From Bill W
March 25, 2013 – Few drivers if any will compete in California and Kansas in back to back nights this weekend, but Brian Brown will. He’ll continue his California swing with the World of Outlaws at Merced Speedway Friday, and fly back and compete in the $5,000 to win NCRA opener at 81 Speedway in Wichita on Saturday. Last weekend, Brian made both California feature fields in Stockton and Chico.
How was the Outlaws first trip to Stockton 99 Raceway on Friday?
What a crowd! I’ve been going to races since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and that was the biggest single-day crowd I think I’ve seen in my life! If I had to guess, I’d say there was between 12-15,000 people there. It’s great for them, and great for the sport. It was great to introduce the World of Outlaws to what obviously, was a lot of new fans. Congrats to the track and the Outlaws.
You were fifth quick amongst a stout field.
We were able to qualify well. We went out pretty late. Qualifying has really been our biggest asset on this West Coast trip. It has saved us from a lot of grief. Fifth isn’t the best place to be in a field that big. To have the best shot at the Dash, you want to be first or second, or ninth through sixteenth.
Though you didn’t make the Dash, you ran fourth in your heat and started 12th in the feature.
We had a good run going. We bounced between eighth and eleventh the whole race long really. On the last double-file restart, we lined up eleventh. I tried to make something happen on the outside and I didn’t get a good run into one. I hooked the cushion. That got us up on two wheels and over the bank. It was green, white, checker after that and we ended up nineteenth.
That had to be disappointing.
It’s a little frustrating. We’ve been fast at different times throughout the night. We were good in qualifying and in the heat. We just didn’t get the breaks we needed to get us in clean air. Clean air is really important now with these tires. We were just off a little bit.
You qualified 16th at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico on Saturday.
I was nervous going out as late as we did. I think last year there were 38 cars, and we went out 40th! We definitely wanted to improve on last year. We were looking forward to getting to Chico. We did well this time for when we went out. For us to qualify that well on that technical a track shows where our program is headed.
Starting up front, you finished second in the heat which put you in the Dash.
We cut some really good laps in the heat. We’ve been making some improvements in our car on the bullrings to make it a little bit better. It was rotating really well.
As I recall, the track was one-lane last year at Chico.
The track just kept getting better and better (Saturday). It was at its best in the Dash. I think Tony (Stewart) set the quickest lap of the night in the Dash.
You started tenth in the feature, but ended up with a DNF. What happened?
We got a pretty good start. A double-file restart got us again. I started on top, and we were up to seventh going down the backstretch. I just couldn’t get back in line around the bottom. It was important to be down there the first part of the race. I hung out on the outside and got balled up on the cushion in one and two and lost a few spots. I could never get back down. By the time I did, we were 18th or 20th. I got balled up again, and we decided to call it a night.
The Outlaws head to Merced Speedway this weekend.
We’re looking forward to Merced on Friday. I’ve heard a lot about it. I’ve heard it’s the smallest track the Outlaws run on, so it should be interesting. Hopefully, we’ll get qualified and put ourselves in position get a finish up front out here.
You’ve got something set up for Wichita on Saturday, don’t you?
My crew chief, Chad Morgan, and I will be flying back Saturday to run Wichita. We’ll be running the Casey’s General Stores/FVP/Searsboro Telephone Company #21 for Ty Williams. I’m thankful that Ty will let us run our scheme on his car, and we hope to win $5,000 in Wichita for him!
Follow Brian on the Web, Twitter and Facebook!
Follow Brian at his website located at www.BrianBrownRacing.com!
Also keep up with FVP, Casey’s and Brian on Facebook and Twitter at the following links…
Twitter Links – @BrianBrown21, @FVPRacing, @CaseysGenStores
Facebook Links
Brian Brown Racing – www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-
Casey’s General Stores – www.facebook.com/pages/Caseys-
FVP Racing – http://www.facebook.com/
Other Web site info
Casey’s: www.caseys.com
FVP: www.fvpparts.com
Brown’s Bits
Brian moved into the top ten in career 410 feature wins at Knoxville last summer. His 21 wins tie him for tenth with Eddie Leavitt. Danny Lasoski (98) leads the all-time list, followed by Doug Wolfgang (60), Steve Kinser (58), Terry McCarl (53), Sammy Swindell (48), Earl Wagner (43), Randy Smith (35), Jerry Blundy (34) and Skip Jackson (25).