Brian Brown Caps DIRTcar Nationals With World Of Outlaws Dash Victory & Top 10 Finish

Story By: SHAWN MILLER / BRIAN BROWN RACING – BARBERVILLE, FL – Brian Brown showcased elite speed throughout the first half of each race night during the sprint car portion of the DIRTcar Nationals last week at Volusia Speedway Park.

Brown qualified in the top three during each of the five nights at the unique fast oval that measures just less than a half mile.

“Our engine builder, Charlie Garrett, does a phenomenal job,” he said. “When you go to places like Volusia that are speed domes your engines are very, very important. That really puts you in a position all night long to have a good night. Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the night every single night.”

Brown set quick time last Wednesday during the first of two straight nights sanctioned by the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. He then advanced from fourth to second place in a heat race before placing third in a dash. The night ended with an 11th-place finish in the A Main.

The following night nearly mirrored the same results throughout the action before Friday night began the first of three straight World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series races.

Brown timed in third quickest, finished third in a heat race to miss the dash – the only night he didn’t make a dash – by only one position and settled for a 13th-place result in the main event.

“We didn’t feel like we had a good grasp of what we needed to be doing come feature-time,” he said. “We seemed to be off from when we went there last year to this year. The adjustments were different.”

Saturday appeared to be back on track for Brown, who qualified third quickest, won a heat race and placed seventh in the dash. Unfortunately, a mechanical problem on the opening lap of the main event resulted in a DNF.

The busy week wrapped up on Sunday with Brown timing in second quickest in qualifying and recording a runner-up result in a heat race before he won the dash. That earned the pole position for the 30-lap A Main.

“At that point you didn’t want to do anything to screw your night up by making big changes for the feature,” he said. “We were really good the first four or five laps, but I knew we were going to be in trouble because we were too good too early. We backed up the last three, four, five laps.”

Brown led the opening lap and Laps 7 and 8. He maintained a top-three position for most of the race before fading in the closing laps to a seventh-place result.

“What happens in Florida stays in Florida either good or bad,” he said. “You never go down there and say you could use it all year long. It’s a different kind of sand and different air conditions. We had some good quality runs though and I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”

Brown will take the next two weeks off before returning to World of Outlaws competition on Feb. 28 and March 1 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas for the FVP Outlaw Showdown.