Brian Brown – Good Runs with WoO/ASCS!
(Bill W) April 30, 2012 – The Brian Brown Racing Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 had a good weekend running with both the World of Outlaws and the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series. Both events at Knoxville (IA) Raceway and the Salina (OK) High Banks saw the Grain Valley, Missouri driver in contention to win. This weekend, he plans on 360 action in Minnesota and Missouri.
It was a last minute decision on Friday to run with the ASCS series in Salina. “We had planned on Eagle (Raceway in Nebraska with the WoO), but they canceled,” says Brian. “That gave us the opportunity to go to Salina. We weren’t very good hot lapping. We changed our package a little bit in the heat, and it worked pretty well for us (8th to 3rd). We were good, but not as good as we thought we could be.”
The finish qualified Brian for a redraw that saw him post outside of row four in the feature. “We ran well with the Outlaws there last year, so we went back to our notes a little bit,” he says. “We were able to get to fifth pretty quickly there. We had to work hard to get by (Matt) Covington. Then when we got to fourth, we were able to get by (Mike) Goodman and chase down Jack (Dover).”
The caution came out with Brian running third. “It went green about 15-18 laps,” he says. “There for a while, we could hardly see (leader) Wayne (Johnson). In a couple of laps, we were reeling him in and I thought things were going to get pretty good. Then the yellow came out. That gave Wayne open track, and we were able to slide by Jack for second.”
The pursuit of Johnson fell short with a solid second place finish. “I felt we were good enough to win at the end of the race,” says Brian. “Wayne had the track position, and he did what he had to do to win it. I felt we were as good as we’ve been with the ASCS National tour in recent memory.”
The WoO visited Knoxville on Saturday, and Brian was ready. Coming out 36th in a field of 42, he still registered the eighth quick time of the night. “We were excited to get there,” he says of Knoxville. “With the Outlaws in town, there is a lot of hype. We set the standard in hot laps, and the track was still in pretty good shape for us in qualifying. The car and motor we have right now are flawless.”
Starting third in his heat, Brian would come home second behind Sammy Swindell and qualify for the Dash. “We were able to sneak by Lynton (Jeffrey) there on the first lap,” he says. “I really believe we were better than Sammy in the heat there. The more I would pull up on him, the more tight I got, so I kind of just rolled there in second. It was a good feeling.”
The Dash draw saw Brian start second. He won going away. “We got the lucky draw,” he says. “This Outlaw deal is about putting yourself in position and getting a little luck, and luck was on our side. At that point, we were just trying not to screw it up.”
Starting on the pole of the 25-lap main event, Brian shot out to an early lead. “I really feel like we had a car capable of winning, but I don’t feel I was doing my job as far as driving-wise,” he admits. “Most of the time, you go out and run as hard as you can every lap, but with these tires, you have to take care of them a little bit. I don’t feel I did enough of that to win the race.”
He would lead the first 14 laps, before Swindell got by in traffic. “Once I got out front and into traffic, I couldn’t run as well as I wanted to,” says Brian, who had a blistered left rear tire. “That gave Sammy an opportunity and he got by. I almost got back by him at one point, and I felt good about our chances. Then the yellow came out.”
The veteran Swindell made a cagey move on the restart. “On the double-file start, I got a good run,” says Brian. “I really felt he was going to go to the top, but he chose to go to the middle and I was already committed. That gave Craig (Dollansky) a run at us on the backstretch. I believe with our blistered tires that we lost a lot of air pressure during the caution.”
At the checkers, he would settle for a solid fourth. “I was in good company with Sammy, Craig and Joey Saldana (in front),” says Brian. “We have until August (Knoxville Nationals) to get this figured out. The main thing is, our car is fast enough to win…I just have to do my part and we have three months to figure that out. I want to give us a chance to win that race in August.”
Brian plans on competing at the Jackson (MN) Speedway Spring Nationals on Friday, and the ASCS-Warrior show at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri on Saturday. “Van Wyhe Livestock and Folkens Brothers Trucking put up some big money and we want to win it,” he says of Jackson, which will pay $5,000 to win. “They do a great job promoting that race, and we’ve had some success there. Impact Signs Awnings and Wraps are putting on the ASCS-Warrior show in Wheatland, on Saturday, and we want to represent them well. We were able to win that one last year, and we’d like to do it again.”
There is much excitement surrounding the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 racing team right now. “I’m really excited about the team right now,” says Brian. “I think it’s the best we’ve ever been. Chad (Morgan) and Andy (Anderson) are giving us a good car every time we hit the track. That’s a good sign for me as far as confidence. I think we have more top fives at this point than we’ve ever had.”
Category: Brian Brown, Driver Updates, News
