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Brian Brown- Back On Track Tonight!

Brian Brown and the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team are anxious to get back on the track tonight with the World of Outlaws at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. The Grain Valley, Missouri driver feels he left a bit on the table last week in events in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, and in Iowa at Knoxville and Mason City. The team will compete with the WoO tonight and Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota. Saturday, they’ll be back at Knoxville with the NSL.

You were fourth quick with the WoO at Sauk Rapids.

Early on, things went really well for us. We hot lapped well, and in qualifying, we went out late. The track had really slowed down and we were able to get fourth quick. Chad (Morgan) made some really good adjustments on the car, and he relayed where we needed to be on the track by watching a couple of guys before me. Unfortunately, that was probably the highlight of the night for us.

After starting up front in the heat, you finished sixth.

We just didn’t adjust on the car enough. We backed up there. We started 16th in the A, and kind of just rode around most of the way. We got going at the end, and I think we ended up 13th. Overall, it wasn’t one of our best performances. We would have liked to have done better for all the FVP customers and employees that were there. It’s always great to have them there. It wasn’t a bad night; it just wasn’t the night we’d hoped for on the track.

Friday rained out at Jackson, and you came back and timed well with the NSL at Knoxville Saturday.

The Dunkin’s do a phenomenal job with the track, and the track was a lot different than what we’ve seen this year. I enjoyed it. We were able to nail down third quick, and go from sixth to second in the heat.

In the feature, you hit the top and started moving forward after starting fifth.

We were trying to find a line where no one else was running. There was starting to be a little rubber peeking in the corners. I knew it was going to be crucial to get going. We were able to get to third eight or ten laps in. We were able to run Ian (Madsen) down for second and Kerry (Madsen) was right in front of Ian. I thought at that point, if everything goes right, we have a chance to win.

You battled late, but settled for fourth.

I don’t know if running a different part of the track, if we ran our tires off, or what. As quick as I caught Ian and was making a move, he was pulling back the other way. I decided to try Ian’s line, and Tim Kaeding passed me up top where I was running. We would have liked to have been a little better than fourth, but having crashed our car the previous week, we were happy with a solid finish in this one.

The first 410 show in almost 30 years at Mason City Motor Speedway Sunday saw a big crowd.

It’s really a nice facility. It was a great crowd. It was pretty cool that after the first set of hot laps, the crowd erupted and cheered like they hadn’t seen something like that before. To go out and be third quick was good. We went out a little later than the guys in front of us. We were able to go from fourth to second in the heat and we thought at that juncture, we had a good shot at winning.

Your draw was good. You started outside row one in the feature.

We just didn’t make the right adjustments come feature time. We weren’t tight enough, and I didn’t do a good job of being where I needed to be on the racetrack. Before I knew it, I was running fifth, and four guys had passed us on the bottom. Anybody in that feature can win on any given night. Like the Outlaws, if you make a mistake, they will pounce on you. You can let one guy by, but to let four or five by is another thing. I can’t wait to get back in the car tonight, I can tell you that!

You have to really be looking forward to I-80 tonight.

I-80 has been a place where we’ve always had success. We were pretty good over there earlier in the year, and we came back to run second at the Dirt Classic. Terry (McCarl) was kind of the class of the field that night, but we feel we’re going back with a good package. We should have a good opportunity to run well. We’re looking forward to Jackson with the Outlaws and getting back to Knoxville Saturday too.

The stakes get higher from here on out.

It’s the season where all you hard work starts to show. This is the time of year through September, where you make your season and make your money. Chad, Michael (Williams) and Wyatt (Burks) have been working hard. I feel like I have the three best guys I could possibly have. It’s hot and they don’t complain. They do whatever it takes, and I’m lucky to have those three guys.

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