[JessicaJ]

Springfield Return Comes to Early End for Patrick Bruns
By Jessica Jenkins

Bright and early on a muggy mid-August Day, Full Throttle Racing pulled back into the Springfield Mile for their first race at the 1 mile track in eight years. With slight early season motor issues out of the way and confidence in what they could accomplish, Patrick Bruns was more than ready to get going.

Strapping into his red #95 Beast chassis for his third USAC Silver Crown start of 2017, Bruns laid down the sixth fastest time in hot laps. The top five finish Bruns knew he could achieve now seemed to be within his grasp...until a problem was found prior to qualifying. The team worked vigorously to diagnose and patch up the leaking oil pump and had it all back together as qualifying began. Despite the still leaking oil pump, Bruns timed in 19th to start the 100 lap Feature from inside row ten. The Champaign, IL based team thought they had worked on it enough to last for the entire Bettenhausen 100. But as soon as the green flag flew, Bruns began dropping positions. Despite doing his best to fight for each spot, eventually he started slowing so much that the longtime racer pulled into the pits. Making it only to lap 11, their much anticipated Illinois State Fair return ended before it really began.

Though he was disappointed, Bruns stayed upbeat and focused on improving in the future with his Toyota powered ride. Huge thanks to Triple T Car Wash, Mobil 1, Cain's Marine Welding, Harold Colbert Plumbing and Heating, Advanced Financial Inc and Bell Helmets for making this season possible. Also thank you to each member of the team that came to Springfield and worked hard all day on the car.

Coming up next for Bruns is the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car series event at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on September 3rd. Stay tuned to Patrick Bruns' Facebook fan page @FullThrottleRacing95 for more information as the Ted Horn 100 approaches, as well as pictures from the last couple weekends.