Patrick Bruns Takes Big Step Forward at Williams Grove
By Jessica Jenkins

After the long drive to Pennsylvania for the USAC Silver Crown race, Patrick Bruns and his Full Throttle Racing team unloaded at Williams Grove Speedway. Running the farthest away from home that he will this year, the Champaign, IL racer was looking to build on his strong 13th place showing at Terre Haute in April.

The day at the historic half mile started off with the seventh fastest lap in practice. Bruns then went out and laid down the 14th quickest lap in qualifying for the Feature. With another competitor dropping to the back during pace laps, Bruns took the green flag from the inside of row seven. He started working his way up and as the race passed halfway, the reigning POWRi D2 champion was in the top ten. He kept gaining spots and when the checkered waved, the #95 had claimed seventh place.

It was a huge improvement as the close knit team continued to battle through some issues. But the most challenging part of the weekend came when they tried to head home. Their truck used to tow the trailer rolled to a stop while still in Pennsylvania, but Keith Kauffman came to their rescue and loaned them a truck for the drive home. Huge thanks to Keith and Robin Kauffman‎ for their help and generosity! Thanks also go out to his sponsors: Triple T Car Wash, Mobil 1, Cain's Marine Welding, Harold Colbert Plumbing and Heating, Advanced Financial Inc and Bell Helmets as well as the crew for all of their hard work and dedication.

Next up for Bruns and Full Throttle Racing is a pair of short tracks at Lucas Oil Raceway and Toledo Speedway on back-to-back weekends to finish off July. As the brand new team continues to improve, 'like' them on Facebook by searching for Patrick Bruns Racing or @FullThrottleRacing95.

Bruns on his second 2017 Silver Crown race:
"We were pretty quick in practice right out of the trailer. As the track slowed down and dried out the motor didn't quite run up to par, so we ended up working on the fuel system all night. Come feature time, we were better, but it still wasn't good. The chassis was working really well and the guys worked really hard. We still feel like we are gaining and moving in the right direction with a really well balanced car. If we just get our motor up to speed, I think we'll have a pretty good package. We are getting there. New game, new car, new chassis, new motor combination and we are still learning, but the most important part is we are all having fun working together. I'm very pleased. We're still a new, start-up type operation and my crew and I have been working together for a number of years, but it's still a new game for us. We've got a long ways to go and a lot to learn."

On racing at Williams Grove:
"Williams Grove is a historic place; it's really fast and a ton of fun to drive. I wish I could run there every week. I'm jealous of the locals that get to run there every week; that's an amazing facility. It has a very active pit lane that is really neat. I think a lot of race tracks could duplicate their effort with the way Williams Grove runs things. It was really fun to be there. It's just a really fast place. [It's so cool] that so many historic people have run at that facility. I think that was the neatest part, a lot of big names that came out of Pennsylvania ran Williams Grove. [About racing under the bridge] You are going so fast, you don't even see it. I saw it when we pulled in and I never saw it after that. You can see it when you are on TV, but not when you are driving."

About the upcoming races:
"I'm looking forward to the next race a lot. I'm always really looking forward to the next one. I've run some pavement with Silver Crown, not a lot, but some. But [they] don't have a lot of pavement Silver Crown races either. It'll be a change of pace; I've done so much midget stuff on the short bullrings the last few years and I like being on the bigger track. It'll be something new, a new level of competition, and I feel like we have to really stretch ourselves this year compared to where we were the past couple years. I'm also really looking forward to getting to Springfield and Du Quoin and getting back on the miles/dirt tracks."

Photo credit: Andrew Cain