Track Schedules

Brady Bacon – Action at Jackson! 

(Bill W) August 24, 2011 – Brady Bacon knew the Jackson Nationals would be tough, but he came through with flying colors including a third in the prelim and a sixth place finish in the finale.  The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver continues his pursuit of the Lucas Oil ASCS Nationals Series championship, but will have a few weeks off from the series.  The Brady Bacon #99 race team will take this weekend off before traveling to Lake Ozark Speedway Labor Day Weekend. 

Friday’s prelim in Jackson, Minnesota on the half-mile started with a heat win.  “We were scheduled in row two, but the guy in front of us blew up in hot laps,” says Brady.  “We started outside of Tony Bruce Jr. and he got the jump on us.  I was able to work the top just a lane and a half up from him.  The track was pretty narrow, but we were able to get around him.  We needed that to get in the redraw.” 

The redraw saw Brady starting fourth in the main event.  “We were able to take off and get into third at the start,” he says.  “(Johnny) Herrera and I were able to get by Bryan Dobesh for first and second.  It took rubber in a hurry.  The cushion had never really moved up.  Everyone was running in the middle, and the rubber came.” 

Tucked in behind Herrera, a second place finish seemed inevitable, but a late restart changed that.  “I thought the track would be hard on tires, so I tried to save them most of the race,” says Brady.  “There was a caution with four to go, and with two to go, I pushed up and Jason Johnson was able to sneak by me.  The third place finish locked us into the second night though.” 

Able to avoid running in the heats is a load off the mind when so many good cars are assembled.  “It was good to be locked in,” says Brady.  “After the first night, we didn’t really know what the track was going to do.  We didn’t know if it would be tough to pass, and then we drew a six.” 

The six was the worst pill he could draw, but Brady surged forward at the outset.  “We were able to get up to fourth on the start,” he says.  “It was wide open around the top.  The track was a lot better than Friday, but everyone was about the same speed.  Jason (Johnson) and (Tim) Crawley were able to stretch out on Herrera and I.” 

Brady knew evasive maneuvers were needed if he were to get by Herrera and hone in on the leaders.  “I tried a couple moves on the bottom to try and catch Herrera,” he says.  “We just lost some momentum and (Jack) Dover got around me.  We were in lapped traffic, and he took the air off my nose.  After that, Jeff Swindell got by us too.  We ended up sixth.” 

The track that yielded rubber on Friday was much different on Saturday.  “It was hard to be faster than anyone else,” says Brady of the finale.  “Swindell was able to roll the bottom.  I tried it a couple times, but I wasn’t able to roll well down there.  I was actually a little faster later on.  We’ll take those finishes.  It’s been a good run since that bad luck we had in the middle of the summer.” 

After a well earned weekend off, Brady will head to the Lake Ozark Speedway near Eldon, Missouri for the LOS 360 Nationals on Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4.