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Brian Brown Accomplishes A Dream!  (Bill W) August 30, 2007 – Sprint car driver, Brian Brown, had some big dreams growing up. One was making the Knoxville Nationals Championship lineup, and another was winning the 410 track championship at the Sprint Car Capital of the World. This month, he accomplished both of those feats! On August 11, he qualified for his first career Knoxville Nationals finale. Not only did he qualify for the race, but he was the event's hard-charger of the night, driving from his 23^rd starting spot to register 13^th. When the dust cleared on the Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night, Brian had accumulated enough points to clinch his first ever Knoxville Nationals 410 sprint car track championship! Driving the Tim and Gina Doogs #21, Brian says a mediocre time trial was not a big deal. "In qualifying, we drew a late number, and we had one of the better times of those cars that went out late (9^th quick). As far as the feature invert (12), that worked out well for us. The important thing about qualifying well at Knoxville lies in the points. Every point counts, but last weekend, our time trial ended up playing to our favor." After running second in his heat event, Brian staged outside of row two for the 20-lap feature event. "My car really wasn't too good for the feature," he says. "We were pretty loose, and I was spinning the tires pretty bad. I'm not the easiest driver on tires. Usually, I'm known to blister left rears before anyone, and when we had the red on lap nine, I looked at the left rear and it was already blistered." Brian worked his way by Jack Dover early on for second behind leader, Dion Hindi. On lap nine, Dover got upside down, bringing out the red flag. During the stoppage, the strategy for a title began to play out for the Grain Valley, Missouri driver. "(Dusty) Zomer (second place in points) was pretty far back, so I didn't want to blow the tire, fall out, and put the points back in his hands. We kind of cruised around the last eleven laps. If the opportunity presented itself to take the lead, we would have, but if not…if someone came along and wanted second, we probably wouldn't have crashed to keep it. I guess you could say we were point racing at that point." Brian did settle for second behind Hindi in the end. He is extremely thankful for his opportunity to live out his dream of a Knoxville title. "It's been a lifelong dream come true to do that," he says. "It's something we're really proud of, and in 30 or 40 years, they won't be able to take it away from us! It takes a whole team to do it. You can have the best driver in the world or the best team in the world, but if you don't have the combination working together, you'll never accomplish what we did. This was the goal we set out to do, and we got it done." Realizing what has happened will take awhile for Brian. "It will probably sink in, come banquet time, when we see our car on display at the banquet at Terrible's Casino. We'll get to celebrate that night." North Platte On Friday night, Brian piloted legendary car owner, Gary Swenson's #24B in NCRA/ASCS-Rocky Mountain action at the Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte, Nebraska. The racing surface didn't lend to much action. "At North Platte, it was rubber-down," says Brian. "It was really based on draw. We started sixth and ran second in the heat. In the feature, we started sixth, and it was pretty much getting in line and finishing where you started." Brian managed a fourth place finish in the end. He is very complimentary of Swenson. "I've driven for Gary Swenson off and on since my career started. You know when you roll into the racetrack with him, you always have good stuff. He was getting a little nervous earlier this year, because he had won a race for eight straight years and hadn't won one yet this year. We were able to win at Belleville (July 26), so that was great!" Up Next! Brian's work at Knoxville Raceway did not end by locking up the 410 championship last weekend. The team will return this Saturday night to shoot for the $4,000 first place prize on Season Championship night! "The great thing about this week is, we don't have to worry about point racing," he says. "We're going in there and giving it all it takes to win! It's a totally different circumstance than last year at this time. We couldn't pass a watermelon seed last year, we were so nervous about what was going on." On Sunday, Brian will try to defend his title at the Lake Ozark Speedway 360 Nationals near Eldon, Missouri! "Win It Or Wear It" Brian and co-host Tony Bokhoven will be taking this Monday off for Labor Day. "Win It or Wear It", sponsored by Sprint Car and Midget magazine, will return on Monday, September 10. "Win It Or Wear It", hosted by Brian and Tony Bokhoven, airs live every Monday night from the Racinboys studios. To hear the latest stories and news from the drivers who make them, log on to www.Racinboys.com! All of our shows are archived, so check back by clicking on the "Videos" link at the top of the page. Website For up to date information on Brian Brown, visit www.BrianBrownRacing.com! T-shirts T-shirts can now be ordered at www.Racingthreads.com, or catch us at the races! Brian's Q&A Got a question for Brian? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for Brian" in your subject line. Brown's Bits Last year's win at Lake Ozark Speedway's 360 Nationals did not come easy. After Brian worked his way by Bobby Hawks for the lead, Jesse "The Rocket" Hockett came from deep in the field to battle for and take the lead. Brian came back on a late restart to make his winning pass, and won over Hockett, Hawks, Robbie Standridge and Foster Landon. The win came over a 61 car field. Brian's Weekly Updates Brian's Weekly Releases are an up close look at the past, present and future of Knoxville Raceway track champion, Brian Brown. To receive Brian's weekly updates, send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Brian" in the subject line. Brian would like to thank Big Ox, Ditzfield Transfer, Maxim Racing, American Compressed Steel, Michael Ross Memorial Foundation, Housby Trucks, K & N Filters, Hostiowa.net, Yeager's Harley Davidson, Wolfe Eye Clinic, Champion Brands, Shock Doctor, Weld Wheels, VK Graphics, Bell Helmets, CP Pistons, Paul's Auto Body Supply, Butler Built Seats, Rod End Supply, Winters Performance Products, ISC Racers Tape, Simpson, Racing Optics, Pro Shocks, Dake Law Office, Wes. Mo. Auto, Don's Truck Wash, Sunshack Tan, McCroskey Chevrolet, Gardner Farms and Hoosier Tires for all their help!

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