Brian Brown Wins Wild Front Row Challenge

Brian Brown in victory lane at the Front Row Challenge. - Mike Campbell Photo
Brian Brown in victory lane at the Front Row Challenge. – Mike Campbell Photo

From Bill W

Oskaloosa, IA — (August 5, 2013) — Brian Brown emerged victorious in a wild feature event at the 17th Annual Musco Sports Lighting Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa Monday night.  The win came aboard the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 and paid the Grain Valley, Missouri driver $3,000.

 

Tasker Phillips started on the pole of the 30-lapper after turning down the Front Row Challenge offered him for winning the “King of the Hill” Match race.  Runner-up Tony Bruce Jr. accepted the challenge after Terry McCarl agreed to pay him $85 per car passed.

 

Kevin Swindell came to a stop before a lap could be completed in the main event, setting up a complete restart.  Phillips shot out to the early lead over Jonathan Cornell, Tony Shilling and Tony Stewart.  Cornell’s strong second place run went up in smoke on lap six, and Mike Houseman Jr. brought a yellow flag when he stopped with nine laps in the books.

 

A third caution for a stopped Scott Winters with twelve laps down, set up a restart that saw Phillips leading Shilling, Stewart, Brian Brown and Jason Johnson.  Stewart shot by Shilling into second on lap sixteen, and tracked down Phillips.

 

Stewart took advantage of a Phillips bobble, and shot to the point to complete lap 22.  He pulled away from the field at that point and appeared on the road to victory.  That came to an end on lap 25, when Josh Higday contacted an infield tire and destroyed his car.  Stewart, Phillips and Shilling were unable to avoid the crash.

 

Stewart got the worst end of the incident, flipping his sprinter.  He was taken to the hospital for observation.  Only Phillips would rejoin the field at the tail.

 

Brown assumed the lead, with Kyle Larson, Swindell back from the tail, Brandon Wimmer, Tim Crawley and Bruce in tow.  Brown would streak to the win ahead of hard-charger Larson, Swindell, Wimmer and Bruce.

 

Bruce’s top five earned him several contingencies in addition to $1,615 in “passing money”.  For his top ten finish, he received Butlerbuilt seat inserts.  For finishing in the top seven, he received a HRP top wing, and for finishing fifth, he received a full set of Hoosier tires.

 

Crawley finished sixth, and Tyler Drueke, Johnny Herrera, Randy Martin and Brooke Tatnell rounded out the top ten.  Shilling, Brown, Higday, Crawley, Phillips and Randy Martin won heat races, and received contingencies from HRP and Vortex Wings, Smiley’s Racing Products, DriverWebsites.com, Snowplow Snow Shovels and Schoenfeld Headers.

 

As “King of the Hill” winner, Phillips received a left rear Hoosier tire and $500 from Brown & Miller Racing Solutions.  Justyn Cox and Winters won the B mains.  Russ Hall and Jeff Swindell received $50 cash from John Lemon for being the first non-qualifiers.

 

17th Annual Musco Sports Lighting Front Row Challenge Results

 

A main (started), 30 laps: 1. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (5) 2. 1K, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (18) 3. 71, Kevin Swindell, Germantown, TN (12) 4. 9w, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (8) 5. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS (24) 6. 4c, Tim Crawley, Benton, AR (6) 7. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (7) 8. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (22) 9. 14M, Randy Martin, California, MO (10) 10. 9x, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (19) 11. 17w, Cole Wood, Auburn, CA (15) 12. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (9) 13. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (1) 14. 14, Tony Stewart, Rushville, IN (3) 15. 22, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (4) 16. 24, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (11) 17. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (13) 18. 1A, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (20) 19. 82, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (16) 20. 68, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (23) 21. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (2) 22. o5, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO (21) 23. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (14) 24. 5H, Justyn Cox, Clarksburg, CA (17). Lap Leaders: Phillips 1-21, Stewart 22-25, Brown 26-30. Hard-charger: Larson.

 

Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Tony Shilling (2*) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. (4*) 3. Jonathan Cornell (6*) 4. 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (1) 5. 21K, Lou Kennedy Jr., Winnipeg, MB, Can. (3) 6. Johnny Herrera (7) 7. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA (9) 8. 01, Paul Morris, Gold Coast, QLD, Aust. (8) 9. 17x, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (5)

 

Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Brian Brown (2*) 2. Lee Grosz (1*) 3. Jason Johnson (6*) 4. 11, Roger Crockett, Medford, OR (3) 5. Kyle Larson (7) 6. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (5) 7. 25M, Kaley Engstrom, Rome, TX (4) 8. 7K, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (8) 9. Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD (9)

 

Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Josh Higday (1*) 2. Kevin Swindell (2*) 3. Scott Winters (3*) 4. Tony Stewart (9*) 5. Mike Houseman Jr. (4) 6. 17J, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (6) 7. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (5) 8. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (7) 9. 2L, Logan Forler, Lake Havasu City, AZ (8)

 

Heat four (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Tim Crawley (5*) 2. Tyler Drueke (6*) 3. 4x, Shawn Petersen, Irving, TX (3) 4. Nate Van Haaften (7*) 5. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (1) 6. 31B, Christopher Bell, Norman, OK (2) 7. 93L, Derrik Lusk, Jackson, MN (4) DNS – 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA

 

Heat five (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Tasker Phillips (2*) 2. Brooke Tatnell (1) 3. Brandon Wimmer (6*) 4. 17, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (4) 5. Brad Loyet (7) 6. 74x, Josh Hodges, Tijeras, NM (3) 7. 14s, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (5) 8. 29, Brandon Hahn, Tulsa, OK (8)

 

Heat six (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Randy Martin (1*) 2. Cole Wood (2*) 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4) 4. Justyn Cox (6) 5. 93, Dustin Morgan, Broken Arrow, OK (3) 6. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (5) 7. 1x, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (7) 8. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (8)

 

“King of the Hill” Match Race, 2 laps:

 

Round one: Jonathan Cornell over Tim Crawley, Tasker Phillips over Brian Brown, Tony Bruce Jr. over Tyler Drueke, Tony Stewart over Tony Shilling

 

Round two: Tasker Phillips over Jonathan Cornell, Tony Bruce Jr. over Tony Stewart

 

Final: Tasker Phillips over Tony Bruce Jr.

 

B main #1 (started), 12 laps: 1. Justyn Cox (2) 2. Brooke Tatnell (1) 3. Brad Loyet (4) 4. Mike Houseman Jr. (6) / 5. Russ Hall (8) 6. Roger Crockett (5) 7. Chris Martin (10) 8. Shawn Petersen (3) 9. Lou Kennedy Jr. (7) 10. Josh Baughman (9) 11. Kaley Engstrom (11) 12. Paul Morris (12) 13. Kevin Ingle (13) DNS – Christopher Bell, Jamie Ball, Brandon Hahn, Logan Forler, Matt Covington

 

B main #2 (started), 12 laps: 1. Scott Winters (2) 2. Kyle Larson (3) 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1) 4. Johnny Herrera (4) / 5. Jeff Swindell (9) 6. Jack Dover (14) 7. Josh Hodges (6) 8. Parker Price-Miller (5) 9. Jarrod Schneiderman (8) 10. Don Droud Jr. (11) 11. Dustin Selvage (10) 12. Joe Beaver (13) 13. Dustin Morgan (7) 14. Ryan Bickett (12) 15. Seth Bergman (15) DNS – Blake Hahn, Derrik Lusk