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Brian Brown – Five and Dime! 

(Bill W) April 12, 2010 – It was fifth and tenth place finishes for Brian Brown and the FVP #21 racing team last weekend with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series.  The series visited the Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas on Friday, and the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday.  This week, variety is the theme, as Brian races in the 360 season opener at the State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Missouri on Friday, and with the World of Outlaws in Pevely, Missouri on Saturday. 

A tough heat awaited the Grain Valley, Missouri driver on Friday at Kilgore.  “The heat races are obviously crucial with the quantity and the quality we’re seeing this year with the ASCS National series,” says Brian.  “We had Brady Bacon and Shane Stewart in front of us, and Sammy Swindell behind us along with the 24 car.” 

The Maxim with Ostrich power performed flawlessly in a run to the front.  “We had a great start the first (start),” says Brian.  “We got a run up to second and then slid in front of Brady for the lead.  He tried to turn back under me and got spun out, so we had to do it again.  I didn’t think I’d get the same kind of run, but it worked out.  I was able to slide in front of Matt Sherrill.  I can’t remember a time that both the car and motor were working as well as they were in that heat race.  We were three to four-tenths faster than anybody in the heat races.” 

The run qualified Brian for a redraw for the first four rows of the main event.  “The dreaded pill draw came into play and we were starting seventh,” he says.  “I got to fourth on the start, and I probably stayed on the bottom a half a lap too long.  A couple guys got back by me.  Soon after, the track took rubber and there was no more passing.  We held on and tried to go as hard as we could while saving the tire.  To finish fifth with 52 cars there…you feel o.k. about that later.  There were some heavy hitters who didn’t even get in.” 

It was time to roll on to Little Rock.  “We were scheduled in row two (heat) beside (Tim) Crawley, and I figured the first one of us to the front would win it,” says Brian.  “The guy in front of him scratched, so he ran away with it.  That put Jason Johnson beside us in row two, and we just finished fourth there after having a good race with him.” 

Running fourth put Brian in the B where he won from a fourth starting spot.  “In hindsight, I’m glad we ran it,” he says of the B.  “We got to work on the car a bit, and that helped us in the feature, and I think it will help us down the road.  The guys who were starting in the back of the A were kind of at a disadvantage, because the track changed so much.” 

Uncharacteristically, the race went green for the distance.  Brian climbed from 19^th to 10^th at the checkers.  “The car was excellent on the slick track,” he says.  “I had a good feel with the car.  It was probably good enough to finish up front.  It just happened to go 35 laps non-stop at Little Rock, which is almost unheard of.  We did well to get in the top ten.” 

All in all, it was a successful weekend with field of 50+ cars both nights.  This weekend, Brian will run at Sedalia Friday and Pevely on Saturday.  “We would have liked to get a win, but we were more fortunate than a lot of teams,” he says of last weekend.  “I really look forward to being in Sedalia and supporting the weekly program there.  We’ve got great sponsors like Ditzfeld Transfer, Impact Sign and Lighting and Impact Wraps there.  Champion Brands is just down the road in Clinton.  I look forward to a lot of great things there.  I’ve had some good luck with the Outlaws at Pevely, so we’re looking forward to that too.  In addition, we’re doing some things with our FVP people there.”