6/10/2015
Sprint Source
Brian Brown – Mixing it up with the Outlaws!
The month of June means the World of Outlaws are in the neighborhood for Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brian Brown. At I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska, he led briefly on Friday before finishing fourth. The Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team could see as many as three races with the WoO this weekend as they visit the Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa Friday, the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa Saturday, and Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota on Sunday.
On Friday, you qualified 12th at I-80. That was the last spot to make the heat inversion.
We were right there on the bubble. It was the difference between starting on the front row of the heat and starting in row three and having no real shot at the Dash. We kind of got lucky on that one. We seem to have our qualifying down at Knoxville, we just have to get a little bit better at other places. Ideally, you need to be in the top three or four.
You made the most of it, and you were able to win the heat from the pole.
We were beside Brad Sweet there to start. He made a bold move on the outside in one and two and made it stick. We just had to go into ‘kamikaze mode’ in three and four and we were able to get by him. We were able to hold him off. That was the difference between being in the Dash and starting 13th or 14th in the A.
In the first corner, you did another ‘kamikaze’ move and shot up four spots in the Dash.
That was kind of our strategy all night. Sometimes you have to do that when you’re not as quick as you’d hoped. You have to gain as much as you can when everyone’s bunched up. The Dash was no different, and we were able to go from eighth to fourth. We knew if we could put the car in fourth, we could see the front. Anytime we can see the front, we feel we have an opportunity to win. Friday was no different.
You were right there with (winner) Danny Lasoski most of the way in the feature.
On the initial start, we got up to second right away. We had a red, and on the next one, we fell back to fourth or fifth. There was a time in the race when I thought I would run tenth or twelfth. We had a double-file restart and I was able to get back to second. At one point, we were able to pass Danny for the lead.
It was a long race with a fuel stop, but you stayed right there in the top four the whole way.
I really felt we took a car that was an eighth or tenth place car and snuck a top five out of it. The restarts really helped. Our engines take off so well. Chad (Morgan), Josh (Hembe) and Neal (Kelly) worked their butts off all night long trying to make it better. We just never got there. To have a car that we didn’t feel was capable of winning to a top five is a pretty solid night.
The weekly show at Knoxville on Saturday was almost like another Outlaw show. I think there were seven or eight of them there. You were able to come out late and be fourth quick.
To be able to go out as late as we did and qualify in the top four was a good sign. Obviously, this weekend, with the Outlaws coming in, we’re going to have to lay down good laps and put a good time down again.
It was another good sign when you drove from sixth to win your heat.
Every single week, the heats get tougher. We had a very tough one. We’re qualifying really well, and I think this is the third week that we’ve started sixth in the heat and run first or second. That’s a great sign going forward.
The redraw saw you start seventh in the feature.
We just didn’t get going as well as we wanted at the start. We were tight, and we fell back to tenth or eleventh. Once we could get our own air, Terry (McCarl) was a straightaway ahead of us and we caught him and got by him. When we caught everyone else and we were back in traffic, we were tight again. We just weren’t as maneuverable as we wanted to be.
That was probably the best race I’ve seen in a while for spots two through seven.
We had a good race with Terry and passed him a couple of times. He ended up third. If things would have been different, or we had a few more laps, we could have easily had a top five finish. It was a whale of a show in the back! My hat’s off to the (track preparers) Dunkin’s. Again, there were two or three grooves. To come home seventh was not what we hoped for, but on the bright side, we felt like we didn’t have the best car and we still came home seventh. That’s not the end of the world.
This will be another good week to measure where the team is at.
I’m looking forward to getting back to Denison. It’s a different configuration than the last time we were there, so it should be exciting for everyone. We’re looking to do well at Knoxville Saturday. If everything goes well, we’re maybe looking at Huset’s on Sunday and Sauk Rapids, Minnesota on Tuesday.
Follow Brian on the Web, Twitter and Facebook!
Follow Brian at his website located at www.BrianBrownRacing.com!
Also keep up with FVP, Casey’s and Brian on Facebook and Twitter at the following links…
Twitter Links – @BrianBrown21, @FVPRacing, @CaseysGenStores
Facebook Links
Brian Brown Racing – www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Brown-Racing/200630163294222
Casey’s General Stores – www.facebook.com/pages/Caseys-General-Stores/112073528804354
FVP Racing - http://www.facebook.com/FVPRacing?ref=ts&fref=ts
Other Web site info
Casey's: www.caseys.com
FVP: www.fvpparts.com
Brown’s Bits
Brian seems to be on the brink of his first WoO win at Knoxville. In the last seven Outlaw shows there, Brian has four seconds (including three in the Knoxville Nationals), a third, a fourth and a ninth.
15% off of Enco Tools Purchase!
Receive 15% off of your order with Enco Tools! Just go to www.UseEnco.com and use the coupon code “BBR21”!
About Casey’s General Stores
Casey’s General Stores is a Fortune-500 company (NASDAQ CASY) operating over 1,850 convenience stores in 14 states through the Midwest. Known for its “Homemade-To-Go” pizza, sandwiches, donuts and bakery items, Casey’s strives to consistently deliver quality gas, fresh kitchen-prepared food, clean environments and friendly service at every retail location. Casey’s is currently the 5th largest c-store chain and fifth largest pizza chain in the United States.
About FVP
Built on a commitment to quality and delivered with unmatched service, FVP is the confident solution for all of your OEM needs. FVP products are engineered to provide customers with OE quality products that are equal or superior in performance to the major national brands at a competitive price. FVP is proud to carry a full line of high quality oil, air, cabin air and fuel filters, powerful batteries for multiple applications including cars, trucks, SUV’s, commercial, boats and other specialty vehicles as well as automotive chemicals and oil, antifreeze, DEF, hub assemblies, radiators and condensers. To learn more about FVP or to find out where you can have FVP products installed in your vehicle, visit FVPparts.com! FVP…The Confident Solution.
Marketing Partner of the Week – Maxim Racing
In October of 2014, Dan Musselman (Previously Director of Operations) and his brother Ron formed a partnership and acquired Maxim Inc. Both have been involved in sprint car racing for over 40 years and have over 30 years of business, manufacturing and customer satisfaction experience. Dan and Ron would like to thank the sprint car racing community for embracing the change in ownership. The outcome has been very humbling.
Maxim Racing conducts business in its 12,600 square foot building located in Springfield, Illinois. At present, Maxim is fourteen employees strong and builds over 400 chassis annually.
Maxim Racing prides itself on providing great customer service, helping our clients on setup advice along with focusing on the highest level of quality and safety.
Visit Maxim Racing online at www.RaceMaxims.com and on Facebook at Maxim Racing Inc.
Associate Marketing Partner of the Week – All Pro Cylinder Heads
All Pro Heads is the Industry Leader in Small Block Chevy Aluminum Cylinder Heads, (as well as the new Generation 3 and Mopar W9RP) ,catering to the hard core racer always looking for the perfect design for a specific application. Whether it's Sprints, Super Late Models, Drag Racing, Off-Road, Marine or Road Racing, you can count on All Pro. Visit them on the web at www.AllProHeads.com!
Brian Brown Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, FVP, Print Place, Searsboro Telephone Company, MC Power, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps / impact4800.com, Champion Brands, Ditzfeld Transfer, Maxim Racing, Smiley’s Racing Products, Enco Tools, Weld Wheels, Housby Trucks, Pro Shocks by Schure Built Suspension, Arctic Cat, Lincoln Electric, K&N, www.hostiowa.net, FSR Race Products, TI64, Fuel-Safe Tanks, Wolfe Eye Clinic, Bell Helmets, Hinchman Uniforms, CP Pistons, Carrillo Rods, Vortex Wings, Penray, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Butler Built Seats, AkzoNobel, Kenny's Components, www.AllDayParts.com, Tru Square, Jack Links, Deli Express, Snap-On Tools, Rod End Supply, KSE Racing Products, Winters Performance, Cometic Gaskets, Shell Shock, Donovan, ISC Racers Tape, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Racing Optics, Mothers Wax, Hoosier Tires, Klein RV, XYZ Machining, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Red Devil Brakes, Schoenfeld Headers, 6B Apparel, Bosch, Garrett Racing Engines, MSD, Moyle Racing Engines, Fortress Wealth Management, Legacy and Flexzilla for all their support!
Photo: Brian races at I-80 Speedway (IBRACN Photo)
Article Credit: Bill Wright