Cole Bruce hopes to make the field for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 for the first time this weekend, and he has plenty of momentum after recent wins at Langley Speedway.
Bruce has had an emotional season after the loss of his father, former Late Model racer Robert Bruce, passed away earlier this year. A few weeks later, he’d race his way to victory lane at Langley Speedway and has since backed that up with another win on September 13.
Bruce now hopes to take that momentum, and the confidence he has gained, and translate it into a strong run at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.
“We’ve been on a roll lately,” Bruce told Short Track Scene. “We’ve won the last two races at Langley so my confidence is just through the roof. I know we have a really good car so just more or less put all the puzzle pieces together, make the show and having a good weekend out of it.”
Neither Cole Bruce nor his father have ever made the field for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, though Robert only attempted once and Cole has attempted twice. Just making the field itself would be a huge accomplishment in Bruce’s mind.
“My dad wanted to see me succeed and you know I’ve always wanted to make him proud and do the best I can at it,” Bruce said. “Racing is something I love doing so hopefully it’ll be something that we can pursue and do good with. It’s going to be a very emotional and exhausting weekend. It’s a long day, Friday and Saturday, so I think if we even just make the show, that’s gonna be a huge win for our team because that will be the first time anyone in our family has made the show.”
Bruce is teamed up with TORP Chassis for this weekend’s race.
“Chris Courtney, who has been working for TORP for a few years now, is going to be crew chief in me. I’m gonna be right there beside Craig Oliver, Andrew Grady, and Sam Yarbrough is going to be right next to us as well so I’ve got a lot of experience, whether it’s some hands-on working on the car and driving itself. I feel pretty confident in the car itself. Everybody at TORP Chassis went through it, setup’s going to be good, and we’re gonna be able to unload and hopefully make very minimal changes and adapt to the track.”
While Bruce would love to take a Ridgeway grandfather clock back to Fredericksburg, Virginia, just making the field itself would be exhilarating after the emotional season he has endured.
“However we do in the race is how we do and that will be a win,” Bruce explained. “First goal obviously is just make the show, complete all the laps, and then, wherever we end up, I’m just thankful and blessed that we were able to even go to Martinsville this year.”
Practice and qualifying for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 will take place on Friday, September 26. Heat races and the 200-lap feature race will take place on Saturday, September 27. The feature race will go green at 7pm. All of the weekend’s festivities will be broadcast on FloRacing, with the feature race being broadcast simultaneously on The NASCAR Channel.
