Brian Brown – Podium with the WoO at Knoxville!
(Bill W) June 11, 2012 – A podium finish with the World of Outlaws at Knoxville Raceway highlighted the weekend for Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 driver Brian Brown. It may have been two podium finishes if not for a tire issue at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa on Friday night. This week, Brian heads south to take in the six-day ASCS Speedweek with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series starting Friday and Saturday in Mesquite, Texas.
Things started last Friday night in Spencer. “We wanted to put a good show on for our FVP employees and customers in Spencer,” says Brian. “We were good right away. We were second best in hot laps, and then we were fourth quick in qualifying.”
With the good qualifying effort, Brian knew his trip to the Dash just depended on being in a transfer spot in his heat. “We wanted to run as best we could, but we just needed to be in the top six,” he says. “With three heats, there are always some good cars starting behind the invert. We had Danny (Lasoski), (Donny) Schatz and some others in ours. We were up to second, but we ended up rolling around in fourth.”
Starting in row three of the Dash, Brian advanced to third. “The Dash may have been the best we were all night,” he says. “We were able to move around, and improve our position for the A. We didn’t make too many changes going into the feature.”
Brian was confident he could grab his first Outlaw win. “I felt we had a shot to win it,” he says. “On the first start, we nearly got the lead. The next couple of laps, the car felt really decent. Then we lost the grip on the track. I was along for the ride from there on out. We lost two inches of stagger. There wasn’t a loss of air pressure, just a loss of stagger. It was unfortunate after the night we had. It was beyond our control with the tires we had.”
Still, a tenth place finish with the WoO with an ill-handling car lent some confidence headed into Knoxville. Brian was second quick of 43 cars entered on Saturday. “That was a brand new Charlie Garrett motor,” he says. “He has done a phenomenal job with our program. We can go out at any time, and really be in the hunt for qualifying.”
A super heat race followed featuring slide jobs and position changes galore. “That heat was brutal,” says Brian. “Sometimes you run harder in the heat race than the feature, and that was the case on Saturday. We had good guys in front of us, and behind us. We had Steve (Kinser), (Terry) McCarl and (Mark) Dobmeier behind us. They were scratching and clawing.”
He would end up fourth. “We wanted to get going,” says Brian. “Everyone is going for the gusto, and it puts a guy in a tough spot. We were able to get to second, then we had the last double-file restart. We were actually running low on fuel. We lost a couple spots, but that put us in the Dash.”
For the second night in a row, Brian moved forward in the Dash (from 5th to 4th) and put himself in the second row of the feature. “It moved us up a row,” he says. “You don’t want to lose any spots in the Dash, but if you can move up a row, that’s crucial.”
With a track that was dry-slick from the start, the team wondered what it may do in the feature. “There was some guesswork,” says Brian. “We pretty much knew it would lay rubber, we just didn’t know when. A lot of guys put a harder tire on. Our thought was to put a little softer tire on, get going and then try to hold on. We got going pretty well. We just didn’t get to the front before it laid rubber. From there, with the tire we had, I just cruised.”
Brian rode most of the way in third, and finished there. “It was good for every single one of our partners,” he says. “To have a good run with the Outlaws is great for our team. A lot of the people that help us don’t get the credit, but they deserve it. It’s good to run third with the Outlaws for them.”
ASCS Speedweek begins with the Summer Nationals this Friday and Saturday night at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway near Mesquite. It will then continue in Chatham, Louisiana (Monday), Murfreesboro, Arkansas (Tuesday), Lawton, Oklahoma (Wednesday) and Salina, Oklahoma (Friday). “We’re heading south to do the ASCS Speedweek,” says Brian. “It’s six races in eight days. We’re looking forward to getting down there. We’re working hard to get prepared for it right now. We’re looking forward to getting to Devil’s Bowl Speedway and seeing the folks from Smiley’s.”
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates, News
