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(Bill W) November 22, 2010 – Frustration with the draw can grow in a passing points system, especially with the caliber of drivers assembled at last weekend’s Western World at the USA Raceway in Tucson, Arizona. Brian Brown found himself in an uphill battle that resulted in a 15th place finish in the finale. The Grain Valley, Missouri driver moved forward in every race he competed in, passing 14 cars on the weekend. This Friday and Saturday find him at the dirt track in Las Vegas, Nevada where the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series will run their final events of the 2010 season.
Brian drew for row four of his heat in the Friday prelim. The first three rows consisted of drivers like Ricky Logan, Danny Lasoski, Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson and Tim Kaeding. He would run fifth. “We got ourselves off on a bad note with the draw,” he says. “Our heat had nine cars in it, and eight probably could have won any race in the country. It was tough to pass, and running from seventh to fifth wasn’t enough to get us in the A.”
After winning the B from outside of the front row, Brian would line up inside row nine for the main event. “I got balled up on the start a little bit, and fell back to around 20th,” he says. “We were able to climb up to ninth. Overall, it wasn’t a bad night, especially for where we drew. The car worked well, the motor worked well, and everyone worked hard. I wish we would have had a chance to race those guys somewhere other than behind them though.”
Brian would finish in ninth, one spot out of locking himself into Saturday’s finale. “The ASCS National tour is also tough, but when you add guys like (Donny) Schatz, Joey (Saldana), Danny (Lasoski) and Roger Crockett…it’s tough…there’s no if’s, and’s or but’s about it,” he says. “It makes the draw the most important thing.”
The finish put him on the pole of the second B main on Saturday. He would lead wire to wire in that one, and would start the finale 18th. “We were really pretty decent there in the feature, just like on Friday,” says Brian. “They worked the track, and the bottom was just too good. You put twenty-four good cars out there and it’s tough to pass. You need multiple lanes. The track people tried hard, but the bottom was just too good to get off of.”
Brian worked his way up to 15th. Now, he will concentrate on Las Vegas. “When I look back, I think the top six finishers on Saturday, started on the front row of their heat race on their qualifying night,” he says. “Hopefully, we can get a good draw in Vegas, and if we do…we take advantage of it.”
The 2010 track champion was honored at Knoxville Raceway’s banquet on Saturday night. Though he made it by conference call, he would like to have been there. “It was really unfortunate that we couldn’t make it,” says Brian. “It was great to have the Goodson family from Impact Sign & Lighting there to accept our awards. It’s really surreal to me. I never dreamed I would race there, let alone win two championships. From what I heard, it was a great event.”
Brian will take a bit of experience into the ½ mile Vegas oval. “I was able to run Vegas back in 2003 and 2004 with Lonnie (Parsons) and the Outlaws,” he says. “I’ve got a little experience there, which is good. It’s a big half-mile, which really fits my driving style as well. The competition isn’t going to get any easier. In fact, it’s probably going to get tougher, because we should have some California cars there too. Our work is cut out for us, but we want to get the FVP #21 back up front again to end the season.”
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