Bacon Set to Defend Corn Belt Nationals Title after Sprintacular USAC Triumph
WINCHESTER, Ind. (July 9, 2020) – Saturday’s USAC Sprint Car “Bill Gardner Sprintacular” triumph at Putnamville, Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway was a much-needed boost for Brady Bacon and the Hoffman Auto Racing Fatheadz Eyewear No. 69 Sprint Car team.
Now, “The Macho Man” looks to carry that momentum over into this weekend’s Second Annual Corn Belt Nationals at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, where he swept his way to victory lane during both nights of last year’s inaugural edition.
“It’s always big when you can win at Knoxville and we’ve always been good there in a non-wing car,” Bacon says.
Bacon is hopeful that Saturday’s triumph at Lincoln Park Speedway, his fourth of the year in USAC Sprint Car action, will stem the tide of recent misfortune.
“Hopefully our bad luck is out of the way,” Bacon explains. “The car has been fast every night, we just haven’t had any luck to go with it.”
The Saturday win came after mechanical issues derailed a sure podium finish and possible win at Terre Haute on July 1 and then more issues popped up before Friday night’s feature event that altered Bacon’s role for the feature to that of spectator.
And it was the same culprit in both situations. A bad magneto in both cases wiped out what could have been.
“I haven’t had two mags go bad in my entire career,” Bacon explains. “We completely changed it, and the second one went bad. And when we ran the local show at Lawrenceburg, we were having mag issues there too. So that’s three and in different cars with different engines.”
Saturday’s card may have just turned that around though, with Bacon besting a field of 57 entries for his 32nd career USAC Sprint Car triumph.
But, after battling into the lead at the midway point, it still took some work.
“When I got the lead, I think that’s when our tire started going down,” Bacon recalled of the deflation on the right rear. “I wasn’t able to make the speed I was able to make to get to the lead. I was kind of having to play defense and use the lapped cars as blockers.”
Bacon emerged from a late-race battle to secure the win and hold on to third in USAC National points.
Bacon looks to add to that win total this weekend at Knoxville Raceway’s Corn Belt Nationals.
Brady Bacon Racing is bolstered by the support of partners including Hoffman Auto Racing, Fatheadz Eyewear, Champion Oil, Gene Franckowiak, Drivewfx.com, Elliott’s Custom Trailers, ATC Trailers, Tel-Star Technologies, Dragonfly Aviation, Lykins Oil, Triple X Race Co., Hoosier Tire, XYZ Machine, Heath Clips Lawn Care, FK Indy, Engler Machine and Tool, FK Rod Ends, Specialty Rigging, Keizer Wheels, Purple Heart Foundation, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Smiley’s Racing Products, R&R Enterprises, DMI, ProGlide Coatings, Chalk Stixx, Wilwood Engineering, Lajoie Seats, Smith Precision Products, Allstar Performance, Simpson Racing Products, MyRacePass, Schroth Racing, Saldana Racing Products, KSE Racing Products, King Racing Products and Schoenfeld Headers.
2020 Quick Stats: 35 races, 5 wins, 13 top-fives, 17 top-tens.
Up Next: USAC Sprint Cars at Knoxville Raceway’s “Corn Belt Nationals”, in Knoxville, Iowa on Friday and 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.
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/DCRP PR