By Bill W
August 21, 2012 – Brian Brown was racing with Donny Schatz for the lead for second time in five days. This time, it was at the Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska with the World of Outlaws. A nice fourth place finish was the result. A two-night stint for the ASCS-Warrior series at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas saw second and third place finishes before a pair of nasty incidents at the Missouri State Fair Speedway halted action on Sunday night.
Fifteen year old Jordan Creason was taken by life-flight after a wicked crash in his heat race and remains in critical condition. A second incident saw a car enter the pits at racing speed, injuring five others. “It was a rough one,” says Brian of Sunday night. “Starting out with Jordan having his wreck and being life-flighted out, and then the incident in the ‘Battle of the Badges’ race where someone came into the pit area and hitting four or five people. Thank goodness none of those people’s injuries in the pits was life threatening. We need to keep praying for Jordan. He has a long road ahead of him. I think they did the right thing by canceling. No one was in the mood for racing after what happened. I was 100% behind what they did.”
A week ago, Brian met the WoO at a track that he is familiar with. He qualified third quick. “That’s been one of our strengths all year long thanks to Garrett Racing Engines,” he says. “We went out pretty late, and we were still one of the faster ones…third quick. That’s something we’re really proud of. Anytime you race with the World of Outlaws or at Knoxville, that’s really important.”
After a fourth place finish, Brian would finish up front in the Dash. “We just had to finish it to be in the Dash,” he says of the heat. “We were able to have a good race with (Donny) Schatz for a couple laps in the Dash. Going into the feature, we felt like we were a little loose coming off the corner, so we thought about making a couple changes.”
That changed with track prep changes. “They ended up reworking the track, and we didn’t make many (changes), and then it blew off a little faster than we thought it would,” says Brian. “We were able to lead the first two or three laps before Schatz got us and it went non-stop. You know you are having a pretty good season when you are disappointed about finishing fourth with the Outlaws, but that’s kind of where we are at. We feel like we can beat them. We need to beat them.”
The Grain Valley, Missouri driver headed to Lakeside Friday and Saturday. “We didn’t draw too well (starting 7th in his heat),” says Brian. “We were able to get up to third. We were able to get by JD Johnson for second, and I went through one and two and he got into the back of us a little bit. It took out our left rear tire and tore him up. We had to go to the work area, and the guys worked hard. We were able to get back up to fourth. I felt at that point, we had the fastest car there.”
Starting eighth in the feature, Brian took the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 to second. “We were able to get up to second,” he says. “We got to Jack (Dover) and I felt like we were a little better. Then we had a red flag, and his crew told him where I was running. It was over after that. He moved where I was running, and we were about the same speed. I tried a couple of sliders, but I really wasn’t close enough to do any damage.”
Brian won his heat in Saturday’s finale. “It was kind of heavy from the rains, so it was good to start up front,” he says. “I drew the six for the feature, and our work was cut out for us.”
After starting sixth in the feature, Brian drove to a third place finish. “Everyone was pretty much the same speed,” he says. “Danny (Lasoski) and (Don) Droud were good and started up front. In traffic, we thought we were better, but I got hung up behind a lapped car, and the yellow came out. When the track is that good and they have clean air, there’s not much you can do with two veterans like that.”
Though the week went without victory, the podium finishes keep racking up. The team will head to Season Championship night at the Knoxville Raceway Saturday. “I think we have fourteen second place finishes this year and a lot more third place finishes,” says Brian. “Even though the wins aren’t there, in my mind, we are having a breakout year.”
Web site info
For up to date information on Brian Brown Racing visit www.BrianBrownRacing.com
Casey’s: www.caseys.com
FVP: www.fvpparts.com
Brian’s Q&A
Kris Sheridan asks: You get around Lakeside well. Why is that?
Brian answers: It’s kind of along the lines of Knoxville and I-80. Bigger half-miles that you need to keep the car nice and straight. It’s kind of what I grew up on, and Lakeside is no different. It’s a good track for winged sprint car racing, and hopefully, Mark Olsen and the people there had a good enough crowd to have us back.
Got a question for Brian? Send it to us at sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, and we may answer it in this section! Put “? for Brian” in your subject line.
Brown’s Bits
In 56 events this season, Brian has posted 8 wins (14%), 13 seconds (23%), 7 thirds (13%) and 34 total top fives (61%).
About Casey’s General Stores
Casey’s General Stores is a Fortune-500 company (NASDAQ CASY) operating nearly 1700 convenience stores in 11 states through the Midwest. Known for its “Homemade-To-Go” pizza, sandwiches, donuts and bakery items, Casey’s strives to consistently deliver quality gas, fresh kitchen-prepared food, clean environments and friendly service at every retail location. Casey’s is currently the 12th largest c-store chain and sixth largest pizza chain in the United States.
About FVP
We are very excited to introduce our new line of automotive chemicals, oils and fluids to our product offering. These new products will be available at many retailers across the country. We continue to offer a full line of high quality oil, air, cabin air and fuel filters, plus a complete line of high quality batteries for multiple applications including cars, trucks, SUV’s, commercial and other specialty vehicles. All products are made to OE manufacturer fitment specifications. FVP products are engineered to provide our customers with quality products that are equal or superior in performance to the major national brands at a competitive price. To learn more about our FVP products or to find out where you can have FVP products installed in your vehicle, visit us at www.FVPparts.com! FVP…The Confident Solution
SPLASH
In addition to our line of seasonal safety products, we are very excited to introduce a full line of SPLASH Wiper Blades. Our SafeView Performance Blades fit 95% of the vehicles on the road with quick and easy installation for everyone. The AccuVision Beam Blade offers memory curve steel, which provides uniform pressure for a clear wipe, without the streaks. Look for these great new SPLASH products! Whether it’s keeping your windshield clean or free of ice, protecting your RV, boat or pool from freezing in the winter, or your sidewalk safe to walk on, SPLASH Products are what you need! Check out our new SPLASH website at www.SPLASHWash.com! SPLASH…SEE SAFELY!
Marketing Partner of the Week – Champion Racing Lubricants (Champion Racing 20W50 Motor Oil)
Visit Champion’s new web page at www.ChampionsUseChampion.com! Champion Racing 20W50 Motor Oil is the one that started it all by beating the competition in providing more horsepower, torque, and anti-wear additives than many of the more well known brands of racing oil. Champion Racing 20W50’s premium ZDDP anti-wear protection is among the highest in the industry. Champion’s exclusive shear stabilizer delivers better film strength and piston ring seal at peak temperatures. Champion Racing 20W50 also delivers more foot-pounds of torque with higher compression than any competitor’s brands.
Benefits include:
• Provides exceptional low coefficient of friction
• Offers film strength and viscosity stability of thicker mono-grades at higher temperatures
• Provides upper cylinder anti-wear protection
• Increases high-temp oil pressure and compression
• Formulated for flat tappet, roll over cams and bearings in turbo and super-charged racing engines
• Lowers engine temperature
• Compatible with petroleum and other synthetics
Associate Marketing Partner of the Week – Brown & Miller Racing Solutions
Brian says – “We feel John Harper and the folks at Brown and Miller have the lightest weight, strongest, best looking lines out there. We use them for all our fuel, wing and motor lines. We’ve had no issues at all, and we’ve been using them since 2008.”
Brown & Miller’s lightweight range of hose satisfies virtually every racing application and their fittings are designed for safety, reliability and optimum weight saving. With an industry standard ProGold convoluted hose system, Smoothbore hose and Adaptor ranges, they have the complete system. To further complement these products, they can also provide custom engineered fittings designed to optimize hose installations where standard fittings may not be suitable. With outlets world wide, there is no excuse to settle for second best! At Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, they maintain the simple philosophy that when our parts are on your racecar, they are a part of your team. Visit them on the web at www.BMRS.net!
Brian Brown Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, FVP, Searsboro Telephone Company, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps / impact4800.com, Champion Brands, SPLASH, Ditzfeld Transfer, Maxim Racing, Smiley’s Racing Products, Weld Wheels, Housby Trucks, www.RateWin.com, Arctic Cat, K&N Filters, Hostiowa.net, FSR Race Products, TI64, Fuel-Safe Tanks, Awesome Racewear, Wolfe Eye Clinic, Bell Helmets, CP Pistons, Carrillo Rods, Engler Machine, Vortex Wings, Penray, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Butler Built Seats, AkzoNobel Sikkens, AllDayParts.com, Jack Links, Rockstar, Deli Express, Snap-On Tools, Rod End Supply, KSE Racing Products, Winters Performance Products, Santomauro Racing Products, Cometic Gaskets, Kaeding Performance, Donovan, Magtech, ISC Racers Tape, Kinsler, Racing Optics, Mothers Wax, Don’s Truck Wash, Gardner Farms, Hoosier Tires, GoPro, XYZ Machining, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Peterson Fluid System, Red Devil Brakes, Schoenfeld Headers, and WSIB Insurance for all their support!
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