Brian Brown Racing Off To Quick Start in 2017 360 and 410 Winged Sprint Car Season
- 11 Jul 2017
Brown, who is 37-years old, married and resides in Grain Valley, Missouri, became interested in racing sprint cars because his uncle raced them. “It is something I have always enjoyed being around,” he said. He started Brian Brown Racing in 2008. “I split up with my previous team. You could say that on Sunday I wasn’t a car owner, but on Monday I was,” he said. Prior to creating the team, he had raced for a number of other team owners including Danny Lasoski in 1999 through 2002, Lonny Parsons in 2003, and Tim and Gina Doogs from 2004 through 2007. In his rookie year racing a 410-sprint car in 1999, he won one feature race at Mayetta, Kansas and was Rookie of the Year at Sedalia, Missouri. In 2000, he was the Winged Outlaw Warrior Point Champion, Rookie of the Year with the Winged Outlaw Warriors, won 11 feature races, was 4th at the ASCS 360 Nationals, and winner at the Missouri State Fair. In 2001, he collected five victories. In 2002, he was the Knoxville 360 Points Champion, Knoxville 360 Rookie of the Year, collected six wins at Knoxville five times in a row, and amassed four more victories. He also finished first in the 360-point standings. In 2003, he won his first 410 race at Knoxville Raceway, finished 4th in the World of Outlaws in Albuquerque, New Mexico, set two track records with the IRA Association, finished 6th in points in the Knoxville, Iowa 410 Division, and was 410 Rookie of the Year. He also finished 7th in the 410 point standings. In 2004, he collected eight feature wins. In 2005, he won 11 races, achieved 31 Top 5 finishes, 41 top 10 finishes and won the Lawrence Ideaus Memorial Race and the Missouri State Fair. He finished 2nd in the 410 point standings. In 2006, he garnered 14 wins, 38 top 5 finishes, 44 top 10s, second in Knoxville 410 points, won the Lake Ozark Nationals, won six different associations, finished 2nd in the Factory Value Parts World Challenge, won the Missouri State Fair, won the Bob Ramey Sr. Memorial Race, and finished 2nd in the ASCS 360 Nationals. He also finished 2nd in the 410 point standings. In 2007, he was the Knoxville 410 Point Champion, Hard Charger of the SuperClean Knoxville Nationals, won 15 feature races, was the Missouri State Champion, won the Gary Scott Memorial, and won the Michael Ross memorial Foundation Race. In addition, he finished first in the 410-point standings. In 2008, he won nine races, achieved 33 top 5 finishes, 45 top 10 finishes, won the Cowtown Nationals, won night 3 of the SuperClean Knoxville Nationals, and finished 2nd in the Knoxville 360 Nationals. He also finished 4th in the 410 point standings. In 2009, he won seven races including the Missouri State Fair, finished 2nd in the Knoxville Championship Cup Points competition, and was named car owner of the year at Knoxville Raceway, Moreover, he finished 2nd in the 410 point standings. In 2010, he won 13 races, was the pole sitter at the 50th Annual Knoxville Nationals, point champion in the Knoxville 410, and was winner of the Jackson Nationals and Gulf Coast Nationals. He also finished first in the 410-point standings. In 2011, he collected 12 victories. In 2012, he won 10 events, achieved 37 top 3 finishes, 48 top 5 finishes and 59 top 10 finishes. He also finished 2nd at the 52nd Annual Knoxville Nationals, and won the Jackson Spring Nationals, the Devil’s Bowl Summer Nationals and the Mary Lee Standridge Memorial. In 2013, he won 16 races, achieved 37 top 3 finishes, 43 top 5 finishes, 55 top 10 finishes, and finished 2nd at the 53rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals. He also won the Jackson Nationals, the Jackson Spring Nationals, the Devil’s Bowl Nationals, and the Front Row Challenge. In 2014, he won 14 races, finished 2nd at the 54th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals, and won his first World of Outlaws Race at the World Finals in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also won the 20th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals, the Jackson Spring Nationals, the Front Row Challenge, the Prelim Night of the Knoxville Nationals, Prelim Night of the Short Track Nationals, the Nebraska Cup, and was the first driver to win three Knoxville Championship cup races in a row (1996-2014). He finished 4th in the 410 point standings. In 2015 he finished 5th in the 410 point standings. In 2016, he finished 2nd in the 410 point standings. “The most important wins are the nationals and national prelim nights as well as World of Outlaw events,” said Brown.
“The crew includes a chief, a car chief, a tire guy, and a jack of all trades,” said Brown. The team’s quick start includes a victory at the Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota, fifth and sixth place finishes at the World of Outlaws at Knoxville Raceway, and a fourth place at the All Stars at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. They also recorded a win in an ASCS National Series event at the Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, Missouri. After the race at the Jackson Motorplex Brown commented, “We’ve had success at Jackson over the years, but it seems the last couple of times, we haven’t had the balance of the car that we feel we need to be maneuverable. Friday night was kind of the same. We kept making changes, but we didn’t think we made any great gains. “We started beside (Jeffrey) Lynton,” continued Brown. “He got the jump and we ran second. We got lucky when he missed the scales, and we were awarded the win. The redraw went our way because of that, and we ended up starting outside the front row.” Brown said of the feature race, “Scott (Winters) got a good start and got the lead. Then, we had another lucky break. Kerry (Madsen) had passed us and he went down, hooked a hole and got spun out. I think he was the class of the field all night long. He was going to be tough to beat. We were able to chase Scott down, pass him with seven to go, and go on and win. We don’t feel we had the fastest car all night long, but things fell our way. It was good to get another win up there.” After the World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway, Brown said, “We were hoping to qualify just a little better than fifth. I didn’t turn the laps that I needed to. It wasn’t where we wanted to be, but we were still in good position.” He said about the heat race, “we felt we had a good opportunity to win. We did the things that we normally do when the track is like that, but we missed something. We just spun the whole way. We didn’t have the forward drive or grip that I felt we needed to contend. We were third after the first lap, and then we got racing with Shane (Stewart). Donny (Schatz) got by us, and Kerry (Madsen) got by us and we ended up sixth. That’s the way it goes sometimes.” Concerning the All Stars event at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, Brown commented, “Burlington has been feast or famine for us. We were pretty good there Sunday. We were second quick in our group and third overall. The way the All Stars format is, you have to work hard in the heat. We were able to go from third to second and that locked us in the Dash. Concerning the main event in which Brown started inside row two, he said, “They reworked the track, and we lightened the car up. We thought it would blow off quickly. When they dropped the green, there was grip on the bottom and it never really blew off. So we were tight, and we were lucky to hold onto a fourth place finish there.” As to the his victory at the ASCS National Series at Randolph County Raceway near Moberly, “It’s always good to get back to Moberly, especially with the ASCS National tour and a very good paying race. We’ve had a lot of success there in a 360. I’m not sure we’ve lost there in a 360 that I can remember.” Brown started at the pole in the heat. “We were lucky enough to draw a good number for the heat, but we new drawing the pole that we had to win the heat. That set us up for the feature. We were able to sneak in a grab the last spot in the redraw.” He started in the fourth row of the feature and had a good start, but he was in a nip and tuck contest with Ian Madsen and others, who passed him a few times due to early cautions. “I’m not sure what was going on with the scoring, but it seemed every time I had a car passed for a lap or more, the yellow would come out, and they’d put me back behind them. It made for a better show though. It really didn’t matter. I felt really good in the car and we could go above the cushion where other drivers couldn’t. “As long as I kept my head on straight, I thought we’d be fine,” continued Brown. “We were able to get up to fourth and then get Wayne (Johnson) for third. At that point, Sam (Hafertepe) and Aaron (Reutzel) were racing pretty hard for the lead. We were able to get by Sam and then Aaron for the lead. We got to traffic, and he had a good corner and got back by me. A yellow came out, and I thought that may be all she wrote. But we were able to get back by him, and go on to win. It was awesome to get a win that close to home, and on a big stage with the ASCS National tour. They’re very good racecar drivers, and it’s a great series. It looked like Brown had another chance for a victory at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. However, his car lost a left rear wheel and flipped in turn one. Fortunately, Brown is okay. “We had a good start and got up to third pretty quickly,” said Brown about that race. “The yellow came out, and then we were able to get Austin (McCarl) for second. We turned our quickest lap there and made a good run on Matt (Juhl). We went into turn one and two and the left rear fell off. It was just unfortunate, you know. We had an opportunity to win both nights and we lost a good racecar, but on the other hand, it could have been a lot worse for me. I could have been banged up worse than I did. “If you have to crash, you’d want it to be at Knoxville,” he quipped. Brian Brown Racing has many sponsors, some of which have been with him for several years. One long time partner has been K&N. “K&N has been with me since 2003 or 2004,” he said. “They do a great job. We use their carbon fiber air filters, filter oil, and filter cleaner. K&N filters are the best in the world for allowing the engine to breathe air and staying clean.” Brian Brown Racing’s list of partners also include: • Casey's General Store • FVP • Wormall Civil • Searsboro Telephone Co.
• HostIowa.net • Champion Racing Oil • MC Power Companies • Ditzfeld Transfer, Inc. • Weld Racing • Next Led • Smiley's Racing Products • Garretts Racing Engines • Housby • Maxim Racing • FSR Racing Products • Ti64 Titanium • K&N • PENRAY • Brown & Miller Racing Solutions • ButlerBuilt • Hoosier Racing Tire • All Pro • Vortex Racing Products • Rod End Supply • KSE Racing Products, Inc. • Six-B Apparel • Schoenfeld Headers • Racing Optics • Winters Performance Products • Fuel Safe Racing Cells • Red Devil Brakes • Auto Meter • ISC Racers Tape • CP Carrillo • Arctic Cat • Kaeding Performance • XYZ Machining, Inc. • MSD Ignition • Tru-Square • Snap-On • Mothers High Performance Car Care Products • Bell • Kinsler Fuel Injection • Shell Shock • Dan Olson Racing Products • Kenny's Components • Deli Express • Cometic Gasket • Wolfe Eye Clinic • Klein Motors & RV's • Legacy • Fortress Wealth Management • NGK Spark Plugs • Bigs • Duke's “We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of great partners and a lot of them have been with us for a very long time,” said Brown. “We’ve been very fortunate that there are partners that believe in us. Brown noted that the race team has assisted many of the partners with R&D. “We do a lot with a lot of different companies,” he said. “We help make current products better. For example, we have done R&D over the years for Weld Wheels. They are a Kansas City company and we’re from the Kansas City area. We’ve tested a lot of stuff for them.” | |||
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