Brian Brown – Bid for WoO Win Comes up Just Short at Knoxville!
(Bill W) May 13, 2013 – Brian Brown and the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team will have to wait a little while to get that first win with the World of Outlaws, but they could hold their head’s high after a strong third place run Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway. This weekend, finds the team tentatively with the ASCS National Series in Cameron, Missouri on Friday, as well as pulling double duty with the 360 and 410 at Knoxville on Saturday.
Last Friday, was the “FVP Outlaws at Elko” event at the Elko Speedway in Minnesota. You had a good time meeting some folks from FVP in the days leading up to it.
It’s always good to get up there close to our FVP headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota. We had a couple of open houses at a couple of the Factory Motor Parts locations. I always enjoy not only visiting with their customers and employees, but telling them about our team…walking them through the trailer and showing them things about sprint car racing.
Did you feel any heat to perform on Friday with FVP being the title sponsor of the event?
There was a little bit of added pressure there with FVP being the presenting sponsor. I truly believe right now they are doing more for this sport than just about anyone.
Unfortunately, you missed the heat invert by qualifying 19th, and that makes it tough.
We just weren’t really great all night long. We unloaded kind of average really. I don’t think we made the adjustments we needed to between hot laps and qualifying. Once we missed the heat invert and qualified 19th, it made it an uphill battle.
You were sixth in the heat, and then won the B. You pulled off the track early in the feature. Why was that?
We were the best we were all night long in the B, really. We were buried starting 19th in the A. The car wasn’t reacting back there in traffic like we needed it to. It wasn’t good enough to move forward in my opinion, so we called it a day and headed for Knoxville.
Despite coming out late (28th), you registered the third quick time of the night in a stacked 51-car field.
My Charlie Garrett engines ran well, and along with our Maxim chassis, that is the biggest part of our program right now. I’ve said it a hundred times, but everything we do is focused on the Nationals, and you have to lay down a good lap in qualifying.
I don’t think anyone was stronger in the heat race. You started fourth, and ended up winning it, pulling away from everyone.
I was a little worried about being third quick. Ideally you want to be in the top two or starting on the front row of the heat with the Outlaws (11th-20th on Saturday), but it worked out. Winning it from row two was awesome. We’ve been able to come out of that spot three out of the last four nights (including the previous weekend’s events at Eldora) and get a top two finish to get in the Dash. We’re being really aggressive in our heats and getting going. Again, it’s the Knoxville Nationals mentality, when you need to go eighth to fourth.
You also started fourth in the Dash. You rode in second behind Tim Kaeding for a while before passing him and pulling away again. Were you thinking about just finishing second and starting outside row one for the feature?
Unfortunately, the driver isn’t always that smart! We try to win everything, especially in front of the hometown crowd. We really didn’t change anything, and the car got better and better. I don’t think we’ve had that good a car in a long, long time.
It seemed you were really good early in the feature. The car had worked so well in the heat and Dash. I suppose you don’t want to mess with it much.
It can work against you. It makes you less aggressive with setup when things are going that well. You don’t want to mess it up, especially with the Outlaws. As good as we were in the heat and the Dash, we didn’t want to mess with it. We were really good the first eight to ten laps, but it did go away. I didn’t feel as good on the bottom. (Craig) Dollansky got by us, and I was racing with him. I got a big dirt clod to the side of the helmet. It actually knocked off the post that holds my tear-offs.
You dropped back to second and then third when (Donny) Schatz went by. Then Kaeding got you for fourth.
I ran what seemed like the next hundred laps with no tear-offs trying to race through traffic. We had the closed red with seven or eight to go, and I asked the Outlaws if I could change helmets for safety concerns, and they didn’t think it was necessary. I cleaned it up as best I could and went back at it.
You took advantage of the double-file restart and surged to second right away, but another red came out.
We restarted fourth there. I made as many adjustments as I could with the wing. We went from fourth to second there, and at that point, I really felt we had an opportunity to win. Then the red came out, and they went back to the previous lap’s order. We had the open red, and everyone had a chance to work on their cars. At that point, with a single-file restart, we ended up third.
How much of a hindrance was the helmet?
At the end of the day, you can make 35 excuses why you didn’t win, but we got beat by better racecars. Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky were first and third at the Nationals last year. Those guys are always going to be tough. Donny Schatz showed why he’s the best in the world, and the best at Knoxville. I think it just makes us hungrier to buckle down at Knoxville for the rest of the summer. We’re going to put our nose to the ground. We need to be good for fifty laps in August.
You are right there on the big tracks right now.
But our small track program isn’t where it needs to be. As far as our half-mile program, I don’t feel like there’s anyone better than us. When we get those guys on the ropes, we need to put the nail in the coffin. There will come a time. Believe me; I want to beat these guys as badly as anyone in the world. You can’t dwell on that, and forget how good our team is doing right now, though.
What are you planning on for this weekend?
We’re looking at possibly Cameron (US36 Raceway) with the ASCS National group on Friday, and we’re planning on running both cars at Knoxville Saturday. Our next test with the Outlaws at Knoxville comes up in a month, so we need to go to work on how we’ll beat the 15.
Brian’s Mom, Grandma and Wife Featured on KCCI’s Sports Extra!
Check out a special Mother’s Day edition of KCCI’s Sports Extra featuring Sandy and Heather Brown, and Barbara Lasoski…
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates
