Tony Bruce Jr.
Hometown: Liberal, KS
Resides: Liberal, KS
Birthday: August 8, 1984
Car: No. 18
Chassis: Maxim
Car Owner: Bruce Racing
Web site: http://www.tonybrucejr.com
2007 Season Review:
Finished 21st in the
championship standings; 4th in Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year
Award standings
Tony Bruce Jr. knew it would be no easy task competing
full-time with the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in
2007. After all, he was a rookie and was competing against a number of drivers
that have been racing sprint cars longer than he has been alive. On top of
that, he had less than one full year of experience under his belt in a
410-sprint car, and had never competed on a majority of the tracks on the
schedule.
The 23-year old persevered and gained priceless experience,
as he competed against the best sprint car drivers in the world night in and
night out, in what turned out to be one of the most competitive seasons in the
29 year history of the World of Outlaws.
“It’s always tough when you race against Donny Schatz and
Steve Kinser,” said Bruce, driver of the Best Well Service Maxim. “We started
the season off with a lot of cars and finished with a good number of cars. We
just try to take it one day at a time and one car at a time. We focus on what
we are doing and not what everyone else is doing. If we beat ourselves, we will
never beat them.”
Bruce prepared for the 2007 season by competing in a number
of World of Outlaws events in 2006. In limited action last season, he earned
two Top-10 finishes and visited a number of tracks for the first time,
including the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania
and Knoxville Raceway in Iowa.
“I think it helped running some races last year,” he noted.
“Qualifying is still my major issue that we struggle with. Hopefully having
seen a lot of the places, going back to them next year, we will be better.”
Last season, he made his first trip to the West Coast to
compete in California,
along with two separate visits to the East Coast. Both regions have some of the
toughest local sprint car competition in the nation. Bruce had a simple
philosophy each time he and his team unloaded at a track they had never
visited.
“You have to pick out and establish marks that you can focus
on, on the race track,” said the native of Liberal, Kansas. “The key was figuring out a good
line for me and the car.”
Bruce earned two Top-Five finishes on the season, including
a third-place performance in the spring race at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor
Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, to earn his best career
finish with the series. He also set fast time on the third night of the season
at Volusia Speedway Park
during the Florida DIRTcar Nationals, with a stout field of 50-plus cars in
attendance. He had nine Top-10 qualifying efforts on the season, and raced his
way into the Crane Cams Dash eight times, with a best finish of second at
Huset’s Speedway
to earn a front row starting spot in the A-Feature that night.
“You always look at the positives and the negatives,”
explained Bruce. “We know that we can get up there and race up front. Our only
issue is qualifying, and that is very important with the World of Outlaws
format. If we can get qualified a little better, I think we will be all right
for next year. That’s our main focus.”
Bruce earned his second Top-Five finish of the season with a
fourth-place run at I-55 Raceway in Missouri
in July during the “SuperClean Summer of Money” on ESPN2. In that event, he
raced side-by-side with 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser for
several laps toward the end of the 40-lap contest. This was one of 18 World of
Outlaws events televised in 2007 for the World of Outlaws as part of the
broadcast package on ESPN2 and SPEED.
“Television is always a good thing,” said the 2006 Knoxville
Nationals Rookie of the Year. “It helps with sponsors and the sponsors that you
already have get exposure. Being on TV is always a plus.”
Another of the highlights in 2007 for Bruce was visiting
Canada for the first time, as the series returned north of the border for the
first time in over 25 years, to compete at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario and
Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. The rookie driver finished a very solid
12th at Ohsweken, after turning the 10th fastest lap in
time trails and following that up with a second-place finish in his heat race
to earn a spot in the Crane Cams Dash.
“We definitely look forward to going back to Canada,”
he said. “Both times we were up there, we met a lot of cool people and there
are a lot of different things to do up there.”
2007 Season Stats
Driver Pts. $ Earned Wins Top 5 Top
10
Tony Bruce Jr. 7462 $46,985 0 2 2
World of Outlaws
history: 2006-21st in championship points… 2007-21st
in championship points
Previous Racing
History: Started racing in 1996-won three races in Junior Sprints in
Amarillo, Texas…1997-Junior Sprint Champion at Airport Raceway in Garden City,
Kansas. Won seven races, and finished in the Top-3 in 18 of 20 races…1998-3rd
in points in 125cc Micro Sprints at Airport Raceway. Had 10 Top-Five finishes
in 18 races…1999-Rookie of the Year-600cc Class-A Sprint at Airport Raceway,
with nine Top-Three finishes…2000-Rookie of the Year in Multi-Class Sprints at
Airport Raceway. Also raced in the A-Class and finished third in
points…2001-Finished as the runner-up in Multi-Class and A-Class at Airport
Raceway with six wins…2002-Raced Limited Sprint at Jetmore Motorplex in Kansas. Won two races
and had 10 Top-Five finishes…2003-American Sprint Car Series picked up 10
Top-three finishes. Competed in the full ASCS Sprintweek…2004-ASCS Newcomer of
the Year. Third in ASCS Sooner Region points. 12th in ASCS National
Points, running a limited schedule. Qualified for the 360 Nationals in first
attempt…2005-ASCS Rookie of the Year. Fourth in ASCS National points… 2006
Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year.
Interesting Facts: Has a dog named Hoosier that travels with
the team… Operates a Haulmark Truck and Trailer dealership when not racing…
Enjoy watching football. Favorite professional team is the Washington Redskins,
and favorite college team is Florida
State… Is a fan of rap
music, with Dr. Dre being his favorite artist.