Brown Delivers Huge Win at FVP Knoxville Nationals
Brian Brown started fifth, but quickly worked his way through the field en route to the vicotry.
Courtesy: WoO Sprint Car Series Media Relations
KNOXVILLE, Iowa - Aug. 8, 2013 - Brian Brown charged to victory on Thursday's 53rd FVP Knoxville Nationals qualifying night at Knoxville Raceway, putting him on the front row alongside Joey Saldana for Saturday night's $150,000-to-win main event.
Kerry Madsen was second with Kevin Swindell, Roger Crockett and Saldana rounding out the top five. Saldana also led qualifying and finished fourth in his heat race to earn the pole position for the biggest sprint car race in the world on Saturday night.
Brown started the feature event fifth, but quickly worked his way through the field. Two laps in, Brown restarted second after a caution brought out by Jon Agan, who slowed off of turn four. On the restart Brown threw a slide job at Crockett and both he and Madsen advanced to run one-two.
Immediately after the top three crossed the line, caution flew for a spinning Brian Paulus. Event and track rules state that the cars that crossed the line would remain in that order, while cars that had not would revert to the previous lap, meaning Brown took the lead.
Madsen joined the fight for the lead on lap 9 after a restart as he would slide Brown into turn two and lead down the back stretch. Brown didn't yield and returned the slider into turn three and barely made the pass stick to hold onto the lead.
Brown held a sizeable advantage for several laps after the restart until lapped traffic slowed his progress and let the Keneric Racing entry of Madsen and third-place contender Kevin Swindell close within striking distance.
Brown quickly weaved in and out of traffic uneventfully and collected the win.
"This is probably my biggest win of my career to this point," said the driver of the Casey's General Store Maxim from Grain Valley, Mo. "It's really exciting to put ourselves in position to win the 53rd annual FVP Knoxville Nationals. It's something we hoped for all year long and here we are. We're really excited for Saturday night. We knew we couldn't win the Knoxville Nationals tonight, but you could definitely lose it. We're pretty good, but if we do that I think we've definitely got a chance to win it."
Madsen was able to come within striking distance, but the Aussie was forced to settle for a hard-fought runner-up finish.
"We've been fast all night and we're really happy with the paint scheme, we think it looks fantastic," said Madsen, of St. Marys, N.S.W. "We had a really good run in the feature tonight, we pushed very hard behind Brian tonight, but it just didn't happen. We achieved what we wanted to achieve at this point and we've been in a lot worse positions at the Nationals at this point."
Second generation racer Kevin Swindell rounded out the podium after closing the gap in the final laps on the top two.
"It's exciting I didn't think that I'd be very good this week, but we've run five night and we've been on the podium all five nights I've raced," said Swindell who has limited experience in winged sprint cars. "I definitely miss the dirt a whole more than I thought I did."
Saldana earned the most event points through the qualifying nights to earn the pole for Saturday night's feature, but it didn't come easy. After setting quick time in qualifying and earning 200 points, Saldana found himself in a tough spot in heat racing action. A cut left rear after contact during close quarter racing brought out the caution. The Motter Motorsports team got the tire fixed and Saldana restarted the race from the back of the field. With just two laps down Saldana pushed through the field and earned a transfer spot.
Swindell earned a 7th place starting position for Saturday's nights feature for his body of work throughout Thursday night's preliminary event.
Steve Kinser showed he will be a contender on Saturday. After qualifying third-quick, he finished second in his heat race before fading to a 17th place run, which is good enough to earn a 12th-place starting position in Saturday's A-main.
As is always expected at the Nationals, the Last Chance Showdown was stacked with talent. Danny Lasoski, Cody Darrah, Rico Abreu and Dusty Zomer transferred from the LCS while Brooke Tatnell, Danny Holtgraver, Lance Dewease and Bronson Maeschen among others watched the feature from the stands.
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings will be unaffected this week as the drivers will be awarded a flat 75 points due to the unique format of the FVP Knoxville Nationals.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is back in action Friday night for the third and final night of preliminary action at the 53rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals.
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY NOTEBOOK
NOTES - Joey Saldana was the fastest qualifier around the 1/2-mile oval with a time of 15.387 seconds ... Wayne Johnson, Jack Dover, Stevie Smith Terry McCarl and Robby Wolfgang won heat races.
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; FVP Knoxville Nationals Night 2; Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway; Aug. 8, 2013
A-Main (25 laps): 1. Brian Brown (5) ($12,000); 2. Kerry Madsen (4); 3. Kevin Swindell (6); 4. Roger Crockett (1); 5. Joey Saldana (8); 6. Cody Darrah (22); 7. Scott Winters (2); 8. Craig Dollansky (9); 9. Terry McCarl (10); 10. Stevie Smith (3); 11. Danny Lasoski (21); 12. Wayne Johnson (18); 13. Dusty Zomer (24); 14. Mark Dobmeier (12); 15. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (11); 16. Jack Dover (17); 17. Steve Kinser (7); 18. Jac Haudenschild (13); 19. Bill Balog (15); 20. Brad Loyet (19); 21. Rico Abreu (23); 22. Robby Wolfgang (20); 23. Brian Paulus (14); 24. Jon Agan (16). Lap leaders: Roger Crockett (1-2); Brian Brown (3-25). KSE Hard Charger: Cody Darrah.
Qualifying: 1. 71m, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (7), 15.387; 2. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (14), 15.397; 3. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN (19), 15.443; 4. 6BR, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (4), 15.477; 5. 33, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (10), 15.478; 6. 4, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (11), 15.493; 7. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (27), 15.521; 8. 71s, Kevin Swindell, Bartlett, TN (8), 15.539; 9. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (34), 15.555; 10. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aus (6), 15.582; 11. 13v, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (15), 15.604; 12. 29, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust (49), 15.616; 13. 19s, Stevie Smith, Broken Arrow, OK (32), 15.617; 14. 82, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (31), 15.621; 15. 11c, Roger Crockett, Medford, OR (2), 15.625; 16. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (36), 15.641; 17. 91, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (37), 15.665; 18. 45, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (39), 15.667; 19. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (42), 15.683; 20. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (24), 15.746; 21. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (23), 15.769; 22. 59, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (25), 15.778; 23. 71J, R.J. Johnson, Tampa, FL (47), 15.824; 24. 20K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (18), 15.826; 25. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (45), 15.861; 26. 9P, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (26), 15.874; 27. 4s, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (17), 15.898; 28. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (29), 15.914; 29. 80, Trey Gustin, West Union, OH (16), 15.953; 30. 74x, Josh Hodges, Tijeras, NM (5), 15.954; 31. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (22), 16.007; 32. 28, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (51), 16.008; 33. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (9), 16.016; 34. 27, Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA (44), 16.036; 35. 4A, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (40), 16.056; 36. 17, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (46), 16.065; 37. 14AJ, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (30), 16.086; 38. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (13), 16.093; 40. 1B, Robby Wolfgang, Sioux Falls, SD (53), 16.292; 41. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (52), 16.327; 42. 1K, Chris Shirek, Thompson, ND (50), 16.328; 43. 1s, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (3), 16.346; 44. 44w, Austen Wheatley, Lake Stevens, WA (43), 16.353; 45. 23, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (28), 16.388; 46. 7G, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (21), 16.395; 47. 83, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (12), 16.429; 48. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (38), 16.586; 49. 21x, Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN (41), 16.621; 50. 1x, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (48), 16.702; 51. 01, Paul Morris, Gold Coast, QLD, Aus (33), 16.829; 52. 71, Robert Bell, Colfax, IA (1), No Time; 53. 93H, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (20), No Time.
Heat 1 (10 laps, top four to the A-main): 1. Jack Dover (1); 2. Mark Dobmeier (4); 3. Craig Dollansky (5); 4. Joey Saldana (8); 5. Cody Darrah (7); 6. Rager Phillips (3); 7. Rob Kubli (2); 8. AJ Moeller (9); 9. Seth Brahmer (6); 10. Kaley Gharst (10).
Heat 2 (10 laps, top four to the A-main): 1. Wayne Johnson (1); 2. Kerry Madsen (6); 3. Jac Haudenschild (4); 4. Brian Paulus (2); 5. Dusty Zomer (5); 6. Tim Shaffer (10); 7. Rico Abreu (7); 8. Chris Shirek (9); 9. Danny Smith (3); 10. Bronson Maeschen (8).
Heat 3 (10 laps, top four to the A-main): 1. Stevie Smith (6); 2. Steve Kinser (8); 3. Bill Balog (2); 4. Kevin Swindell (7); 5. Danny Holtgraver (5); 6. R.J. Johnson (4); 7. Logan Schuchart (9); 8. Mike Moore (10); 9. Jarrod Schneiderman (1); 10. Ryan Bunton (3).
Heat 4 (10 laps, top four to the A-main): 1. Terry McCarl (5); 2. Brian Brown (7); 3. Scott Winters (6); 4. Brad Loyet (1); 5. Lance Dewease (2); 6. Thomas Kennedy (4); 7. Austen Wheatley (9); 8. Bryan Clauson (10); 9. Trey Gustin (3); 10. Bill Rose (8).
Heat 5 (10 laps, top four to the A-main): 1. Robby Wolfgang (1); 2. Jon Agan (2); 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5); 4. Roger Crockett (6); 5. Danny Lasoski (8); 6. Brooke Tatnell (7); 7. Josh Hodges (3); 8. Greg Wilson (4); 9. Tony Bruce Jr. (10); 10. Jimmy Light (9).
C-Main (10 laps, top four to the Last Chance Showdown): 1. Bronson Maeschen (1); 2. Tony Bruce Jr. (10); 3. Bill Rose (2); 4. Kaley Gharst (9); 5. Danny Smith (4); 6. Jimmy Light (8); 7. Trey Gustin (6); 8. Paul Morris (11); 9. Seth Brahmer (3); 10. Ryan Bunton (5); 11. Jarrod Schneiderman (7); 12. Robert Bell (12); 13. Sheldon Haudenschild (13).
Last Chance Showdown (12 laps, top four to the A-main): , No Time: 1. Danny Lasoski (1); 2. Cody Darrah (2); 3. Rico Abreu (3); 4. Dusty Zomer (5); 5. Brooke Tatnell (4); 6. Danny Holtgraver (6); 7. Rager Phillips (10); 9. R.J. Johnson (7); 10. Greg Wilson (9); 11. Lance Dewease (13); 12. Tony Bruce Jr. (22); 13. Josh Hodges (11); 14. Logan Schuchart (16); 15. Austen Wheatley (17); 16. Bill Rose (23); 17. Bryan Clauson (20); 18. Rob Kubli (12); 19. Kaley Gharst (24); 20. Mike Moore (19); 21. AJ Moeller (14); 22. Chris Shirek (15); 23. Tim Shaffer (18); 24. Bronson Maeschen (21).
