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(Bill W) March 21, 2011 – The first win of the 2011 season was at hand in Malden, Missouri on Saturday night before suspected ignition problems sidelined Brian Brown and the FVP #21 team while leading the USCS field assembled. The Grain Valley, Missouri driver looks forward to a two-night show this weekend at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series.
Surprisingly, it was the first visit for Brian to Malden Speedway. “Of all the tracks we’d been to, we’d never been to Malden,” he says. “We drew a decent number outside of row three for our heat race. We were excited to get going.”
Despite the challenge, the 2010 Knoxville Raceway champ drove to second in the heat. “It was a tough heat with guys like (Tim) Crawley,” says Brian. “We were able to get a really good start from sixth to second. In the passing point deals, you don’t have to win the heat, but you have to put yourself in position to start up front in the feature. Andy (Korte) and Chaddy (Cypart) did a great job with the car and that set us up for all night.”
The run was good enough to earn the pole for the main event. “We put a harder left rear tire than Terry Gray (starting outside in row one) did,” says Brian. “A lot of times when the track slows down like it did, it can seal the tire up, so I was worried. We went hard because the track was starting to rubber up, and it worked.”
Brian pulled away from the field each time, despite some early cautions. “We were able to get out into the lead,” he says. “There were a couple of cautions the first fifteen laps. Andy was telling me we had a big lead every time.”
With a straightaway lead over Gray, disaster struck. “Coming down the backstretch on the 17th lap, it just shut off,” says Brian. “We don’t know for sure what it was, but we think it was something in the ignition box. Usually, when something like that happens, that’s what it is.”
It was a long tow home. “It was unfortunate, because the guys worked their tails off to make us the fastest car, and we were six hours from home,” he says. “To come home without the trophy was disappointing.”
But the glass is also half-full, knowing the FVP #21 was the fastest car on the track. “It was a momentum boost going to Dallas,” says Brian. “It seems the last few times there, that we have been good. The heat races the first night are always tough. Again, you don’t have to win them, but you need to put yourself in good position for the redraw.”
Action will start on Friday night and conclude with Saturday’s finale. “I’m sure there will be 50 or 60 cars there that are planning on winning too,” says Brian. “We have a hard working team that wants to win as badly as I do. We’ll go down there and do our best. We’re going down there to win.”
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