PETERSEN MEDIA- Though he didn’t score a victory, or event land on the podium to open up his 2013 campaign, Tony Bruce, Jr left Tucson with a smile of his face and a ton of confidence.
“We have a fast racecar, and I’m excited to keep going with the season,” he said. “We had some things happen to us in Tucson, but we were still fast and in contention.”
After traveling through a rare snowstorm in Arizona prior to practice night, Bruce and his one8 Motorsports team made if safely, and had a strong practice night before going green on the season Friday night.
Starting fourth in his opening night heat race, TBJ scored a third place finish aboard his Hinchman/Eagle Motorsports/Oil Medics backed entry, putting him in the feature where he was scheduled to start in the third row.
Getting ready to go green in the feature, TBJ noticed something amiss on his one8 machine, and returned to the pit area for a fix, and just made the call to return, though he was forced to start scratch on the field in 24th.
The fans at the Tucson International Speedway were in for a treat, as TBJ put on an impressive display on the 1/3 mile oval.
On a tricky track, the Liberal, KS native made some sharp moves on the bottom of the speedway as he carved his way up inside the top-10. Not satisfied, Bruce continued his mission to the front, and wound up charging to the sixth spot when the checkered flag flew.
“We had an awesome racecar, and I’m happy with the way we raced,” he said. “We had a shock bolt break un us, and had to go to the back, and had a great drive to get up to sixth. We had a great car, but I don’t know if we had anything for Brian Brown had we started in our spot.”
Returning to action on Saturday night, Bruce lined his Smiley’s/SWE/Maxwell Industries machine up on the front row of his heat, which he would proceed to win, and put himself in the redraw.
Lining up sixth in the feature event for the second night, Bruce would keep his starting spot on what was a very tricky track surface.
“The track was odd, but Wayne Priddy made some good calls to give us a chance, it was just tough to pass,” he said.
When the race fired off, Bruce worked up to the fifth spot, as he battled with Jeff Swindell and Johnny Herrera.
Not able to do much, Bruce would hang on and pick up the fifth place finish.
“We had a little bit of a break issue in the feature, but it was a tough track to make any moves, but we had a strong car, and I’m ready to race again.”
Bruce would like to thank Hinchman Racewear, Eagle Motorsports, The Oil Medics, Smileys, SWE, Maxwell Industries, FK Rod Ends, Butlerbuilt, Factory Kahne Shocks, DriversWebsites.com, Racinboys.com, Wilwood, Schoenfield Headers, Hoosier Tires, HRP, Kaeding Performance, Schaefer Oil, Fuel Safe, Bell helmets, Four Seasons Radiator, Southern Trailer Works, KSE, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Weld Wheels, and ISC Racer’s Tape for their support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS- Races-2, Wins-0, Top 5’s-1, Top 10’s-2
ON TAP: Bruce and his team will now head to Yuma,AZ this weekend for a pair of nights at the Cocopah Speedway, a track Bruce found victory at in 2012.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with TBJ by visiting his website at
www.tonybrucejr.com, or by following him on twitter @tonybrucejr.
SPONSOR SHOUT OUT: HINCHMAN
Specializing in driver safety, Hinchman Racewear has been around since 1925 and still lead the industry in style, but more importantly lead the industry in safety. Hinchman changed the game in 1965 as they were the first suit to use Nomax exclusively. In 1999 the company led the push to used Carbon-X in their suits, and then in 2004 Hinchman introduced “Comfort Tech”. This lining creates a 3-layer suit that is lighter, thinner, comfortable and more protective than most 2-layer suits.
“After a successful 1st season in my Hinchman suit, I'm completely convinced they have the best product on the market,” Bruce said. “I look forward to another season of being protected by Hinchman”
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