By Lonnie Wheatley
GREENWOOD, Neb. (July 2, 2010) – Missouri’s Brian Brown bagged his first American Sprint Car Series Midwest win of the year by racing to victory lane in Friday night’s 25-lap feature atop Nebraska Raceway Park’s 4/10-mile I-80 Speedway dirt oval.
Brown raced into the lead on the top side of turns one and two on the fifth round and lapped up to sixth place by the time the checkered flag flew upon the FVP No. 21 Maxim with nearly a half lap advantage over runner-up Bronson Maeschen.
While it took until the fifth circuit for Brown to take the lead away from Patrick Bourke after starting fifth, the pre-race decision made from the infield pit area to run the top-side of the track proved to be the night’s race winning move.
“I think I was the only one up there,” Brown commented afterward. “I missed the entry into one a time or two and that messed me up getting off of two, the cushion piled up there and I got into it pretty hard and nearly into the wall.”
Aside from that, Brown’s 13th career ASCS Midwest triumph and sixth at I-80 Speedway came with little difficulty.
“We were racing with heavy hearts tonight, we lost a good friend in Judy Wignall this week so I’m glad we could win this one for her.”
The feature event got under way with past ASCS Rocky Mountain champion Bourke gunning into the lead from the pole position. While the likes of Maeschen, Eric Lutz, Don Droud, Jr., and Jordan Boston gave chase on the low side, Brown went to the upper shelf immediately and took the top spot on the fifth round.
Following the race’s only interruption a lap later when Toby Chapman turned over in turn two after getting out of shape and collecting Bryan Gossel, Brown went to work and checked out on the field.
Brown sliced through lapped traffic over the final portion of the race, putting a lap on seventh-runner and current ASCS Midwest points leader Jack Dover in the final pair of corners.
Maeschen took the runner-up slot away from Lutz at the midway point and held it to the line, while Chad Humston made some late moves through the middle of the track to claim the show position.
Lutz crossed the stripe fourth, with Jordan Boston rounding out the top five. Jason Danley was the final car on the lead lap in sixth, with 17th-starter Dover, 14th-starter Lee Grosz, Droud, Jr., and Bourke completing the top ten.
Humston, Brown and Ryan Roberts topped heat race action. Roberts was unable to fire for the green flag in the main event.
ASCS Midwest Region Results from I-80 Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1m-Chad Humston, 2. 93-Patrick Bourke, 3. 1-Bronson Maeschen, 4. 12-Tyler Drueke, 5. 82-Jason Danley, 6. 32-Toby Chapman, 7. 17-Gage Dorr.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 3. 5h-Justyn Cox, 4. 4j-Lee Grosz, 5. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 6. 24a-Jack Dover, 7. 32k-Greg Valentine.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ryan Roberts, 2. 4-Jordan Boston, 3. 5-Eric Lutz, 4. 71-Bob Schaeffer, 5. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 6. 6g-Bryan Gossel.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 1-Bronson Maeschen, 3. 1m-Chad Humston, 4. 5-Eric Lutz, 5. 4-Jordan Boston, 6. 82-Jason Danley, 7. 24a-Jack Dover, 8. 4j-Lee Grosz, 9. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 10. 93-Patrick Bourke, 11. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 12. 5h-Justyn Cox, 13. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 14. 71-Bob Schaeffer, 15. 12-Tyler Drueke, 16. 17-Gage Dorr, 17. 32k-Greg Valentine, 18. 32-Toby Chapman, 19. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 20. 18-Ryan Roberts (DNS).
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jack Dover 1,302, 2. Eric Lutz 1,179, 3. Doug Lovegrove 1,010, 4. Jason Danley 871, 5. Brian Brown 764, 6. Chad Humston 757, 7. Billy Alley 750, 8. Tyler Drueke 712, 9. Lee Grosz 705, 10. Ryan Roberts 702.