By Bill W
May 6, 2013 – It wasn’t the plan, but with Knoxville Raceway weathered out, the Brian Brown Racing Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team headed to the famed Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio for two nights with the World of Outlaws last weekend. The result was a solid sixth place run on Friday, and an even better showing on Saturday. Brian led most of the way before finishing second. This weekend, he’ll take on the WoO again at ELKO Speedway in New Market, Minnesota and at Knoxville.
This gave you some track time before July’s King’s Royal, didn’t it?
Every time I hit that track, I get more and more comfortable. It really fits my driving style. We were fourth quick, thanks to Charlie Garrett supplying us with some great engines. Eldora is definitely a horsepower track.
Friday night, both nights I guess, you were fourth quick. Then you guaranteed a Dash spot by driving from fourth to second in the heat.
Fourth quick is not ideal, because you have to really race your way into the Dash. We were able to go from fourth to second in the heat, which got us there. It’s good to know you aren’t just qualifying well, but racing well. It was good to be one of the few cars passing in the heats.
You ran from fifth to fourth in the Dash. What kind of changes did you make on the car for the feature?
The Maxim was handling well all night. We didn’t make many adjustments. Maybe we should have adjusted a little more for the feature. We didn’t get going well on the original start, and we fell back to seventh or eighth.
Still, you were able to get back into the top five for a while.
We were able to get back into fourth on a restart. Then we had another one with about ten to go, and we just had a little trouble getting going on the restarts all night really. We lost two or three spots and ended up sixth. To still be in the hunt was good. If we were better on the restarts, and had the car a little better, I think we had a top three car all night long.
What did you do differently for Saturday night?
Chad Morgan, my crew chief, and Charlie Garrett, my engine builder worked all day Saturday on the engines, trying to get them to take off a little better. They really worked hard. I feel I have the best crew chief and the best engine builder in the country. That helped us in qualifying and in the heat again.
You duplicated your efforts, qualifying fourth quick and running second in the heat. This time you won the Dash after starting in the second row.
It’s a good feeling to know that you don’t race with these guys a lot, and you see this track a lot less than they do, and you can still be up front in a position to win the race.
You shot out to the lead and it looked like Brad Sweet and Donny Schatz were on you for a while.
Our car was pretty good. We took off really well. We could run the top like we needed to. We were able to fend off some challenges from Brad Sweet and Schatz a couple times. We were in a good position to win.
You opened up a nice lead before the last restart.
Sweet had blown up. It seemed every restart, we were pulling away. The second to last restart, we put a straightaway lead on the field between laps 12 and 22. I felt at the time that we were making really good laps.
There was one last double-file restart late in the race, and Daryn Pittman took off from the second row.
There was a yellow with eight to go. These restarts right now…the leader is almost at a disadvantage. You have to take off at the white line and the leader fires first. The guys in the second row sometimes have an advantage in that way. I don’t think I got a bad start, I think Pittman just had a perfect one and got by us. He got out there in clean air, and he got away.
Still second has to give you a lot of confidence in going back for the King’s Royal in July.
It was unfortunate to be that strong and not win. That’s disappointing, but in another sense, Chad Morgan and Travis Marsch are working their tails off. Casey’s General Stores, FVP, Searsboro Telephone Company…we’re as strong as we’ve ever been. I feel going back…we are definitely strong enough to win the King’s Royal. This weekend was huge for our confidence.
You have to be pumped for the FVP event at ELKO on Friday, and for Knoxville!
We’re excited to get up there for the “FVP Outlaws at ELKO”. It’s only about 20 miles from our Eagan, Minnesota corporate headquarters and we’ll have a lot of customers and employees there. I’m really proud FVP came on board and sponsored the race. They’ve been with us for five years. They’ve stepped up to sponsor the Knoxville Nationals. I don’t know of anyone giving to the sport of sprint car racing. It’s a great time if you need an air filter, fuel filter or battery to go to FVPParts.com. It’s awesome what they’re doing for our sport. Getting to Knoxville Saturday cannot come quick enough either.
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’s previous best finish at Eldora was his fifth place finish in last year’s “Knight Before the King’s Royal”. Joey Saldana won that event over Greg Wilson, Dale Blaney and Craig Dollansky.
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 – Impact Signs Awnings Wraps / impact4800.com
Brian says – “David and Julie Goodson have a great family there. They also make sure our trailer looks great with the graphics they provide. We’re proud to represent them.”
The goal at Impact Sign and Lighting is to make selecting the right sign and lighting for your business a simple process for you. Impact can design, create, and install virtually any type of sign on awnings, poles, buildings and much more including racecars, of course! They will work with you from conception to completion and make sure you are completely satisfied. We’ll give you personalized service, expert consultation, quick turnarounds, and reasonable pricing. Impact Sign and Lighting are responsible for the graphics on the Brian Brown Racing #21. Visit them on the web at www.Impact4800.com!
Associate Marketing Partner of the Week – KSE Racing Products
Brian says – “We switched to KSE at the beginning of 2010. Dave and all the guys down there build a great product, and I couldn’t be happier. The car steers as good as ever.”
Based in White House, Tennessee, KSE Racing Products offers a variety of products including Filter Reservoir Tank Assemblies, Power Steering Gears and Pumps, H.P.D. Water Pumps, Tandem Fuel Pumps, Fluids and more. To receive a catalog, visit their website at www.KSE-Racing.com!
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, Vortex Wings, Penray, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Butler Built Seats, AkzoNobel Sikkens, AllDayParts.com, Tru Square, Jack Links, 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 Fuel Injection, 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, ADD, 6B Apparel, Zips Energy Seeds, Bosch, NGK, Garrett Racing Engines, MSD and WSIB Insurance for all their support!