WINCHESTER, Ind. – On the heels of his first promotional effort last weekend, Brady Bacon will be back behind the wheel at long last this weekend in his home state of Oklahoma.
The Broken Arrow, Okla., native will pull double duty during each of the three nights of the annual Turnpike Challenge, driving the Randy Gass-owned No. 20g midget each night and also piloting Kelly Hinck’s No. 21h in the micro sprint portion of the weekend.
Originally a four-race set, the Turnpike Challenge became three races after the Thursday portion at Sapulpa, Oklahoma’s Creek County Speedway fell victim to rain.
It kicks off with a pair of events at Oklahoma City’s I-44 Riverside Speedway on Friday and Saturday before concluding at Tulsa’s Port City Raceway on Sunday.
Bacon returns behind the wheel after successfully promoting last weekend’s USAC National Midget Series T-Town Showdown at Port City.
“It went really well,” Bacon said of the event. “Given the circumstances that we had to work around, it went about as good as it could have … and we had really good racing on both nights.”
Friday’s Turnpike Challenge opener at I-44 Riverside Speedway will mark Bacon’s first racing action since the Shamrock Classic in DuQuoin, Ill., on March 7, when he landed a 17th-place finish in the midget feature and a runner-up showing in micro sprint action.
Bacon had previously opened the season with a sweep of USAC National Sprint Car Series action at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park in February.
The two-time USAC National Sprint Car Series champion will get back to sprint car competition next weekend with Hoffman Auto Racing, driving in a pair of events in Iowa and Missouri.
“It looks like we’re finally getting back into our regular routine of racing for a while here,” Bacon said. “I’m looking forward to it and hope we can get off to a nice start this weekend.”
All three nights of the Turnpike Challenge will be broadcast live through SPEED SPORT Network affiliate POWRi TV. Follow the link for stream and pricing information.