(Photo by Craig Mobley)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 6, 2018) – Brian Brown captured his first feature victory of the season on Saturday at Knoxville Raceway, where his team hit the reset button.
“It’s May so you really want to have won by now,” he said. “We’ve had good car speed all year long, but we don’t have the results to show how fast we’ve been. On Saturday my crew chief, Chad Morgan, said, ‘Let’s hit the reset button and act like this is Race 1.’ We went into Knoxville with the mindset this was the first race of the year. It was exactly what the doctor ordered.”
Brown was fast throughout his season debut at the half-mile oval, where he ranks seventh in career 410ci and 360ci winged sprint car wins. He qualified second quickest before powering from sixth to second place in a heat race. That made him the high-points driver and lined him up on the outside of the second row for the 20-lap A Main following a four-car inversion.
“Traveling as much as we have this year against the level of competition we’ve raced you can get beat down confidence-wise and you can get thinking outside the box,” he said. “We’ve been racing at Knoxville so long we know what works. It takes the thinking of the car piece out of it. We just have to do what we have every single year. Our engines are so strong with Charlie Garrett Engines it takes care of itself.
“With Justin Henderson on the pole, Terry McCarl starting second and Davey Heskin third we knew we had our work cut out for us to win. We got a good start and drove right into second. We knew we had to be aggressive when we got to traffic. We were able to sneak by and lead the rest of the way.”
Brown took the lead on Lap 8 en route to his 38th career 410 feature win at Knoxville Raceway. The victory also gives Brown at least one triumph each season since 2000 when he made his sprint car debut.
“It’s good to get Casey’s General Stores, FVP and all of our partners to Victory Lane,” he said. “They stick with us whether we’re 18th with the Outlaws or winning races.”
Last weekend began on Friday at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo., where Brown qualified 19th quickest after being the last driver out. He was unable to finish a heat race because of a mechanical problem, but rebounded to win the Last Chance Showdown to earn a spot in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series A Main.
“We drew the last pill and the track slowed down quite a bit for qualifying,” he said. “Then we hurt an engine in a heat race. We got that changed before winning the LCS. We were stuck in the back of the main and I got myself spun around on one of the yellows, which was my fault. It wasn’t the result we were hoping for, but if you qualify bad it’s tough to get caught back up throughout the night. Especially when you have to change an engine midway through the night.”
Brown didn’t finish the main event and he was credited with an 18th-place result.
The team has a trio of races on tap this weekend beginning on Thursday at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com. Brown will tackle the Great Lakes Shootout presented by Tweeter Contracting and Harvey’s Five Star Roofing on Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., before wrapping up the weekend on Saturday at Knoxville Raceway.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 4 – Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Mo. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: DNF (7); B Main: 1 (3); Feature: 18 (19).
May 5 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 1 (4).
SEASON STATS –
17 races, 1 win, 4 top fives, 5 top 10s, 9 top 15s, 13 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com; Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., for the Great Lakes Shootout presented by Tweeter Contracting and Harvey’s Five Star Roofing; and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.BrianBrownRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianBrown21
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brian-Brown-Racing-200630163294222/
About Casey’s General Stores –
Casey’s General Stores is a Fortune-500 company (NASDAQ CASY) operating 2,000 convenience stores in 15 states throughout the Midwest. Casey’s strives to consistently deliver quality gasoline, freshly-prepared foods, clean environments and friendly service at every retail location. Casey’s is currently the fourth largest convenience store chain, and the fifth largest pizza chain in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.Caseys.com.
About FVP –
Built on a commitment to quality and delivered with unmatched service, FVP is the confident solution for all of your OEM needs. FVP products are engineered to provide customers with OE quality products that are equal or superior in performance to the major national brands at a competitive price. FVP is proud to carry a full line of high quality oil, air, cabin air and fuel filters, powerful batteries for multiple applications including cars, trucks, SUV’s, commercial, boats and other specialty vehicles as well as automotive chemicals and oil, antifreeze, DEF, hub assemblies, radiators and condensers. To learn more about FVP or to find out where you can have FVP products installed in your vehicle, visit http://www.FVPparts.com! FVP … Verified. Proven.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Factory Kahne Shocks
Factory Kahne Shocks was founded in 2009 and has developed into one of the leading shock companies in short track racing. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/factorykahne/.
“We’ve been with them for three or four years,” Brown said. “The consistency, reliability and the grip they give you night in and night out is second to none. I feel like they have the best product on the market. If you look at the results on Monday morning Factory Kahne Shocks is usually part of 75 or 80 percent of the wins across the country.”
Brown would also like to thank Casey’s General Stores, FVP, Impact Signs, Awnings, Wraps, Champion Brands, MC Power, Weld Wheels, Rams Racing, Ditzfeld Transfer, Maxim Racing, Fischer Body Shop, Smiley’s Racing Products, MSD Ignition, Housby, Next LED Sports, Hope for the Warriors, C and M Lawn and Landscape, Arctic Cat, Lincoln Electric, K&N, www.hostiowa.net, FSR Race Products, TI64, ATL Tanks, Wolfe Eye Clinic, Bell Helmets, Hinchman Uniforms, Clem’s Helmets, Vortex Wings, Penray, All Pro Cylinder Heads, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, AkzoNobel, Kenny’s Components, Snap-On Tools, Rod End Supply, KSE Racing Products, Winters Performance, Cometic Gaskets, Donovan, ISC Racers Tape, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Racing Optics, 5-hour ENERGY, Hoosier Tires, NGK Spark Plugs, XYZ Machining, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Red Devil Brakes, Schoenfeld Headers, 6B Apparel, Garrett Racing Engines and Fortress Wealth Management for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on May 06, 2018
- Article Date: 5/6/2018 by Inside Line Promotions