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Brian Brown – Fine Finish! 

(Bill W) December 2, 2010 – It was a great conclusion to a great season for sprint car driver, Brian Brown, as he brought the 2010 campaign to a close last weekend at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  A pair of second place finishes with the Lucas Oil ASCS National series capped a season that already saw twelve wins and a season championship at the Knoxville Raceway. 

The Grain Valley, Missouri driver would draw outside of row four for his heat in Friday’s prelim, and drive to a third place finish.  “I think the best I started on the West Coast trip was the third row, which bit us at Tucson,” he says.  “We had good cars in the heat Friday (Vegas), but we were able to get a really good start.  That put us in a good spot going into the A.” 

A draw up front for the feature put Brian in position to win his second ASCS National feature of the year.  “Chad (Morgan), Kelby (Hopkins) and I had been talking about how if you are in a good position at an ASCS show, you have to take advantage,” he says.  “We were able to draw outside the front row of the feature.” 

The FVP #21 was ready for the challenge.  “We were able to get the lead down the backstretch,” says Brian.  “Sam Hafertepe Jr. did a good job and he was able to get around us there in three and four.  Sam and I were the same speed, and we were able to get back by him on one of the restarts.” 

Up front, Brian picked up an unwanted passenger.  “We were battling pretty good and I hit the cushion pretty hard and packed the right rear full of mud,” he says.  “When we passed him, we were vibrating pretty badly.  It was hard to see where I was going, and it got worse as the race went on.” 

Hafertepe fell out while running second, and it set up the race for one of the best.  “Sam actually fell out (lost a wing sideboard), and then Tony (Stewart) came along,” says Brian.  “He showed why he is the greatest racecar driver in history.  It was too bad we had the right rear vibrating.  He certainly could have passed us anyway, but I would have liked to have raced him at full strength in lapped traffic.” 

Though Brian would have liked to have the win, it was an honor to run up front with his hero in racing.  “Running second to the greatest racecar driver that I’ll see in my lifetime is really a thrill,” he says.  “Being locked in made Saturday easier on us as well.” 

Not having to run preliminary events on Saturday, gave Brian and the crew an opportunity to prepare for the main event.  “Seeing the track when we got there, we knew that track position would be crucial,” he says.  “After seeing the rubber laid down in the heats, we were wanting that number one on the draw.  It didn’t happen, but at least we drew a three.” 

The one-lane track saw little passing and Brian would settle into second place.  “When it’s rubber down like that, you try not to use up your tires, and hopefully, others do,” he says.  “Unless someone makes a mistake, you’re not going to do much.  If you have guys like Joey Saldana in front of you, and Sammy (Swindell) behind you, you definitely don’t want to make mistakes.  To end the year with two strong second place finishes is a good way to go into the winter.” 

Brian returned on Thursday from the International Motorsports Industry Show in Indianapolis, Indiana.  “We went to the PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show for years until they got bigger and bigger and were located to far from where we were located,” he says.  “Tony Stewart and some others came up with IMIS.  It’s more of a grassroots deal, and it’s good to go see your marketing partners that help you throughout the year.  We want to make sure we do a good job for them, and we like to see some of their new product coming out too.  We have a lot of great partners.  Without them, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the successes we have this year.”