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(Photo by Hulbert Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – SOMERTON, Ariz. (Nov. 10, 2013) – Although a mechanical failure eliminated him from contention for the $20,000 prize during the season finale on Saturday night, Tony Bruce Jr. isn’t going to hang his head.

After leading the first nine laps during the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour finale at Cocopah Speedway, Bruce Jr. was doomed by a failing engine and he ultimately pulled to the infield with 10 laps remaining while running in third place.

“I’m still a little upset over the whole situation,” he said. “I think we lost an engine there. I tried to stay out there as long as I could, but it went away. We didn’t get what we had a chance to do. I sure think we would have finished in the top three and had a chance at winning. But we’re not going to let one race determine how our season went.”

Bruce Jr., who was credited with a 24th-place result, wrapped up the season by placing fifth in the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour championship standings for the second straight season. It also marked his fifth straight year in the top 10.

After a slow start to the season, Bruce Jr. heated up just before the summer kicked off. He continued that assault into the Cocopah Cup Challenge on Friday and Saturday at Cocopah Speedway.

Bruce Jr. powered from seventh to the garner his 13th heat race win of the season on Friday. That gave him the most points of the more than 40 competitors and a spot in the feature redraw, which determined the first four rows of the main event. Bruce Jr. pulled the No. 2 to start on the outside of the front row for the 25-lap feature.

“It’s phase racing,” he said. “You’ve got to get through the heat race and then you have to draw good on the redraw and then you have to capitalize on the draw. That heat race set up our entire weekend. To be honest, I felt like we could rotate the corners a lot better. We went through our notes from the past and all we were was too tight, too tight and too tight. We freed the car up more than normally for how slick the track was and it worked.”

Bruce Jr. continued to stay near the front throughout the feature. He maintained second place for most of the main event before dropping a position on a late restart.

“We had a late race restart and I chose the wrong line,” he said. “That let (Danny) Lasoski get by us and we slipped to third. All in all, the most important thing if you couldn’t win was to lock yourself in for the next night.”

By finishing in third place, Bruce Jr. locked himself into Saturday’s feature redraw. When the team returned to the 3/8-mile track the following night for the finale, Bruce Jr. was given the No. 1 in the random draw to start on the pole for the 30-lap main event.

“Mentally I was definitely ready to go,” he said. “The whole key was get a good start, get after it, get out front and never look back. That’s what we were doing. The first five laps we took off and left the field.”

Then the engine started to let go and his night ended early.

“What was kinda weird was I was surprised we led 10 laps,” he said. “We had that motor going down and I was hoping to finish. The longer we were going the worse it got. I’m just more disappointed than anything that we weren’t able to capitalize on how strong of a car we had.”

Bruce Jr. ended his season with four feature victories, 23 top fives and 39 top 10s.

QUICK RESULTS –

Nov. 8 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Heat race: 1 (7); Feature: 3 (2).

Nov. 9 – Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. – Feature: 24 (1).

SEASON STATS –

60 races, 4 wins, 23 top fives, 39 top 10s, 50 top 15s, 54 top 20s

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.tonybrucejr.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonybrucejr

VIDEO –

Here is a link for RacinBoys’ footage of Bruce Jr.’s victory at Boyd Raceway on April 26: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wx3nrOFTDyg

APPAREL –

Bruce Jr. has black and white t-shirts in adult sizes for sale at his race trailer at each of his races. For his schedule, visit http://www.TonyBruceJr.com/schedule.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Eagle Motorsports

Eagle Motorsports, formerly known as Eagle Chassis, has fabricated sprint car chassis since 1998. Eagle has been a part of winning three Knoxville Nationals. For more information, visit http://www.EagleMotorsports.com.

“Our team is honored to have such a great affiliation with Eagle Motorsports,” Bruce Jr. said. “The quality and craftsmanship is second to none in the industry. Top that with great customer service and that’s why we chose Eagle Motorsports in 2013.”

Bruce Jr. would also like to thank Lubbock Wrecker Service, The Oil Medics, Wheeler Metals, Briley Trucking, Hinchman Racewear, Smiley’s Racing Products, SWE, Maxwell Industries, FK Rod Ends, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Factory Kahne Shocks, DriverWebsites.com, RacinBoys.com, Wilwood, Schoenfield Headers, Hoosier Tires, HRP, Kaeding Performance, Schaeffer Oil, Fuel Safe, Bell Helmets, Four Seasons Radiator, Southern Trailer Works, KSE, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Weld Wheels, ISC Racers Tape and Pressure Tek for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors’ return on investment.

To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.insidelinepromotions.com.