Hard Charging Formula 500 Performance from Cox - posted November, 2008
Once again, Brad Cox has showed that his age is no barrier. The opening round of the RTS Chassis Victorian Stampede Formula 500 Series last Saturday at Darlington Speedway, Mortlake in Victoria, saw Cox charge from the rear of the field (position 21) in the feature race to pass a total of 14 cars to finish in seventh.
The 14-year-old, making his debut aboard the # 71 NSW Mark and Kylie Eveleigh owned Hyper Formula 500, due to his rookie status was forced to start all of his three heat races and the feature race from the rear of the field. However, for Cox that handicap didn’t seem to faze him one iota as he managed to qualify for the feature race as the third highest point scorer.
“It doesn’t really bother me that I had to start from the rear of my races because that is just part of the learning progress,” remarked Cox.
“But it would have been cool to see the result if I had of started closer to the front”
Despite landing on his side in the feature race due to contact from another car who had came off the infield in turn four and straight into his path whilst battling for fifth place, Cox was not deemed the cause of the accident and was credited with seventh place following the race being declared.
The night overall for Cox was a very positive one, as he now leads the points race in the RTS CHASSIS AUSTRALIA STAMPEDE SERIES. “ It is awesome to be leading the series. Especially as a ROOKIE !!!”
Cox would like to say a big thanks to Mark and Kylie Eveleigh for the opportunity to drive their car and the teenager hopes to do it on a more regular basis throughout the 2008/09 season.
Resounding Victory Highlights American Trip for Cox - posted August 1, 2008
Young Australian Brad Cox has just recently returned from yet another American trip, where he ran in both the Micro Sprint and '360' Sprintcar classes, and the highlight of the trip was without a doubt his feature race victory in the Micro Sprint class at Greenwood Valley Action Track (Millville, PA) during the PA Micro Sprint Speedweek.
The young teenager made easy work of the field at Greenwood Valley Action Park, where he not only caught but passed USAC Midget gun Brady Bacon who is also a team Chip Ganassi Racing / Kasey Kahne Racing team driver, on his way to victory lane. Despite a number of restarts during the latter stages of the feature race, Bacon was unable to deny Cox a very impressive and dominant victory.
Over the PA Micro Sprint Speedweek, seven race tracks in eight days where there was an average of 90 cars per night, Cox managed to qualify for five out of seven feature races and was unlucky not to taste more feature race podium success. On a number of occasions Cox was in podium contention only to suffer mechanical issues that denied him of such result.
The past two months Cox contested a total of 17 race meetings and his performances throughout the PA Speedweek were the highlight.
Apart from his Micro Sprint commitments, Cox ran the # 9 R&R Fetter Racing Sprintcar for a total of three shows. Although Cox had no previous Sprintcar experience he showed plenty of improvement over the three nights and with more track time will no doubt be more competitive. In regards to next year Cox has secured a full-time Sprintcar drive with the Fetter Racing team
There are also plans for Cox to compete in next year's CHILI BOWL Midget Nationals (Tulsa, OK) in January.
Latest American Voyage - The ‘What If’ Trip For Aussie Youngster - posted Apr 30, 2008
What if? that was the question young Australian Brad Cox and his team were asking after their latest American trip, where they ran a one month racing schedule, which consisted of a total of 10 race meetings in the Micro Sprint 600 class.
Throughout the one month trip Cox showed devastating speed, but it was unfortunately overshadowed by sheer bad luck, and that kept him out of the winners circle, but he certainly had the pace to be there.
"There was no question about our speed and had we had some more luck we would have had more success," Cox said
"Over the month we came up against some of the best Micro Sprint 600 drivers in the country, and we were far from disgraced.
"In this trip I wanted to be able to build on my past experiences and my results showed that we had improved our speed."
Based out of Pennsylvania, Cox ran up against some of the most established drivers in the Micro Sprint 600 class, and on more than the odd occasion, he came out of top.
With every visit to take the America, Cox's speed and results have been improving since and his rivals, are now not, going Brad who, as they are well and truly aware who this young Australian is.
Cox will return to America in June, and once again he has his eyes on achieving more success and being able to improve.
Brad Cox Fast Facts:
March:
Friday, March 28 Path Valley Speedway Park, Pennsylvania
Cox was able to start 6th and finish 5th in heat one. He started the A-Main in position 20th and was having a great run coming up to 10th in 10 laps when he was black flagged for a fuel leak; ironically it was the other #17 car that had the fuel leak.
Saturday, March 29 Trail-Way Speedway, Pennsylvania
Cox started 10th and finished 5th in first heat, during the A-Main where he started 17th and was up to 8th in third laps, there was a huge crash in which he got put into the wall by a crashing car and resulted in a huge wreck.
APRIL:
Saturday, April 5 Greenwood Valley Action Park, Pennsylvania
Unfortunately Cox struggled all night and managed to make only one spot up during his heat race to finish in 4th, but was lucky enough to make the Top 8 re-draw. Cox had a wonderful start out of 3rd in the A-Main and during the race his top wing tree collapsed, which could have possibly resulted from the previous crash, and finished a disappointing 10th.
Sunday, April 6 Park Valley Speedway Park, Pennsylvania
This event was held on Sunday due to the Friday night being washed out. Cox started out in position 8 for his heat race and managed to pass 3 cars to finish in 5th. Cox was started 16th in the A-Main working his way up to 10th place on a one lane track.
Monday, April 7 Greenwood Valley, Pennsylvania
After finding that the engine was "gone" a quick rebuild on the Saturday morning prior to racing and then Cox and his team headed off to Greenwood Valley. After blasting the rest of the field and winning by 5 lengths Cox started out in 7th for A-Main. Before the A-Main Cox was not feeling very well and during the A-Main during the race he managed to move up to third before being physically sick in his race car which put him back to 10th place.
Friday, April 18 Path Valley Speedway, Pennsylvania
This was by far the best track that Cox had competed on. The track is a high banked fast 1/4 mile clay track that frequently saw the cars in the 10 second bracket. Cox started out of 8th and took out a fifth in his heat race. This put him 13th in the A-Main with all the big guys in town like Mick Dicely, Jimmy Brookens, Jim Young and Travis Senter, it was a fantastic race, Cox drove to a fantastic 5th , passing the most cars during the race.
Saturday, April 19 Greenwood Valley, Pennsylvania
Cox finished in a good third in his heat race, which was good that put him out of 4th in the A-Main, with the fast locals starting out in front of us. Cox had a good run and managed to get to third however later on his right front shock collapsed which made driving conditions very hard, but he did the sensible thing and retired from the race.
Brad Cox - Super Fast, But Have We Seen The Last - posted Mar 6, 2008
Last Saturday night (March 1) at Ballarat’s Redline Speedway in Victoria, the Australian Speedway community were treated to the first, and possibly last, chance to witness one of the bright stars in the world of Speedway, teenage sensation, Brad Cox, where he was given permission to contest the latest round of the Victorian Stampede Formula 500 Series, and he certainly did not disappoint.
With much hype surrounding this astounding talent, with only reports of his exceptional ability filtering back to Australia from his American campaign in June / July of last year, many watched in anticipation, and Cox left a might impression.
Never laying eyes on the Redline Speedway facility, nor ever raced against any of the other competitors in the field, the Year 8 student from Gunnedah in North Western NSW was undeterred. Due to his “novice” status, Cox was required to display the obligatory “rookie” ribbon, so experienced drivers could easily identify the youngsters # 17 NSW Castrol / Leckie Insurance Brokers backed Yamaha R6 powered RTS when they came around to lap him. How wrong they where.
Starting his opening heat race from the rear, position 12, Cox set about doing what he does best.
“The first few laps I checked out the track, the other drivers and my car set-up,” explained Cox.
“Once I did that I just had a dig and attempted to work my way up from the back of the field.”
Indeed he did, and by the race end Cox had managed to climb his way to fifth position. Quite remarkable with all things taken into account, including the fact that he had not competed since July of last year.
Following some adjustments to the set up of his car by loyal family crew, Cox lined up for his second heat race, again starting from grid position 12. Following on from his first heat race exploits, Cox wasted no time in showing his style. Blasting by many experienced and highly regarded drivers, the #17 machine hit the lead on the seventh lap, and cruised to a sensational win.
Highest point scorer after two completed heat races, Cox was again relegated to the rear of the field for his third heat race. With passing points on offer and the youngster’s unrelenting hunger for a challenge, Cox was relished the challenge ahead.
“We made a few more changes to the car, and I was confident that they were in the right direction,” Cox commented.
And once again Cox rose to the occasion, passing competitors at will both on the pole line and around the outside; the kid showed that he ‘had the goods’. Charging into the lead with an out side pass on two cars through turns one and two, Cox again walked away from the opposition to take the win by almost two seconds.
“Putting my car on pole position for the feature race at a major domestic meeting like this, in my very first race in Australia, and after eight months out of the seat, is pretty cool,” expressed Cox.
And that is exactly what Cox did, by out qualifying some of the best and emerging drivers in the country.
“We tightened the car up for the feature race, as we knew the track would go away,” Cox said. “And everything almost went exactly to plan.”
Cox blasted away to a great start, leading the opening two laps. With a car that was a little tight, Cox dropped back to the back of a 4-car breakaway group by the eighth lap. With his car starting to work the way Cox expected, he blasted past current Victorian Champion Jessica Moulden to reclaim third place.
With 12 laps completed, and with a car that was super fast, Cox felt that he had a great chance to go to the front, and closed rapidly on second place. Then with no warning, the youngsters outstanding run came to an end after he suffered steering component failure and that forced him to retire.
Although disappointed, Cox looked at the positives of what had been a simply sensational night.
“It was great to be given the opportunity to race here in Australia. Hopefully I have shown the doubters that I can actually drive despite my young age,” he said.
Cox referred to the fact that this was his first, and possibly last, race in Australia.
“We have been trying to get NASR to except a proposal from Formula 500’s Australia that would see young drivers with obvious talent allowed to race” Brad’s father Michael stated.
“Unfortunately NASR does not seem to have the ability to promote or encourage these young drivers to reach their full potential. At this point in time, Brad is unable to compete in Australia again until the summer of 2010/ 11, and that is three years away.”
The Cox family are now concentrating on their upcoming pilgrimage to America competing in the Mini Sprint class. Flying out of Australia in less than three weeks time, Cox will once again tackle the super competitive Speedway scene in Pennsylvania.
Buckwalter and Brad Cox Motorsport Finish Second in Oval Express Series - posted Jan 8, 2008
American teenage sensation Tim Buckwalter and the Brad Cox Motorsport team combined to finish up second overall at the completion of the six round Oval Express Formula 500 Series recently and in the progress certainly opened up a few eyes.
Although Buckwalter didn’t manage to take out a round win, he came awfully close, and ended up finishing second on three separate occasions in the feature races over the six nights. It wasn’t all joy for Buckwalter and the Brad Cox Motorsport team as they rode out a huge wreck during the second round at Western Speedway in Hamilton, but they managed to burn to midnight oil to rebuild their destroyed RTS car. Buckwalter suffered an elbow injury in the crash, and despite the damage, it didn’t seem to slow him down.
Finishing second behind reigning Australian Champion Ben McLeod in the final point standings for the Oval Express Series was a fine effort, and although Buckwalter and the Brad Cox Motorsport team were foreign to the majority of the tracks they visited it didn’t stop them from being on the pace.
“To finish in second place overall for the Oval Express Series was agreat achievement, especially considering the crash we had in the second round, and the fact that we had no prior knowledge competing at any of the tracks and we were also campaigning the oldest car out of the Top 10 finishers in the final point standings,” Buckwalter said.
“Our aim heading into the Oval Express Series was to just have a lot of fun and be a front running contender, and we certainly did both of them.
“Working with the Brad Cox Motorsport team was a pleasure as their hospitality was second to none and I really enjoyed my stay in Australia and cannot wait to return in the future.”
Throughout the six rounds of the Oval Express Series, Buckwalter managed to qualify towards the pointy end of the field in the feature race, and over the six rounds finished with three second place finishers, along with a fifth, 13th, and a single non finish.
“We showed our pace in every round, and towards the end of the series we struggled a bit, and I think that was due to our crash at the second round,” Buckwalter conceded.
“The whole Oval Express Series was a blast and to finish second overall definitely exceeded the expectations of the Brad Cox Motorsport team and I.”
The Brad Cox Motorsport team would like to say a special thanks to Peter and Greg Wickham, along with Shane and Tim Hicks, for all their efforts in helping rebuild the car after their Hamilton wreck.
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