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(Bill W) April 4, 2011 – Brian Brown is looking forward to running at a racetrack he won at on two of three occasions in 2010. In total, he has won seven out of fifteen features at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. The 3/8 mile oval hosts the ASCS-Midwest series Friday and Saturday night and will pay $3,000 to both nights’ winners.
Last Saturday night, the FVP #21 race team headed to 81 Speedway near Wichita, Kansas for a NCRA event. There was little practice before the heats. “We only got one lap in hot laps,” says Brian. “We were trying to diagnose a shut-off problem. When you race 75 times a year, those hot laps aren’t as important, I guess.”
The Grain Valley, Missouri driver drew a tough number and started in row four behind plenty of heavy hitters in the heat. “We had Danny Lasoski, Danny Wood, JD Johnson, Jonathan Cornell and Joe Wood Jr. in there with us, so we had a pretty good field,” says Brian. “We were able to go from seventh to third on the first lap before we got a caution. They put us back in fifth, and the way the track was, that was all she wrote.”
In the end, Brian would run fourth from his seventh starting spot. It would put him in the B, where he would run where he had started…third. “I had been running the bottom (in the heat), and I was keeping pace with the guys on top,” he says. “The top cleaned off enough to start laying rubber, and from there on out, it was get in line and cruise around. With the passing point system, that is tough, because you have to get to the front with that system and get every passing point you can. The rubber was on the bottom by the B, and we finished where we started.”
The transfer to the main event meant he would start outside row nine. A steady climb was tough with the track conditions. “We were up to sixth or seventh at one time,” he says. “We were trying to make something happen. We were trying to go a car length out and go around guys. When we did that, three guys would get by us.”
A tenth place finish awaited at the checkers. It was a tough night on tires. “A smart car owner may have loaded it up after the heat and saved it for another day,” says Brian. “But we are there to put a show on for the fans. We had a great crowd there, and I hope they come back another time.”
With a healthy winners’ share this weekend at I-80 Speedway, Brian and the team are looking towards Friday. “I-80 is one of the tracks we circle on our calendar every year,” he says. “It’s one of those tracks that is right up there with Knoxville in terms of our favorites. It’s just a great racetrack and Ed Kosiski does a great job preparing it. I wouldn’t expect this weekend to be any different.”
The competition is expected to be stiff. A few ASCS National cars are expected to contend along with some of the Midwest’s best chauffeurs. “That’s a huge plus for sprint cars with the way the economy is,” Brian says of the purse being offered. “It’s not going to be easy with a lot of good cars there. Terry McCarl, Billy Alley, Jack Dover, Wayne Johnson and about 45 other guys will be there to win. I think we’re up for the challenge, and we’ll be preparing this week to go for the win.”
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