PORT ROYAL, Pa. – With his black backpack and gray flat-billed ball cap that promoted his two longtime sponsors, Casey’s General Stores and FVP Parts, Brian Brown gleamed Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway.
“Probably the best I’ve ever felt at Port Royal,” Brown said. “Especially through the middle where I normally don’t run.”
He finished fourth from the 17th-starting spot in the 25-lap feature. He also had a shot to challenge Lance Dewease for the win if a window didn’t close on the final restart with two laps to go.
Brown is in the midst of his best season since 2018 when he won seven features. He’s accumulated seven wins thus far. An eighth could materialize during his stay in Central Pennsylvania, which spans through the Williams Grove National Open in the first weekend of October.
It’s been more struggle than anything for Brown the past two years. He won three times in the 410 last year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown couldn’t quite adjust to the abnormal schedule of racing at tracks outside his Iowa-area wheelhouse.
He won five races in 2019. It’s a fine number but Brown knows he’s capable of more.
“I’ve come here [to Central PA] the last two years and felt like, ‘Man, we’re off,’” Brown said. “We were doing too much crazy stuff every single night.”
Now, with uncle Danny Lasoski as crew chief, Brown is gaining comfort and confidence similar to his 10-win season in 2017. Two of those wins came in Central PA in September.
Post-race with @BrianBrown21.
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) September 5, 2021
The 4x @knoxvilleraces champion labored through a slow start and a handicap format to finish fourth from the 17th-starting spot.
A boost of confidence the rest of the week. Win No. 8 on the year isn’t out of the realm in Central PA. pic.twitter.com/yVK0knjfqt
On Saturday at Port Royal, Brown ran around slick parts of the track and still carried speed through the middle, a good omen for the remaining five weeks.
“We’re just back to basics,” Brown said. “We learned [Saturday], and that’s why we’re here. Learned in hot laps, learned in the heat, learned in the feature, and that’s what we’re here to do.
“When we go to Knoxville or some places like that, when it gets slicked, we know exactly what to do,” Brown said. “Here, it’s like, ‘Oh, I think that’ll be alright.’ … ‘Oh, it looks like they’re putting the wicker bill on.’
“We just kind of guess a little bit,” Brown added.
Brown also turned in a fine performance Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
He passed Dewease, the track’s all-time wins leader, in his heat race to finish second and finished fifth in the feature.
Last year, Brown only finished in the top 10 twice in five races at the historic track.
“I felt like we were really good the first 10 laps and then not so good at the end,” Brown said. “We’re not a [World of Outlaws] where we can just pick up and win every night when we just roll in here. It takes a little bit of time, but I feel like we have a team that can do it.”