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(Bill W) April 4, 2011 – Brady Bacon’s stint in Indiana and Ohio running without the wings continues this week at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio. Last Saturday night, he finished eighth in the “No Way Out 40” at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon, Indiana. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver will compete on Friday and Saturday night at the high-banked Eldora half-mile. Friday’s preliminary at the North Vernon banked 3/8 mile oval ended in a rainout. Before the rains came, Brady surged from eighth to fourth in his heat race. “There was a pretty big berm on the cushion building before the rains,” he says. “We started over on Saturday.” Saturday, saw weather suitable for racing. Group qualifying was first on the agenda and Brady registered the quickest time in his group, and third overall with a lap of 15.000 seconds. “The track was watered a little spotty after the rains,” he says. “We were the quickest in our group, which ended up being tied for third overall. There was still a pretty big curb for qualifying.” The Brady Bacon Racing #99 was spot on in the heat race. Starting on the pole, he won going away. “The car was good in the heat,” he says. “We were able to stay out front.” The finish put him up front, beside Hunter Schuerenberg to start the 40-lapper. Dave Darland quickly took command from his starting spot inside row two and went on to win. “It had been awhile since I had run non-wing,” says Brady. “They ran the (Hoosier) DT3 tire. Most of my non-wing experience was with the Hoosier Medium, so that was a big difference. I have to get back in the swing of things, and figure out where my baseline should be.” Brady battled in the top five for awhile, before fading to eighth at the checkers. “I didn’t tighten the car up enough for the feature,” he explains. “The track got away from me a little bit, and the car wasn’t very good. I have some work to do to catch these guys on the short tracks.” The former USAC driver previously competed at North Vernon when he set a new track record at 13.719 seconds back in 2007. This time, the track tricked him a bit in the main event. “The cushion was pushed up just far enough with the support classes and the B main that the bottom came back in,” says Brady. “I wasn’t prepared for that, and that’s where we lost some ground. We were too loose to run the bottom, and it wasn’t fast enough on top.” This Friday and Saturday night at Eldora will be sanctioned by USAC, so the best in the non-wing game will be on hand. Brady hopes his wing experience at speed will help him on a bigger track. “Eldora can be stressful,” he says. “The track is so fast. I think we’ll be good there having run so much wing stuff lately. I think it has helped me at certain tracks. At others it has taken me longer, but we’ll be aiming for a win this weekend.”
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