February 16, 2006 

  This week, as the eyes of the racing world focus on Daytona International Speedway, one local driver is facing a new future on the national scene.

   Gerry Bruce of Franklin hopes to parlay his 2005 Pro Stock track title at Tri-City Speedway into fame and fortune under the bright lights of the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series with his championship car owner, Ken Humanic of Titusville.

   “This is a dream come true for me,” said Bruce. “I’m honored that Ken and his family have given me this opportunity. I’m excited, but I’m also nervous as we try to get everything into place to have our team ready for the upcoming season.”

   After a championship year at Tri-City, Humanic decided to step into the big time. Forming KH Racing, the team purchased the old Lineman Cycle shop on Route 157 north of Oil City and acquired two USAR Hooters Pro Cup race cars.

   “We’re going to race a 2005 Ford Taurus and 2006 Ford Fusion both with No. 27,” said Bruce. “Right now, we have a lot of testing scheduled and we are racing at five events. This will allow us to preserve our rookie status for 2007 when we hope to compete full-time.”

   The USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series features cars that are similar in chassis design to the NASCAR Busch Series. The series is divided into two tours, the Northern and Southern Divisions. Then, at the end  of each season, all of the drivers and teams come together for a six-race Championship Series. Benny Gordon of DuBois was the 2005 series champion.

   “This series is more business oriented, than racing oriented,” noted Bruce. “That’s the challenging part. The series officials are very concerned about the appearance of the crew and car because of the televised races on Speed Channel. We even need to make sure that we have an eight-man crew to make pit stops.”

   In addition to numerous tests, the team plans to race at Kil-Kare Speedway in Ohio (May 12), Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway (May 27), Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park (June 10), Lake Erie (Pa.) Speedway (June 30), and Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia (July 15).

   “I will do everything in my power to make this deal work,” said Bruce, who also works as a motorcycle accessory sale representative for Custom Chrome. “I’ll manage the team out of the race shop. On race days, I’ll drive while Ken takes over the team management because I don’t need that burden at the track.”

   Bruce and Humanic also have an opportunity to compete in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. In December, Bruce tested a car owned by Tennessee businessman Paul Holt at Daytona. However, the car was underpowered and left Bruce disappointed with the last place time in a huge field of cars.

   “That was tough deal because the car was way down on power with the restrictor plate. We even put a couple of other drivers in the car, and the results were the same. Paul’s trying to put forth a better effort, and that might give me an opportunity to race with ARCA later this year at Nashville, Michigan, and maybe even Talladega.”

   Despite his new racing endeavors, Bruce will not neglect his dirt track roots in 2006. He intends to race Humanic’s Chevrolet No. Z17 at Tri-City when his schedule permits. The team plans to put a major focus on the Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series at the Venango County half-mile oval.

   “We were definitely pleased with our performance last season,” said Bruce. “We were a little disappointed in the end-of-season big races.  We had some trouble, which was bound to happen. The way we looked at it, if you can win five times running only one night a week against today’s competition, we’re doing well.”

   Bruce is no stranger to victory lane or championships. His greatest success came at Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox. In 1994, Bruce was bit with the racing bug when Randy Myers of Oil City let him hot lap his Sportsman Modified. That season, Bruce bought an Outlaw Stock and won on his fifth night out.  In 1995, he won nine feature races and the track title. The following season, he added five more victories and a runner-up in points.

   After his Outlaw Stock success, Bruce moved to the Sportsman Modifieds in 1997. He captured five wins and the track championship at Sportsman’s.  Over the next five years, Bruce won 11 more Sportsman Modified features at the Clarion County third-mile oval. Most of that time, he split his racing between a Sportsman Modified owned by the late George Slaney of Canandohta Lake, and a DIRT Modified owned by Walt Ritchey of Oil City.

   By 2003, Bruce raced sporadically, and he was ready to hang up his helmet when Humanic asked him to drive his Pro Stock. They won a race late that season at Stateline (NY) Speedway. In 2004, the team struggled as they tried to find the right combination for success at Tri-City without a win. Their efforts came to fruition in 2005 with five wins and the Tri-City title.

   “I hope to be able to visit Tri-City often this season,” said Bruce. “This is my racing home. I’m proud to be involved in this effort with Ken and the entire team. I hope we can do well for our hometown fans.”

   And the racing faithful at Tri-City will be cheering on his efforts too.