The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series doubleheader is held at the half-mile oval in Las Vegas and Brian Brown is bound for the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown presented by Star Nursery. Held at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas this Wednesday and Thursday, this event marks a venue in which Brown has traditionally been a favorite to win. And this year, Brown is in excellent form, running WELD Oval Racing Wheels and gunning for the title once more.
“FVP is a huge part of our program and whenever they put on these events with the Outlaws it’s important for us to run good,” he said. “Vegas is in our wheelhouse that we’re usually in contention. Our track record is pretty good there and we have a car that is usually capable of winning so hopefully when we unload on Wednesday we’ll be in the same position.”
Brown has earned at least one top-six result at the track during six of the eight seasons he’s competed in a World of Outlaws event there. He’s recorded a runner-up result twice and placed in the top five during five of his last eight races at the oval.
“Our program and I excel on the half-mile tracks with the wide, sweeping corners; momentum tracks like Knoxville and places like that,” he said.
“Las Vegas can be wide and fast. It can also be technical on the bottom. You never know what you’ll get there. That’s what unique about our sport. You go there one year and it’s wet and rough and you go the next year and it’s smooth and dry. The other thing that helps our situations is our engines are so good. You have to qualify well and our Charlie Garrett engines really run and that sets us up for a good night.”
Brown was on his way to his first career World of Outlaws triumph at the track during the opening night last year. He set quick time during qualifying before winning a heat race and the dash. Brown then led the first 10 laps of the A Main before his race car sustained a flat tire. He rallied from the back to a 14th-place effort before capping the event with a fourth-place finish the following night.
“Last year we were in a position to win or at least get a top-three finish and we had a flat tire,” he said. “The next night we were contending for the lead in the dash and I put it in the fence. That was a self-inflicted wound. We’ve got decent results, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing. I’m hoping to go there and have two solid nights with no complications. I feel like if we do that we should have an opportunity to challenge for a win or two.”
These are the first two races of a six-week venture to the West for Brown, who has a dozen World of Outlaws races in Nevada, California and Arizona scheduled during that span.
“We’re getting to go race when a lot of the guys in the Midwest are home watching on DIRTVision,” he said. “I feel when we get back home in April we’ll have an advantage. That’s important. We need to set our goals for top fives every single night. If we can do that there will be opportunities for us to get top threes and possibly wins.”
Photos: Paul Arch and DB3 Imaging
