Brian Brown – Exciting Win at Knoxville Sets Up Busy Week!
(Bill W) May 21, 2012 – Brian Brown took a last lap lead at Knoxville Raceway and went on to win his 20th career feature at the world famous half-mile oval Saturday night. The win gives him some momentum heading into a week that will see him competing five nights in a row starting on Wednesday in his hometown of Grain Valley, Missouri.
The Brian Brown Racing Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 timed in second quick in group qualifying on Saturday at Knoxville. “John (McCoy) as Race Director is trying to try some things,” says Brian of the group qualifying. “It doesn’t really matter to me. With that, as a racer, you get four laps of qualifying rather than one, which is nice. We were quickest in hot laps, and in qualifying, we probably didn’t lay down the best lap, but we were where we needed to be.”
Qualifying will be essential in the bigger shows at Knoxville. “Second isn’t the best place to be because of the invert,” says Brian. “If the track is good enough, you can get up through there. Being second is a good feeling with the Outlaw show and the Nationals coming up.”
Brian drove from sixth to third in his heat. “We had one of the tougher heats,” he says. “It was a good test session for us with (Mark) Dobmeier and (Terry) McCarl and some of the other guys in there. There were a few things we were able to try.”
Starting seventh, Brian worked his way forward in the feature. “We got a good start on the first try,” he says. “We went from seventh to third. The second one, our start wasn’t quite as good. We fell into fourth or fifth there. It seems like it takes our car a few laps to get going. Once we do, we’ve been pretty good.”
A battle at the front eventually fell to Davey Heskin, and Brian followed him in the runner-up spot. “We were able to get to second about six or eight laps in,” he says. “We ran Davey down a bit in traffic, but he was good. He was the fastest car there. He was running a good pace, and I was maybe overdriving a little trying to catch up.”
Ian Madsen entered the battle in the top three. “On one of the restarts, I got into the back of (Heskin) and it knocked my nose wing back,” Brian says. “That made it a little tougher to keep the nose turning. I made some mistakes and let Ian get by me and we had a good race until the yellow with two to go.”
The green, white, checker finish will be one to remember for some time. “At that point, I thought we’d be lucky to get third out of the deal,” says Brian. “Then Davey stopped, which gave us another lifeline. I wasn’t sure what Ian was going to do on the restart. He went down there and went through the center. I came around the top of one and two and then the bottom of three and four. Coming to the white flag, I was able to pull even in one and two, and then I missed on the exit. I got a good run down the backstretch and drove it through the center of three and four. I was able to come out with the win.”
It was Brian’s 20th win at Knoxville. “It’s always good to get a win, but to get one like that, makes it exciting,” he says. “Hopefully, the fans liked it. It will give them something to talk about this week, and hopefully, they’ll come back.”
Brian is quick to thank his team. “I’m proud of the whole team: Chad Morgan, Chad Ely, Mark, Snook, Scotty, my Grandpa, every single person on the team does a good job. It makes everything easier. We’ve been in the top three this year far more than the previous ones. We’re trying to pick up some wins at this point. We couldn’t do it without our partners either: Casey’s General Stores, FVP, Searsboro Telephone Company, Impact Signs Awnings and Wraps, Champion Brands, Ditzfeld Transfer, Maxim, Smiley’s, Weld Wheels, Housby Trucks.”
This week, will see Brian running in his hometown at the Valley Speedway with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series on Wednesday, and at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska on Thursday. Friday, the ASCS-Midwest series will be at the Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska. The final two shows will see 410 action with a return to the Knoxville Raceway Saturday, and a run with the MOWA series at 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa on Sunday.
“We have a lot of work Monday and Tuesday,” says Brian. “I’m really looking forward to Grain Valley to race at home. Of course, I-80 may be my favorite track. We’ve had some success at McCool Junction, and we head back to Knoxville on Saturday. We’ll have Burlington on Sunday. We’re aiming for five top five finishes, and if we do that, maybe we can pick up some wins.”
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates, News
