(Mark Funderburk Photo)
(Bill W) October 10, 2016 – Brad Loyet and the Vacuworx Global #o5 team performed some double duty at the Gold Crown Nationals last weekend at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. The result was speed with both the USAC National midgets and the MOWA sprint cars. The Sunset Hills, Missouri driver peaked with a second place run in the sprint car finale on Saturday. Brad plans to compete in the MOWA series finale this weekend at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois.
The #o5 midget was ready for action on Thursday. “We had a really good car,” says Brad. “We were able to win our heat and we were fourth in points. We started fifth in the Qualifier and I was racing for the lead. On the front of the midget, there’s a timing belt that goes around. It’s a half-inch belt and it started to come apart. When it came apart, it wrapped around the return line from the oil pump to the tank. It ripped the oil line in two. It dumped all the oil in the span of a straightaway.”
Brad decided to park the car for the night. “I was just going to dump more oil in it and change the line, but there was only about an inch of oil left in the tank,” he says. “It was below the pickup, so I thought it would be better to park the car for the night instead of making things worse by blowing it up more.”
He would find a ride for Friday and Saturday, however. “I was lucky enough to have Ken and Andy Malpocker there,” says Brad. “They had plans on Friday and Saturday and I asked if I could drive their car. I took advantage of that. A buddy of mine who builds BOSS chassis was my crew chief back in the day…he came and helped us out for the weekend. I tell you what, I had an awesome car.”
Friday was his best finish in the midget. “We ran third in the heat and second in the Qualifier,” says Brad. “That put us sixth overall. They reworked the track for the feature, and the bottom was pretty good. I got stuck up on the cushion the first five laps or so and got back to eighth or ninth. The race went green to checker, but we really needed a yellow badly. We never got one and ran seventh. I was happy with that. We’ve only run the midget four or five times this year. Overall, that was a good run for us. It felt good, and we were excited for Saturday.”
Brad was ready for Saturday’s finale. “We started where we finished Friday setup-wise,” he says. “It may have been a little aggressive for the heat. We struggled and finished seventh. We had a decent car, but not enough to get by anyone. We started last in the Qualifier and got up to fourth, almost third at the line. I knew then that we had a good car.”
He would prove it in the feature. “We were up to fourth with eight laps to go, and I was right there with the Keith Kunz cars,” says Brad. “I just got into the cushion a little hot. We had been having some brake issues, and I went for the brakes. They weren’t there for me and I tapped the wall and got upside down. At that point, I was tasting blood and ready to go get them. I was the only one who was blasting the cushion at that point. I had the track to myself in three and four. I feel if we could have had a yellow, or made it further, we could have had at least a podium finish. I hated it for (the Malpocker’s). They gave me an awesome car and it was the first time we’d driven a Stanton Mopar. The thing ripped hard. I felt bad about the way it finished.”
In Friday’s MOWA prelim, Brad faltered a bit in time trials. “It was one of those deals where I watched everyone qualifying, and I thought I’d outsmart them,” he says. “I tried to just drive it in super-hard through the slick and catch the good coming off. There wasn’t much on entry. I thought if I did that, I’d get my momentum going. The problem was, once I got to the good stuff, I was hooked up a little too much and pushed over the cushion. That killed me, and 15th quick was terrible.”
He started fifth in the heat. “We had a really tough heat race there and only got to fourth,” says Brad. “We started 12th in the feature, and again, we needed a yellow. I don’t think we had one until about six to go. We were able to drive up to sixth, but we had a way better racecar. At that point, the track was one-lane around the cushion and I was following everyone else.”
Brad was ready to go for Saturday’s finale. “We were definitely ready for Saturday,” he says. “We were second quick and won our heat race. We started the feature third and got to second right away. We were right behind Brady (Bacon). He’s a smart racer and wasn’t going to make many mistakes. We got to him in lapped traffic, and I feel good there at Tri-City. The yellow came out right when I was making my move. That set us back and that was it. We lost power steering on the last lap, but we were able to hold on for second. After flipping the midget, that wasn’t a bad finish for us.”
Brad will definitely be in sprint car action at Jacksonville Friday and Saturday, but he also hopes to find a midget ride. “We’ll go to Jacksonville with the sprint,” he says. “I’d love to find a midget ride for that too, but we don’t have one yet.”
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Visit Brad on the web at www.LoyetMotorsports.com!
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Brad and the Loyet Motorsports team would like to thank primary sponsors: Vacuworx Global and Loyet Landscape Maintenance. Associate sponsors: Maxim Race Cars, J and D Performance Racing Engines, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Meramec Heights Collision Center, KSE Racing, Weld Wheels, Penske Shocks, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Hepfner Racing Products, DMI, Saldana Racing Products, Rod End Supply, Bell Helmets, TI 64, Conroy Control, The Engine Heater, Ealey Transportation, and Speedway Motors.
Photo: (Mark Funderburk Racing Photo)
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Monroe, IA USA