BOND HEAD, ON- 19-year old Branden Bullen displayed veteran patience in an afternoon wrought with handling issues, eventually working towards a 7th place finish in the 2014 OSCAAR Modified Tour season opener at Sunset Speedway.
“I’m a little happy this day is over, to be honest”, laughed Bullen post-race. “We could not get the push out of this car this afternoon. It was tight everywhere, an absolute handful in practice and qualifying”
The third-generation competitor worked with Crew Chief/Father Phil Bullen all afternoon, in hopes of mitigating the issue.
“It was a bit of a head scratcher”, admitted ‘The Bond Head Bandit’. “We went all the way through our setup book. Stuff that we’ve tried in the past that’s worked was no good. The more we worked to solve the problem, the worse it got”
The Knightworks Design sponsored entry began to respond in the 30-lap feature event, allowing Bullen to begin making ground on track for the first time all day.
“The car was a touch better in the feature”, explained Bullen. “It was one of the crazier ones we’ve been in. A lot of guys were driving over their head and wrecking some really good equipment. I was happy to bring the car home in one piece. Dad works hard enough on this thing through the week, I would’ve felt terrible if I had torn it up on the first night”
Bullen’s top-7 finish gives the team a lot to work with heading into Round 2 of the tour on June 1st at Kawartha Speedway.
“If we can work this well together, and earn a 7th place finish with an ill-handling racecar, just imagine what we can do when we nail the setup”, added Bullen with a wink.
Branden Bullen Racing will carry marketing support from Dale Farren & Son of Snowball, ON and Knightworks Designs in 2014. Sponsorship packages are still available by contacting Phil Bullen at (905)-960-4337.
Fans can keep up with Branden by visiting the brand new Branden Bullen Racing page on Facebook, or on Twitter @67BullenRacing.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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