Brian Brown – Long Road Trip!
(Bill W) May 7, 2012 – The Brian Brown Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team endured a lot of windshield time this past weekend, as their planned venture to the Jackson Speedway in Minnesota was a wash. Returning to their home state of Missouri, they charged from 17th to 4th in ASCS-Warrior action at the Lucas Oil Speedway near Wheatland, Missouri. This weekend, they plan a return trip for the rain date at Jackson before running in 410 competition at the Knoxville Raceway.
After Friday’s rainout at Jackson, Brian and the team returned to Wheatland. “Impact Signs, Awnings and Wraps are a big partner of ours, and they were the presenting sponsor in Wheatland,” he says. “It was really important to go there and have a good run for them, along with the folks from Champion Brands and Ditzfeld Transfer.”
A tough track awaited and a pill draw that put Brian starting seventh in his heat didn’t help matters. “We drew the toughest heat race of the night,” he says. “Typically, it’s nice and wide with three or four grooves. On Saturday, it was pretty one-lane in the heats. I got from seventh to fourth pretty quickly, and then I tried to make something happen behind Kyle Bellm. He got balled up, and let Gary Wright back by. That put us fifth.”
The fifth place finish sent Brian to a third starting spot in the B main. He would win that and transfer to the main event. “We were able to win the B, but at that point, it was only two car lengths wide,” he says of the track. “We knew we had our work cut out for us starting 17th in the feature.”
The Grain Valley, Missouri driver struggled early with setup, but plugged his way forward in the talented field. “We just kept our car pretty free for the conditions,” says Brian. “If we were a little tighter than we were, maybe that would have helped us. We were able to kind of forge up there to eighth or sixth.”
As the Maxim sprinter started working well, the race was coming to a conclusion and Brian checkered fourth. “The last four or five laps we rolled around there really well, but we just ran out of laps,” he says. “I wish we could have been better there early. I think we could have had a chance.”
The fans showed up in good numbers on Saturday. “The crowd was probably the biggest I’ve ever seen there,” says Brian. “It was good to see. That’s not necessarily sprint car country. Hopefully, that will bring good crowds when the ASCS National tour Speedweek comes, and of course, for the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial.”
The rig will be pointed North again this Friday. “Hopefully, the weather will be better this week and we can make it to Jackson,” says Brian. “It’s really hard to put that show on, and we hope to get up there and put on a show for our fans up North. We hope to do well Saturday with the 410 at Knoxville. Every trip there is a test for August. We’re working on maneuvering across the whole track.”
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates, News
