Brian Brown – Busy Speedweek highlighted by Devil’s Bowl Win!
(Bill W) June 25, 2012 – A busy Speedweek for the Brian Brown Racing Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team saw a big win at the Summer Nationals at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas. Brian Brown started 14th in the event and took the lead in the final stages. He added a pair of second place finishes along the way to complete a solid week. This weekend, he’ll tackle either the I-80 Speedway or Belleville High Banks on Friday before competing with the World of Outlaws at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas Saturday.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway (June 15, 16)
It looked like a win may be possible in the prelim at Devil’s Bowl on Friday, June 15. “The first night, we were good,” says Brian. “We drew the outside front row of the feature, and Wayne (Johnson) snuck by us on the start. We were chasing him the first half of the race, and I felt like we had a car capable of winning it. We were both in heavy traffic, and we ended up breaking a quick change gear. It got the rear-end and tagged a valve. It was a hard night for the guys, because we had to not only change the rear-end, but the motor and do all the maintenance.”
A second place heat run in Saturday’s finale, set up a starting spot in row seven. “There wasn’t a lot of passing in the heat,” says Brian. “We were stuck back starting 14th in the feature, and just hoping for a top five. The bottom started working for us. The track slicked off, and we felt we could stick our car down there better than most.”
The advance continued and Brian took advantage for his first career triumph at the famous ½-mile. “We were passing a car about every lap, and when we got to the top five, I figured that would be a good run for us,” he says. “We had a yellow with about nine to go, and we were able to get by Matt Covington on the restart. Then we were able to get by Tony Bruce and chase (second place) Wayne down. We were able to get by him with two to go. It looked like we had a good shot at getting Danny (Lasoski), and he ended up blowing a motor.”
The win was special for the team. “It was pretty cool to get a win at Devil’s Bowl,” says Brian. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs there. Probably more downs than ups. We have a lot of great partners down there with Smiley’s, TI64 and Hoosier Tire Southwest. It was great to go down there and get a win to start Speedweek.”
Jones Motor Speedway, Chatham, LA
Last Monday, the venue was in Chatham, Louisiana. Brian would race from eighth to fifth in the feature. “It was an unusual place with some red dirt and sand,” he says. “It was a high-banked quarter mile with a cushion. There just wasn’t a lot of passing. The top five were pretty even. We took fifth and headed down the road.”
Diamond Park Speedway, Murfreesboro, AR
A heavy track welcomed ASCS to Murfreesboro. Brian finished where he started, tenth. “It looked like a track that if it was dry-slick, there was a lot of room to race,” he says. “As it was, it was the opposite. There was a lot of water put on it, and it was actually only about a car and a half wide all night long. It wasn’t much fun for us.”
Lawton Speedway, OK
Brian ran fourth in his heat after starting seventh at Lawton on Wednesday. It would make a difference in his starting position in the main. “Out of the races all week, I feel the heat race at Lawton was one that we didn’t do our job,” he says. “We should have run second or third. We got to third, but let (Brad) Loyet back by us. Third would have been good enough for the redraw, but fourth put us back starting 14th. I felt I didn’t do my job.”
Starting 14th, Brian was able to get to eighth before the track became one-lane. “I was able to get up to eighth before it laid rubber,” he says. “We had a really good car, we just weren’t able to show it with the track conditions the way they were.”
Salina High Banks, OK
Starting tenth in his heat Friday at Salina, Brian would move up to fifth. “I wasn’t sure why we had ten car heats,” he says. “We didn’t the rest of the week. We weren’t quite able to finish well enough in the heat to make the redraw, and we had to start tenth in the A.”
The big track suited Brian and he would checker second. “We got the car working really well,” he says. “We were able to get up to third. Jason (Johnson) and I had a heck of a battle. We probably slid each other six or eight times. It was cool to race that close with him. We were able to get by him, but he snuck back by in the rubber. Come to find out that was for the win, because Johnny (Herrera) had problems on the last lap.”
Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, MO
The week ended up at the Lucas Oil Speedway on Saturday. Brian won his heat from third. “We drew a five for the feature, and we knew it was going to lay rubber,” he says. “We just didn’t know when. I don’t feel we had our car where we needed the first several laps, and then we had a caution while running fourth on about the fifth lap. I made a bit of a driver error. I knew the rubber was coming, so I decided to make a lap around the top on one and two and I got over the crest of the corner. I came out of turn two running seventh.”
Brian would salvage another second place finish. “I had my work cut out for me,” he says. “We were able to get back to second. Hindsight is always 20/20. If we would have stayed in line, we may have won by outthinking them, but it didn’t work out. We don’t come to run fourth or fifth. Sometimes you are the hero and sometimes you are the zero, like we were on Saturday.”
Looking back, it was a good week. “I think we had some good results all week,” says Brian. “I’m proud of our team, every single one of them. I’d like to thank all our partners for what they do, and making it possible to race at a Speedweek like this. We’d like to send a ‘Get Well Soon’ to Chris Morgan, (crew chief) Chad Morgan’s brother, who was injured in Grain Valley Friday.”
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates, News
