(Bill W) April 14, 2015 – Brad Loyet and the Loyet Motorsports/Vacuworx Global #o5 charged to a third place finish in the FVP National Sprint League opener at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa Saturday night. The impressive podium run came from the fifth row, making it all the more impressive. Plan A for the team this weekend is to race with the MOWA series Friday at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois and at LaSalle (IL) Speedway with the IRA on Saturday.
It was the Sunset Hills, Missouri driver’s first ever trip to 34 Raceway on Saturday. “We struggled getting a good lap in hot-lapping,” says Brad. “There was a guy in front of us doing a chicane line. We went out for qualifying and that went pretty well.”
Well indeed. Coming out 22nd in the 40-car field, Brad timed in sixth quick. “Last year, we struggled qualifying with the 410,” he says. “We just haven’t done it too often. We did a lot of work over the winter to get our 410 program where it is. Our motors spent quite a few days at the dyno, and we tried a lot of different things. The reason our motors are hitting so hard, is because of that.”
Starting inside of row three in the heat race, Brad locked himself into the main event with a fifth place finish. “The heat races were tough,” he says. “Even though you invert 24, the guys up front are still tough. You just need to make sure you get yourself locked in. That was a real key to transfer out of the heat race. It was a bit of a bummer to be one spot out of the redraw though.”
He would move forward from the ninth starting spot immediately in the 25-lapper. “I had a really good car in the feature,” says Brad. “We were plugging away the whole race. I pretty much ran the bottom the whole time. I was able to get by (Bryan) Clauson early down there. It seemed at the time like I needed to go up top and get the momentum going. All I did up there was waste five laps.”
Soon he was fourth with a shot at the leaders. Then the caution came out on lap 18. “When the last yellow came out, I didn’t need it at all,” says Brad. “(Terry) McCarl had spun, and Wayne (Johnson) and Bryan were racing side by side. I was running them down fast. I think if that caution didn’t come out, we would have had a shot at it. Still, it was a great feeling to finish third. It was a lot of fun.”
Friday night was spent at the Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois with the MOWA series. The heat result saw a fifth place finish. “The track was really dry when we got there, so we kind of prepared for that in the heat,” says Brad. “They came out and watered the track right before it though, so it was pretty one-lane and you couldn’t really pass.”
Brad would start 12th in the feature. “I thought the track would be wide enough to move at that point, but the only place to race was really the cushion,” he says. “It was a momentum deal. The only way to pass was with big sliders. We were able to get to seventh. We feel we had a much better car than that, but it was one of those deals where that’s the best we could get. That was seventh. That was our worst finish all year, so if your worst finish is seventh, you are doing alright.”
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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.
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