6/7/2018
Brady Bacon
Bacon to the Heartland with Indiana Midget Week in the Books
Lonnie Wheatley, WINCHESTER, Ind. (June 7, 2018) – After a couple of days off to catch a collective breath and restock the tee-shirt trailers, Brady Bacon and crew will be back in action this weekend with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car series aboard the familiar Brady Bacon Racing No. 99 entry.
The weekend kicks off Friday night at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway before moving on to the world’s Sprint Car Capital, Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, on Saturday night.
Bacon enters the weekend coming off a stretch of 12 consecutive scheduled nights of racing that wrapped up with last week’s USAC Indiana Midget Week.
With the Wednesday and Friday rounds at Gas City and Bloomington falling victim to rain, Bacon posted finishes of 12th and 11th in the opening two rounds at Montpelier on Tuesday and Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday before finishing out the week with a pair of sixth-place runs at Lawrenceburg and Kokomo on Saturday and Sunday.
“It was a mediocre week for us,” Bacon says. “But it didn’t really hurt us in points, it was a mediocre week for about everyone. There wasn’t anyone that had a really spectacular week.”
The early results weren’t particularly indicative of the speed that Bacon carried aboard the FMR No. 76 Midget.
“We were near the front at Montpelier, got spun out and had to go to the tail,” Bacon recalls. “We were good again at Putnamville and got spun again and had to go to the back.”
Those incidents were the difference between finishing eighth in Indiana Midget Week points and potentially challenging for the title.
“If we get those two top-fives, we could have had a chance to win Indiana Midget Week,” Bacon comments. “You have to adjust how you race with a lot of the Midget guys, they race a little different than we’re accustomed to. There’s a lot of beating and banging.”
The hectic week included some Sprint Car action as well. After a flattened right front tire cut his Tuesday night feature run short at Montpelier, Bacon rejoined forces with the Hoffman Racing No. 69ot team for a pair of events.
“We were good right off the bat, we were quickest in hot laps at Bloomington before it rained and fastest again in hot laps at Lawrenceburg,” Bacon explains. “Then we went forward from seventh in the feature at Lawrenceburg.”
Bacon worked to second in short order and held the position to the line.
“I ran down KT in lapped traffic, then the track started taking some rubber on the top and a caution came out,” Bacon relates. “When it gets that way, everyone is fast and it gets hard to pass on the top so we settled for second.”
The teaming that resulted in a pair of USAC Sprint Car championships in the past could happen again.
“I’m looking forward to a couple of more races where we can possibly hook up again,” Bacon says. “Our schedule is pretty full, so it’s a little tough to find nights to get together.”
This weekend brings some familiar sights for Bacon at a pair of tracks where he has reached victory lane in the past. Bacon picked off a Sprint Bandits TNT win at I-80 Speedway in 2009 and earned a USAC win at Knoxville in 2011.
“I-80 is a little different than it used to be, it’s actually pretty similar to Lawrenceburg now,” Bacon says. “And we were second the first time at Knoxville and won it the second time there.”
Bacon will be looking for a strong weekend in the Heartland aboard the Bracy Bacon Racing No. 99 Sprint Car before embarking upon next week’s Eastern Storm.
Brady Bacon Racing is bolstered by the support of partners including Fatheadz Eyewear, Tel-Star Technology/Port City Raceway, Gene Frankowiak, Cimarron Cycle Works, Priority Aviation, Triple-X Race Co., FMR Racing, FK Indy, Heath Clips Lawn Care, Elliot’s Custom Trailers and Carts, B&S Cattle, Lucas Oil Products, Kiser’s Truck and Auto, Smiley’s Racing Products, Keizer Wheels, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, FK Rod Ends, DMI, Walker Filters, ProGlide Coatings, Octane Ink, CP Carrillo, PAC Racing Allstar Performance, Simpson Racing Products, Driver Websites, Engler Machine and Tool, Wilwood Engineering, Schroth Racing, Smith Precision Products, KSE Racing Products, King Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, FSR Radiators, LRB Mfg. and Indy Race Parts.
2018 Quick Stats: 38 races, 3 wins, 14 top-fives, 21 top-tens.
Quick Results:
Tuesday, May 29 – 12th in USAC Midgets and 17th in Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars at Montpelier Motor Speedway.
Thursday, May 31 – 11th in USAC Midgets at Lincoln Park Speedway.
Saturday, June 2 – 6th in USAC Midgets and 2nd in Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
Sunday, June 3 – 6th in USAC Midgets at Kokomo Speedway.
Up Next: USAC Amsoil National Sprint Cars at I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, NE) on Friday and Knoxville (IA) Raceway on Saturday.
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.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley