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Brian Brown- Another Knoxville Classic Finish!

The features have been nothing short of electric at Knoxville Raceway this season, and Saturday was no exception. Brian Brown and the Casey’s General Stores/FVP #21 team set out for two wins in a row at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”, but they fell one spot short on the podium in the first National Sprint League event of the season at Knoxville. Nonetheless, it was another strong performance turned in by the Grain Valley, Missouri driver. Brian and the team did have their podium streak of eight straight podium streaks snapped Friday at the newly renovated Jackson Motorplex after a tip over. This week, they plan on Knoxville NSL action again Saturday, and going with the series to the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines on Sunday.

Friday you were at the first race of the year at the newly remodeled Jackson Motorplex. What did you think?

What a phenomenal job everyone at the Jackson Motorplex has done. Really, in a year and a half, I think they’ve turned that place into one of the top five facilities in the country. New grandstands, a new Impact4800.com/Next LED video board, and a lot of other things. I know they’re not done yet, so I’m excited to see how it ends up.

It seemed like you were a tick off in qualifying.

It was the first time in the last month and a half that we’ve unloaded in hot laps and just didn’t feel that great. What I was feeling and what Chad (Morgan) and the guys were seeing was the opposite. We were able make some changes and qualify ninth. It wasn’t what we wanted, but it was pretty good from where we had started the night.

You ended up running third in the heat.

We were all over Kerry (Madsen) there in the heat. That put us seventh in points for the Dash redraw. Unfortunately, we drew the ten out of ten for that. Back in dirty air, it was just tough to make moves and we ended up ninth.

Did you make any changes to the car for the feature?

After the Dash, we over-adjusted the other way, and we were tight. In general, it was just an off night for us. To cap it off, we blew a left rear tire late in the race. We spun and got tipped over. I’m thankful it wasn’t a lot worse. I thank Tim Kaeding for not blasting into us or trying to go around us on the high side, which could have been disastrous. It was a phenomenal job of the fifteen guys behind us for not getting into us. It was just one of those nights you try to put behind you quickly.

You bounced back in time trials Saturday at Knoxville.

Our qualifying has been spot on. Danny (Lasoski) had a really good lap and hit the bottom where he needed to, so we ended up second quick. To do that with the NSL format, is what we needed to do.

You knew the invert for the feature was eight before the heat. Knowing you had a lot of points built up already, what was your thought process going in?

No matter what the format, when the green flag drops, you want to beat the other cars on the track. You might as well stay with that mindset. Saturday was no different. We were able to get up to second. We tried a few things, and some worked and some didn’t.

You ended up starting beside Danny in row four for the feature.

We didn’t get the best of starts. Danny got through there pretty quickly. But we were able to get in our groove, and it just seemed like the closer the cushion gets to the fence, the more we excel. That’s where I like running.

The middle stages were crazy. You were right in the middle of the battles between second and fifth. You were all in the same corners for several laps.

We were able to get by Danny and we got into a gaggle of lapped cars. We were racing hard with Davey (Heskin) and that broke our momentum a little bit. That let Danny back by. He kind of left everyone from there. We were able to finally get by Davey, Craig (Dollansky) and Brooke (Tatnell).

You got to second, and it looked late like you were the fastest car.

Danny was a straightaway ahead at that point, and we were able to run him down. We really felt it was our race to win at that point. The yellow came out, and he did his job making his car as wide as he could those last laps. That’s why he’s won 109 times. He’s a very smart racecar driver.

How are you feeling about the progression of the team towards August’s Knoxville Nationals?

Saturday, I felt we had a car capable of winning and we were right there. I think Danny and I especially right now, are pushing each other as hard as we possibly can. I’m glad he’s there. I think that’s going to lend to better performances when the Outlaws come to town, and especially in August. I feel like we’re just as good as anyone in the country right now. At Knoxville, you have some cars that are ‘Outlaw fast’ and it helps you to get ready when they come to town.

I know you’re excited about getting two more NSL shows in this weekend.

I hope the people in the area keep coming out to support these great NSL races. I feel we’re going to have two great events. I feel the racing at Knoxville is awesome, and the Dunkin family has done a great job with the track all year. They get bashed when there’s an issue with the track, which may be once or twice a year. They are just doing a phenomenal job. Tony Moro has worked hard to make sure that the facility in Des Moines keeps improving and I’ve heard good things about that track this year. I hope we can get the Casey’s General Store/FVP #21 to Victory Lane this weekend.

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