing Products, Driver Websites, Schroth Racing, Saldana Racing Products, KSE Racing Products, King Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers.
2020 Quick Stats: 8 races, 3 wins, 4 top-fives, 4 top-tens.
Up Next: Shamrock Classis at Du Quoin’s Southern Illinois Center (USAC Midgets on Saturday, March 7; Micro Sprints on Friday and Saturday, March 6-7).
Keep Track: Keep track of Brady Bacon’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.bradybaconracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Brady-Bacon-278125555137/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BradyBaconRacin.
If you would like Brady Bacon Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley
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