MESQUITE, Texas — Tony Bruce, Jr. fought off Gary Wright in the closing rounds to capture his first O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National victory as the 35th annual Spring Nationals kicked off Friday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Bruce repelled a charge from the four-time and reigning series champion on a lap-15 restart to win the 20-lap event aboard the Best Well Service No. 18 Maxim in his 70th ASCS National Tour start.
“It’s nice to get this one, we were needing it,” Bruce said. “When Gary got under us on that restart, I took it into three and four wide-open, I wasn’t gonna lift for anything.”
Bruce’s bravado around the top side of turns three and four proved beneficial, as he surged back in front and ultimately beat Wright to the line by four car lengths, with Jason Sides and Wayne Johnson taking the final two lock-in positions to Saturday night’s finale.
After winning the fourth of six heat races for the 52-car field, Bruce drew the pole for the feature and took the early lead.
The 23-year-old Kansas racer survived four interruptions during the opening eight circuits, including a red-flag stoppage after five laps when Gary Taylor and Kevin Ramey tangled and flipped in turn three.
While Bruce had cruised out front, Wright was on the move from 12th starting position. He was third when the yellow flag waved after eight laps. Wright moved to second on the restart and was in position to challenge for the lead when the final yellow flag waved on lap 15.
Wright made his run on the bottom entering turns one and two and led down the backstretch, but Bruce used the cushion in turns three and four to regain the point. He led the rest of the way.
The finish:
Tony Bruce, Jr., Gary Wright, Jason Sides, Wayne Johnson, Nick Smith, Zach Chappell, Jason Johnson, Aaron Berryhill, Jack Dover, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Trey Robb, Eric Baldaccini, Eric Lutz, Jake Peters, Ryan Roberts, Scott Winters, Don Droud, Jr., George White, Foster Landon, Gary Taylor, Kevin Ramey, Joe Wood, Jr.