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Bogucki Pleased With Progress Despite Frustrating Knoxville Nationals Finishes

(Photo by Jones Sports Media)

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 15, 2018) – Scott Bogucki was 300 feet away from qualifying for a preliminary night feature during arguably the biggest sprint car race in the world last weekend at Knoxville Raceway, which hosted the 58th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.

While he has spent most of this season competing with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com – a 360ci national touring series – the Australian driver not only competed in the 360 Knoxville Nationals but the 410 Knoxville Nationals as well aboard his SawBlade.com backed sprint car.

“While it was a disappointing two weeks, when I look back and compare it to last year we have made huge strides,” Bogucki said. “Last year in the 360 Nationals we were in the middle of the C Main on Saturday and this year we were locked into the A Main. This year for the 410 Nationals we were just one car away from making the (prelim) A Main.”

The two-week stretch of racing began Aug. 2 for the 360 Knoxville Nationals. Bogucki qualified 10th quickest and ran from fifth to third in his heat race. He rolled off third in the A Main.

“I pulled off all my tear-offs and I tried to run with the visor up and then tried to wipe my shield,” he said. “It was a disaster. I couldn’t run the top or the bottom so I cruised around the middle and took the points. To be honest we were probably a fifth-place car. I need to work on getting a better balance with the car. We are good early and struggle at the end of races. I worry about getting too tight at the start.”

Things got worse on Aug. 4 during the event finale. At the start of the race Bogucki got together with another car, knocking the front end out of his SawBlade.com machine and ending his night.

The SawBlade.com backed team then headed 30 miles to the east to Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company on Aug. 7. A mistake tuning the engine meant using a provisional to start the A Main. Bogucki exited the track early and was credited with a 23rd-place finish.

“That is all on me,” he said. “After hot laps I adjusted the barrel valve and forgot to plug a fuel line back in.”

Bogucki’s preliminary night for the 410 Knoxville Nationals was last Thursday and it began with a great effort in qualifying.

“We put in a new Ostrich engine and that thing ripped,” he said. “We timed in sixth overall, which is great for points but a little too good as it put us in the fourth row of the heat. I was able to finish fifth, but missed the A Main by one spot. It was the like that all night.”

In the B Main Bogucki engaged in a tremendous battle throughout the race with Shane Stewart, Danny Dietrich and Jamie Veal to finish in the top four to qualify for the night’s A Main.

“I traded third and fourth with those guys throughout the race,” Bogucki said. “Going down the backstretch on the final lap I was fourth. I ran the bottom and hit it perfect and thought I had it when here comes Jamie Veal around the outside and nipped me at the line. I can’t describe how disappointing it is to know that in 300 feet I could have locked into at least the B Main or possibly the A Main for Saturday (with a strong performance in the prelim main event).”

The Knoxville Nationals format gave Bogucki another shot at redemption on Friday. Unfortunately, he got together with another car and flipped, destroying his machine.

“We could have gotten the backup car out, but my guys busted their butts all week in the heat and I wasn’t going to make them do that,” he said. “We had to saw the car in half to get the engine out.”

Bogucki, who is competing for the ASCS Rookie of the Year honors, is eighth in the series standings heading into the weekend of racing. The series heads to Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, on Saturday followed by a trip to the Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo., on Sunday. Both are new tracks for Bogucki.

“We were really fast at Knoxville and I got to spend time with my family,” he said. “My mom and dad are here yet another week and we get to relax and have some fun with them and get back to racing.”

QUICK RESULTS –

Aug. 2 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 11 (3).

Aug. 4 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Feature: 22 (15).

Aug. 7 – Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa – Heat race: 8 (8); B Main: 11 (18); Feature: 23 (24).

Aug. 9 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 5 (7); B Main: 5 (3).

Aug. 10 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 18; Heat race: DNF (6); B Main: DNS (-).

SEASON STATS –

33 races, 1 win, 5 top fives, 15 top 10s, 18 top 15s, 20 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, and Sunday at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.SawBlade.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SawBladecom

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SawBladecom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawblade.com_

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – SawBlade.com

SawBlade.com, which is located in Houston, Texas, is redefining the way industrial, hardware and home use band saw blades are made and distributed. For more information, visit http://www.SawBlade.com.

“We got to expose the SawBlade.com name to the biggest audience in sprint car racing,” Bogucki said. “While I’m disappointed in the results, we were close to making the biggest sprint car race in the world and we couldn’t do it without the help from all our great sponsors like SawBlade.”

Bogucki would also like to thank Dissolvalloy, Jetco Electrical, Ostrich Race Engines, KW Motorsports, Smith Titanium, Rod End Supply, Weld Wheels, JJS Mechanical Inc., HRP Wings, Lone Star Metal Werx, Momentum Suspension and Findley and Sons for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.

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