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Brian Brown- The "Big One" Stymies a Solid Weekend!

Brian Brown and the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team have everything in place for a strong summer and another strong Knoxville Nationals in August. A podium run from a ninth place starting spot on Friday night with the World of Outlaws confirmed that. Saturday’s finale was going great as well, until a crash involving eleven drivers brought the Grain Valley, Missouri driver’s night to an end. A busy week is planned starting Wednesday night with the WoO at the Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. Three National Sprint League events are planned over the weekend, including the Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota Friday, the Knoxville Raceway Saturday and the Mason City Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Things started rather strangely for you Friday when you had an ignition switch break on your first qualifying lap.

We had a piece break that never should have broken. That put us behind the 8-ball a little bit, but the guys did a great job of getting it fixed and at least getting us out there for one lap. I think it would have been eighth quick, but under the Outlaw rules the best we could be was 11th.

You went from sixth to third in the heat and really turned the night around.

I felt it was the hardest heat of the night. That put us in a good spot for the feature, thanks to the new Outlaw format. It’s driver and fan friendly when you have an opportunity in the heat to improve your position in the A. I was going to do everything in my power to get to second. That’s what you want as a fan, is the drivers going as hard as they can.

That mean you would start ninth in the feature.

We were able to get to sixth rather quickly. At that point, we were one of the faster cars on the track. We had an altercation ahead of us that took out a couple cars. That put us fourth on the restart. At that point, I was licking my chops a little bit.

…but you fell back a little after the green.

I just didn’t get a good restart. I spun my tires down the front straightaway. That gave (Dusty) Zomer an opportunity to make a move on me. Exiting turn two, instead of being third, I was running fifth. I had to get back by (David) Gravel and Zomer and by that time, (Terry) McCarl and (Donny) Schatz were too far ahead.

It still had to feel good to have a podium run after starting ninth.

Overall, I would say Friday ranks right up there as one of our team’s strongest nights. They never gave up. Our car is really good right now, and I think that will pay rewards come August. (Crew Chief) Chad (Morgan) and I are really communicating well about how the car is doing. Wyatt (Burks) and Michael (Williams) are doing a phenomenal job as well, making sure we have everything we need.

You timed in fifth quick on Saturday after coming out 24th in the order.

The Dunkin’s did a great job with the track all weekend. We had like four different track conditions throughout the weekend. Saturday was a track that we may see at the Knoxville Nationals on a qualifying night. We were able to time in fifth quick, and in the heat race, we were really good. We stayed right there with Brad (Sweet). The car was phenomenal.

In the Dash, you went from fourth to third.

We were able to get beside Ian (Madsen) at one point there, but settled for third. At that point, starting third, we felt our car was really good and our hopes were high. Our goal was to be there at the end.

Early in the feature, it looked like you would be a contender.

We were able to roll to third and keep the leaders in our crosshairs. That’s when the yellow came out and the “big one” happened on the restart.

Describe what happened from your perspective.

When you’re on the inside of a double-file restart, especially at Knoxville with the infield berm, you’re at the mercy of the guy on the outside. It’s about how far they’re going to push you down, or you are going to push them up. I didn’t feel Shane (Stewart) gave me much room there at all, and then Ian made the move in front of us. He got into Shane, and Shane got into me. At that point, we were along for the ride. We were just a wounded duck really.

It has to be a scary moment spinning in front of the field like that.

One of my biggest fears is sitting in the middle of the track with cars coming at 140 miles per hour. The sport is dangerous enough, but that seems to be where drivers get hurt. I’m very thankful that we had twenty professional drivers behind us. We tore the car up pretty badly, but it could have been a lot worse. We got away pretty easy really from where it could have been.

I know you’re not a big fan of the double-file restarts.

A single-file restart would have prevented all of that. It’s pretty simple, really. With the double-file restarts, you are either aggressive or someone else is, trying to push you around. The scariest part of the race is the start, and to do them over and over is just tough. As a car owner, I don’t like them. The Outlaws have done a lot of great things with their rules, and we enjoy running with them, but that’s one rule I’d change.

Now you have a big week ahead of you.

We’re excited to get to Sauk Rapids. FVP will have a number of employees and customers there. We’re looking forward to three nights with the National Sprint League too. The guys have spent the last couple days getting things put back together after the crash and we’ll hopefully, hit the ground running.

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-Brown-Racing/200630163294222

Casey’s General Stores – www.facebook.com/pages/Caseys-General-Stores/112073528804354

FVP Racing - http://www.facebook.com/FVPRacing?ref=ts&fref=ts

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