From Lonnie Wheatley
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (September 10, 2010) – Brian Brown survived a last-lap Jack Dover bid for the top spot in Friday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Midwest Region debut at Central Missouri Speedway to escape with his sixth ASCS Midwest win of the year and seventh overall Regional score of 2010.
With Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brown in control most of the way, Nebraska’s Dover closed the gap in the final handful of laps and slid into the lead on the final circuit only to have Brown successfully counter the move to secure another win aboard the FVP No. 21 Maxim.
“I never even saw him coming. Wow, what a slide job!” Brown exclaimed in victory lane after beating the 20-year-old Dover to the stripe. Brown went on to say that, “Short tracks like this aren’t generally my forte, but my guys gave me a great car and it’s just really nice to get one this close to home.”
After plucking the pole position in the redraw, Brown outgunned fellow front row starter Kyle Hirst in the Van Dyke-owned Lucas Oil No. 5h A.R.T. and was in command throughout the vast majority of the main event that was interrupted by just one caution when Eric Schrock slipped off the top of turn four after 15 laps.
While California shoe Hirst played the role of primary chaser much of the way even after traffic came into play after just a half-dozen laps around the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval, fifth-starting Dover took third away from Cody Baker by the midway point and then disposed of Hirst for second on the 20th round.
With the final circuits clicking off, Dover closed the gap on Brown and then slid into the lead entering turn one on the final circuit aboard the Shaver-powered 3D Auto Transport No. 53 Eagle.
Brown dove back under Dover exiting turn two in precise fashion however and held command over the final pair of corners to secure the win over Dover, with Hirst taking the show position.
Baker, the 2009 Lake Ozark Speedway track champion, posted his best career ASCS finish by crossing the stripe in fourth, with Austin Alumbaugh rounding out the top five.
Four-time Winged Outlaw Warriors champion Randy Martin was sixth, with WOW title contenders J. Kinder, 14th-starter Tyler Blank and Jonathan Cornell next across the line. Tony Bruce, Jr., advanced from “B” Main action to complete the top ten after starting 15th.
Brown, Jon Corbin, Kinder and Josh Fisher topped heat race action for the 26-car field, with Taylor Walton winning the 12-lap “B” Main.
ASCS Midwest Region Results from Central Missouri Speedway:
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 3. 53-Jack Dover, 4. 75-Tyler Blank, 5. 7-Eric Schrock, 6. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 7. 44-Doug Lovegrove.
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 44x-Jon Corbin, 2. 9m-Cody Baker, 3. 165-Haley Arnold, 4. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 5. 19s-Steven Cross, 6. 9c-Tony Crank, 7. 14a-Andrew Turley.
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 88-J. Kinder, 2. 14-Randy Martin, 3. 93-Taylor Walton, 4. 72-Curtis Boyer, 5. 3p-Rusty Potter, 6. 5-Eric Lutz.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 86-Josh Fisher, 2. 5h-Kyle Hirst, 3. 86x-Mike Trent, 4. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 5. 21T-Eric Todd, 6. 5m-Miranda Arnold.
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 93-Taylor Walton, 2. 75-Tyler Blank, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 165-Haley Arnold, 5. 3p-Rusty Potter, 6. 5-Eric Lutz, 7. 72-Curtis Boyer, 8. 7-Eric Schrock, 9. 21T-Eric Todd, 10. 9c-Tony Crank, 11. 19s-Steven Cross, 12. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 13. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 14. 14a-Andrew Turley.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 5h-Kyle Hirst, 4. 9m-Cody Baker, 5. 33-Austin Alumbaugh, 6. 14-Randy Martin, 7. 88-J. Kinder, 8. 75-Tyler Blank, 9. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 10. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 11. 86x-Mike Trent, 12. 86-Josh Fisher, 13. 7-Eric Schrock, 14. 44x-Jon Corbin, 15. 5-Eric Lutz, 16. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 17. 72-Curtis Boyer, 18. 165-Haley Arnold, 19. 3p-Rusty Potter, 20. 93-Taylor Walton.
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Eric Lutz 1,986, 2. Doug Lovegrove 1,737, 3. Jack Dover 1,659, 4. Brian Brown 1,364, 5. Lee Grosz 1,220, 6. (tie) Jason Danley and Tyler Drueke 1,157, 8. Gage Dorr 1,095, 9. Chad Humston 1,041, 10. Ryan Roberts 922.