(Bill W) April 21, 2015 – Brad Loyet and the Loyet Motorsports/Vacuworx Global #o5 team scored a pair of podium finishes in Illinois last weekend. The team started with a Friday second place run with the MOWA series at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City. On Saturday, he posted quick time and finished third amongst forty competitors in MOWA/IRA action at LaSalle Speedway. Tentative plans have the team racing the two-night World of Outlaws event at Devil’s Bowl Speedway near Mesquite, Texas this weekend.
The Sunset Hills, Missouri driver drew the pole of his heat in Granite City. “MOWA has a deal with their starts where you have to be side by side,” says Brad. “They kind of let one go, and the guy on the outside of me got the jump. The racetrack, that time of evening…once you got the jump, it was a wing speed momentum deal. We finished second and knew we had a good car. We just missed the Dash by finishing second.”
Brad would start seventh in the main event. “As soon as the green flag flew, I knew we had a good racecar,” he says. “We were picking some guys off early on the top. About five laps in, there was about four yellows in a row. As soon as we really got racing again, the track was laying rubber.”
At that point, Brad had to bide his time. “We were able to get up to fourth pretty easy,” he says. “The rubber was so thick, that you had to wait for someone to mess up. Jerrod Hull had an issue in front of us, and another guy made a mistake. I was able to get both of them at the same time and get into second. We ran down (Hunter) Schuerenberg for the lead. We had plenty of tire left, so I wish we had a few more laps. We finished second again, and you can’t complain too much about that.”
At LaSalle on Saturday, he would smoke them in qualifying. “It felt good to go out and set quick time,” says Brad. “We set it by a fairly good margin (over three-tenths of a second over second quick) too.”
Brad would start sixth in both his heat and the feature. “IRA’s format is really different,” he says. “The invert the heats just like everyone else does, and we went from sixth to second in that. As the quick timer, I drew the invert for the feature for the heat winners and the next six fastest qualifiers. I drew the three which inverted six.”
Unfortunately, the racing surface yielded to rubber for the second night in a row. “The same deal happened as Granite City,” says Brad. “We got to third pretty quickly, but then it started taking rubber. We were still really good. We were running them down in lapped traffic, and with about seven laps to go, I could feel my right rear chattering. It was coming out of balance from the rubber. It just wasn’t pulling as hard. The yellow came out with three to go and I figured out we had lost a cylinder.”
Fortunately, it was a minor issue. “We finished the race in third on seven cylinders,” says Brad. “Luckily, we got the motor back today, and it wasn’t anything major. It was an easy fix, and we’ll be good to go this weekend.”
Brad’s Website
Brad’s website is freshly designed for 2015. Visit the new site at www.LoyetMotorsports.com!
Brad’s Weekly Releases
If you’d like to be added to Brad’s e-mail list for weekly releases, e-mail sprntcar@hotmail.com with “Loyet” in the Subject Line.
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.
Attached: Brad races at LaSalle Speedway (Mark Funderburk Racing Photo)
Bill W Media
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Monroe, IA USA