3/31/2015
Fezard Collects Two Top-Tens in Tulsa
(Photo by Chase Gibson)
TULSA, Okla. – After gaining more valuable experience last weekend, Bradley Fezard again headed west to the Port City Raceway for two nights of racing. He would put to good use the knowledge gained last week; it propelled him to four feature starts in four attempts, including his career-best finish at the facility, an eighth-place outlaw class showing on Saturday night.
Kicking the weekend off on Friday, Fezard lined up on the pole of his nonwing heat. Making a slight mistake on the start dropped him two positions, and another car would sneak by, resulting in a fourth-place finish. The transition for the outlaw division consisted only of putting the wings on the car, with no time to change the setup. Nevertheless, Fezard gridded on the inside of the second row, and worked the high side of the speedway to pass one car en route to finishing second.
For feature competition, the #58 Stallard/FTZ Honda would start 12th in the nonwing division. Battling a loose car, Fezard would fall as low as 17th, but made every attempt to work his way back through the field. He would gain a spot on a mid-race caution, then nab two more spots after moving to the top side of the speedway, coming home 14th.
With more time for adjustments for the outlaw feature than for the heat race, Fezard felt much more comfortable. Starting the race in eighth, a hot three-way battle for ninth developed. Again using the outside lane, the 15-year old would hold his ground. Declining to 14th at one point, the leader and eventual race winner was able to slip by and put Fezard a lap down. However, he was able to keep the leader in sight and seize four more markers to complete a charge back into the tenth position to close out the night.
Saturday night presented a change for the team, swapping nonwing competition for A-Class, in hopes of having more time between races to make adjustments. A poor pill draw for A-Class slated him to start eighth in his heat race. Fezard quickly picked off three cars to move into fifth, but his charge stalled out there, and the fifth-place finish put him just outside the top 16 in passing points. The outlaw heat was a different story. With a better pill draw, Fezard would start on the outside front row. He set sail and never looked back on the way to a heat race win, although he noticed a slight decrease in power over the course of the race. A faulty coil pack proved to be the culprit, and was promptly changed.
The B-Main in the A-Class didn’t phase the Hot Springs, Arkansas resident, as he would walk away from the field to win the race, ensuring him the 17th starting spot in the main event. Disappointingly, a mechanical issue resulted in not finishing the feature race, but Fezard was able to avoid several on-track melees prior to the mishap to actually pick up four spots, being scored 13th.
With the big, 16-square-foot wing returning to the top of the car for outlaw feature time, Fezard’s excellent heat race run netted him front row honors for the main event, starting in the second position. Fezard would concede two spots early in the race, on seemingly small mistakes, but Port City’s finest are quick to capitalize on even the tiniest of slipups. When a caution emerged just past the halfway point of the 30-lapper, Fezard was rounding out the top five. He waned on the restart, dipping three positions to eighth, but looked to move back by in any way he could. Before he could regain any of the lost position, the checkered flew, and Fezard capped his weekend with a still-superb eighth-place run.
“We kept the pace with some of the fastest guys in the country,” Fezard proudly said of his team. With the track’s Memorial Day Weekend event in mind, he revealed “We’re looking forward to running here again in a few weeks.”
Fezard would like to thank Brandon’s Ranch and Aaron’s Powdercoating, as well as his mom and dad, Frank Galusha at Eagle Motorsports Inc, Justin Lovins at AMSOIL, and his great fans for their continued support.
Fezard is next scheduled to compete at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Arkansas on April 11.
Quick Results
March 27 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Nonwing – Heat: 4th (1); Feature: 14th (12)
March 27 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Outlaw – Heat: 2nd (3); Feature: 10th (8)
March 28 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc A-Class – Heat: 5th (8); B-Main: 1st (1); Feature: 13th (17)
March 28 – Tulsa, OK – 600cc Outlaw – Heat: 1st (2); Feature: 8th (2)
2015 Stats
6 races, 5 features, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top tens, 2 DNFs
Social Media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bradley.fezard
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bradley_fezard58
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
