By Lonnie Wheatley
GREENWOOD, Neb. (July 1, 2011) – Friday night’s Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest event at I-80 Speedway netted a familiar result, as Brian Brown made his way to victory lane in the Sprint Car portion of the track’s Midwest Tri-Fecta Challenge.
The Grain Valley, MO, racer had to work for the $3,000 victory though, battling past Wayne Johnson at the midway point en route to his fourth overall ASCS Regional win of the year and third in Midwest action aboard the Ostrich-powered FVP No. 21 Maxim.
“Jack Dover was telling people on Facebook this week to come out and see what he was going to do to me at McCool Junction and I-80, you don’t poke your finger in the rattlesnake’s cage,” Brown commented afterward. “That got me pretty amped up.”
While Dover, the recent Eagle Nationals champion, struggled and wasn’t a factor on Friday night after a “B” Main encounter with the retaining wall that resulted in front end damage, Brown’s chief pair of rivals turned out to be Oklahoma City native Wayne Johnson and Lincoln, Nebraska’s Billy Alley.
With Brown, winner of nine previous ASCS Midwest features at I-80 Speedway and two of three in 2011, taking the green flag outside the front row, it was pole starter Johnson gunning into the early lead with third-starter Alley sliding into second on the opening circuit.
As Johnson and Alley led the way on the low side, Brown chased on the top side of the 4/10-mile dirt oval until a caution flew after six rounds for Bryan Gossel’s turn three spin.
Brown got the upper portion of the track working soon after action resumed, retaking second from Alley on the ninth circuit and turning up the heat on Johnson for the point as traffic came into play.
Brown surged past Johnson for the point on the 13th circuit with Alley in the lead mix as well, with the caution flying on the 14th round when Don Droud, Jr., came to a stop in turn two.
Encountering traffic without issue as the final dozen circuits ran off in non-stop fashion, Brown cruised to an ASCS Midwest career-best 20th feature win with Johnson holding off Alley for runner-up honors.
Behind the lead trio, Jordan Boston held off eighth-starter Danny Lasoski for fourth, with tenth-starter Shane Stewart in sixth. Chad Humston was seventh, with Lee Grosz, Logan Forler and Trevor Grossenbacher completing the top ten.
Brown, Lasoski, Humston and Grosz topped heat race action for the 32-car field, with Ryan Anderson winning the 12-lap “B” “Main.
Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest Results from I-80 Speedway:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 38-Wayne Johnson, 3. 4-Jordan Boston, 4. 53-Jack Dover, 5. 31-Mark Pace, 6. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 7. 47-Brandt O’Banion, 8. 3-Julee Jamison.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 33-Danny Lasoski, 2. 18-Ryan Roberts, 3. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 4. 2L-Logan Forler, 5. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 6. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 7. 6g-Bryan Gossel. DNS: 20k-Thomas Kennedy.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1m-Chad Humston, 2. 7k-Robby Wolfgang, 3. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 4. 9m-Ricky Montgomery, 5. 12-Tyler Drueke, 6. 21x-Ryan Kitchen, 7. 0-Jeff Osborn, 8. 6-Nick Bryan.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 4j-Lee Grosz, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 24a-Scott Winters, 4. 22-Billy Alley, 5. 5-Dave Glennon, 6. 82-Jason Danley, 7. 17-Gage Dorr, 8. 6b-Frank Sheridan.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 2. 31-Mark Pace, 3. 82-Jason Danley, 4. 17-Gage Dorr, 5. 44-Doug Lovegrove, 6. 12-Tyler Drueke, 7. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 8. 21x-Ryan Kitchen, 9. 5-Dave Glennon, 10. 47-Brandt O’Banion, 11. 3-Julee Jamison, 12. 0-Jeff Osborn, 13. 6b-Frank Sheridan, 14. 53-Jack Dover, 15. 6-Nick Bryan. DNS: 20k-Thomas Kennedy.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 38-Wayne Johnson, 3. 22-Billy Alley, 4. 4-Jordan Boston, 5. 33-Danny Lasoski, 6. 57-Shane Stewart, 7. 1m-Chad Humston, 8. 4j-Lee Grosz, 9. 2L-Logan Forler, 10. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 11. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 12. 24a-Scott Winters, 13. 18-Ryan Roberts, 14. 82-Jason Danley, 15. 31-Mark Pace, 16. 12-Tyler Drueke, 17. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 18. 17-Gage Dorr, 19. 21x-Ryan Kitchen, 20. 7k-Robby Wolfgang, 21. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 22. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 23. 9m-Ricky Montgomery (DNS), 24. 44-Doug Lovegrove (DNS).
Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest Points (Top Ten): 1. Wayne Johnson 1,059, 2. Brian Brown 992, 3. Jack Dover 971, 4. Jordan Boston 843, 5. Bryan Gossel 792, 6. Don Droud, Jr. 791, 7. Lee Grosz 773, 8. Danny Lasoski 768, 9. Ryan Roberts 693, 10. Jason Danley 661.