Brian Brown – Front Row Challenge Win Good Lead-in to Nationals!
(Bill W) August 7, 2013 – Winning one of the most prestigious races of the year is a good lead-in to this week’s Knoxville Nationals. Brian Brown and the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team won Monday’s Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, but their joy was taken away by the injury to Brian’s hero, Tony Stewart, who was leading the event. Nonetheless, the Grain Valley, Missouri driver’s focus year-round is the Nationals, and his quest to win it begins Thursday night.
You were able to win your heat, setting you up for the “King of the Hill” Match Race.
The track was pretty narrow, so it was good we drew a good number (outside row one).
Unfortunately, you were beat in the “King of the Hill”, so you couldn’t make good on your promise of taking the Front Row Challenge. You started fifth in the A.
We ran fourth or fifth most of the race. We really weren’t making a lot of ground up. We didn’t feel like we had much for the top three, especially Tony (Stewart). Then the crash happened.
What did you see from your perspective?
The track was blocked up and I kind of turned left and Cowboyed. I “Monster Trucked” an infield tire, but I was lucky not to hurt anything. We came out of that with the lead.
You were able to pull away and win from there. What does a win there mean to you?
The Front Row Challenge is a huge race for our resume. We were able to win it, but not the way we wanted. I would much rather have Tony healthy and us running third. Hopefully, he gets better soon and he’ll be back running with us. He’s not only a hero to me, but a huge icon in this sport.
At last week’s 360 Nationals, things started with the 20th quick time of the night. How much did coming our 42nd in the order affect that?
Our number didn’t help the situation. I don’t think fast time was there, but Justin Henderson went out about ten cars later and was ninth quick. For whatever reason, I just wasn’t able to go out there and lay a good lap down.
You were able to get through your heat and started back in row seven in the feature.
We got up to sixth pretty quickly. As the race went on, we got tighter. It made it tough for me to maneuver and we ended up seventh. It definitely wasn’t the night we were looking for, but we were locked into the A main on Saturday and that was the most important part.
You were probably hoping for some cautions on Saturday, starting as far back as you were (19th) in the finale. Still it was a good charge to fourth.
That was the key. We just couldn’t get the cautions we needed. I was hoping we could get one every six or eight laps. We went twenty-three non-stop. I was up to seventh or eighth by then and I was able to get a couple of cars there. To go from 19th to 4th with the caliber of competition we had there was a testament to our crew and not giving up.
With eighty-one cars in the field for the “Capitani Classic” coming out 11th quick was nothing to sneeze at.
We went out there (47th) and qualified pretty decent. The heats were brutal too, but we were able to run second in that.
Getting through the heat got you to a starting spot outside of row two for the feature.
We were actually able to get to second, but Terry got us back. We had a good race with Justin (Henderson) and ended up third. We were trying some things for the Nationals and they just didn’t work. To be able to run third in that field and not feel good about your car was a good sign.
I know the team is as ready as it can be for the Nationals.
All of our focus year-round is the Knoxville Nationals, and here it is. There is skill involved, but you need a lot of luck too. We need to do a good job of getting ourselves in position on our qualifying night, and if we do that, I feel we have as good a chance as any. We can’t put the cart before the horse, though.
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates
