BNS: Mike Bruno Beech Ridge Review

Mike Bruno finishes 20th at Beech Ridge, anxious to return to NHIS

Mike Bruno and the Summit Racing Team made their second visit to Beech Ridge Motor Speedway on Saturday night for the Busch North Series final short track event of the year. Mike had a tenth place finish in the team's first visit there last June, but wasn't able to match that finish in this trip.

Mike started the event by qualifying the #3 Summit Racing Chevy seventh in the large field of 35 cars. When the race started, the car had a soft set up which ended up causing the car to push all night. Even thought Mike pitted several times for changes, the race was just too short to make up any ground on the leaders. He ended up finishing 20th, the team's worst finish of the season.

"The car pushed all night, we fought it from the beginning of the night," Mike said after the race. "It made for a long night with a car like that. The car was really tight. We learned a valuable lesson tonight. It might have been good for a day race, but it sure wasn't good for a night race."

The twentieth place finish was Mike's worst finish, but he is still the only driver in the top twenty in points that has not finished outside the top twenty all season. Mike still holds a commanding lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year battle too.

Mike and the Summit Racing Team will be at the New Hampshire International Speedway for the Busch North event there this Saturday afternoon. It will be the series fourth and final event at the one mile super speedway this season.

"I'd like to qualify in the top ten and pick up a top five this time," Mike said about the upcoming race. "We've had a twelfth, a seventh and a sixth so I'd like to shoot for a top five and maybe even finish in the top three or four in the Loudon track championship."

Mike is currently fifth in the $10,000 Lincoln Electric Arco Welding NHIS Track Championship points standings. Mike is just two pints behind series veteran Dave Dion for fourth place and seven behind points leader Brad Leighton for third in the track championship. A new champion will be determined after the race.

This is one of Mike's favorite tracks. "I like the bull rings, that's where I got my start," he said. "But Loudon is the fastest track we run on, and I like going fast!"

Mike has logged a great deal of seat time at NHIS as a Richard Petty Driving School instructor.

"Seat time on any track is important," the Vermont native remarked. "I have been able to get quite a bit of seat time at Loudon as a Petty instructor and that's been a big help to me. But I know that when I climb into my Busch car, it's completely different. They are different kinds of cars with different tires. Plus we're not going all out door to door either. But the seat time is still a big help, just like guys that have spent years on their local track with a prostock or something. There is always something that you can learn and apply to what ever you drive."

The Busch North teams will be qualifying on Thursday afternoon and the race will be at approximately 2:30 PM on Saturday, immediately following the Featherlite Modified race. The next race after that for Mike and the BNS will be the series finale next month at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.