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'Bubba' Broderick Steps Up Pace With Second at Stateline Speedway
BROOKFIELD, CONN. – Jimmy 'Bubba' Broderick raised the ante in his
pursuit of a top-five points finish and the Rookie of the Year in the
American Sprint Car Series Patriot Region with strong second and
tenth-place finishes at Stateline Speedway in Jamestown, N.Y.
With a pair of feature races on tap, including a makeup race from a
rained-out date on June 21, the 1/3-mile dirt track saw some of the
best ASCS racing of the season. Broderick started fifteenth in the
makeup race, setting the stage for a day of 70 laps on the track, far
more than usual for this sprint car series. "It was a lot of racing,"
he commented, adding that "I didn't get anywhere until about halfway
through the race," after only four laps of practice for the makeup.
Overcoming a slightly loose-handling car, he ended the race moving
steadily up to tenth, with lap times that were as fast as the top
runners.
Taking the input from that first race, Broderick and his crew set
about making adjustments to the car, trusting his crew to find a setup
he could race with. "We've really been clicking," he said. The
adjustments and time trials went his way and he started the heat on
the outside pole, then moved into the lead on lap four, holding on for
the heat win. "I was sticking to the top groove," he said.
The heat win and a lucky draw put him on the outside of the front row
again, the best starting position yet in the season. At the green
flag, he and pole-sitter Barger battled with Broderick taking the lead
on the outside with "an inch on both sides," he laughed. On the next
lap, Blake Breen moved low into the lead, holding that position until
a caution bunched the field. At the restart, 'Bubba' went by on the
restart, using the cushion built up over the course of the evening.
"It was so comfortable," he described. "It felt so perfect. Everything
was clicking just right."
Several laps of some of the closest racing ever seen at ASCS races had
Broderick and Breen swapping the lead several times a lap, until his
nemesis capitalized on "a little rookie mistake" and pulled away when
Broderick jumped over the cushion. "I felt like we could have got it,"
he said. Broderick drove the rest of the race to a strong second-place
finish, boosting his fourth-place standing and moving him farther into
the lead for Rookie of the Year points.
Asked about his 'grade' for the evening, he admits that he'd give
himself "about a B+. I don't think any driver would give themselves an
A." His next race is Friday, August 29, at Lebanon Valley Speedway in
an Empire State Sprint series event, followed by a double-feature race
at Fulton Speedway the following Saturday.
'Bubba' Broderick is being helped in his career with training from
Andy Hillenburg's Future Stars in Racing. The Academy helps prepare
young drivers for success inside and outside the racecar. Racers can
now choose the training programs, professional PR and marketing
services or custom driving schools on an a la carte basis to fit their
needs. The Academy features a staff with decades of experience in all
aspects of motorsports. To learn more about Broderick and the Academy,
go to www.futurestarsinracing.com.
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